Food

Bangkok Thai Deli

I have been enjoying the food at the Bangkok Thai Deli (BTD) for more then a year and a half now, but today was Pauline’s birthday and I really wanted to share with her the little gem in Saint Paul.

We headed out to BTD shortly after church. The hope was that the Sunday traffic there would be light. We arrived there shortly after noon and the parking lot was full. I drove around the corner and parked on a residential street.

When you head inside the BTD you might get the wrong impression. The building is for most parts dumpy looking and the dining area is anything but sparkling clean. It is definitely not a five star atmosphere, but the food will more then make up for any qualms that you might have about the dining area.

While I have been to the BTD several times, this was Pauline’s first time there, so I gave here several extra minutes to go through the extensive menu. After about five minutes, we had made our decisions. Our waitress came over to take our orders in her best broken english.

We started the lunch with an order of fresh Spring Rolls. A few minutes later the Spring Rolls arrived with a delicious peanut sauce. It took me just minutes to devour my Spring Roll while Pauline took her time to enjoy it.

Our server arrived with our food a few minutes later and was gracious enough to bring extra plates so we could share our meals. Pauline ordered the Rama Dish with Chicken while I ordered my usual Pad Thai.

The Pad Thai is the best I have ever had. It is a great mixture of noodles, egg, onion, sprouts and chicken with a delicious sauce. I squeeze the entire lime wedge over the steaming hot pile of noodles and notice I have become akin to a Pavlovian dog, salivating as I transfer the noodles to my plate.

I then took a few large scoops of white rice and added several spoon full of peanut sauce from Pauline’s Rama Dish. The meal is very similar to the Rama Thai dish we enjoy in Moorhead, MN. The plate has Red Peppers, Broccoli, and chicken and one of the most flavorful peanut sauces around. You can see the chili seeds in the sauce, it is not too hot.

The meal was delicious and to add a little more cool to the spicy meal, I order a Thai Ice Tea. Not wanting to have to loosen my belt, Pauline convinces me we don’t have to eat it all while we are there and can take what is left home. Afraid that I might have to share it, I hedge a little, but she convinces me.

Bangkok Thai Deli is not glamorous, but the food is so incredibly good you will lose yourself in the heaven that is spicy Thai food.

rating onrating onrating onrating onrating on 5 of 5 stars

Bangkok Thai Deli on Urbanspoon

Rack Shack- Burnsville

We have been living in Apple Valley for several months now and Pauline seems to remind me about once a week how much she is craving ribs. She has told me on several occasions that she has heard that the Rack Shack in Burnsville is really good.

rack of ribs with sides

rack of ribs with sides

Now I have driven by the Rack Shack several times running errands and chaffeuring kids from place to place. The location is a small strip mall and it looks rather plain. I had been avoiding going to the Rack Shack for one reason and one reason only… I have become a BBQ snob.

I have been to rib fest and to all sorts of great places that claim to have the best BBQ ribs, but after enjoying the Arthur Bryant experience in Kansas City, there is a very large gap between my favorite ribs and my second favorite. That is until now.

The Rack Shack has some amazing ribs and they are not even what the place is famous for. The Rack Shack is known for a meal called “The Hobo” and “The Hobo Challenge”. The Hobo is a skillet full of meat and sides. The meal starts with a smoked potato served with one helping of each of the seven sides they offer (slaw, tatar salad, BBQ beans, corn bake, corn bread, fried and their famous cheesy mac). Then if that is not enough they top it off with pulled pork and brisket. The challenge is to eat THREE of those bad boys in 30 minutes and you win yourself a $100.00 gift card to the Rack Shack and a t-shirt.

Pauline and I decided to have the full rack of ribs with two sides. We chose corn bake and BBQ beans for sides and we both had a Summit Extra Pale Ale. The corn bake was good, but left no lasting impression on either of us. The BBQ beans were sweet and tasty and had great flavors and texture.

The ribs are what would make me come back. They are rubbed with the Rack Shacks special blend and slow smoked for up to 48 hours. The formula works folks. The ribs were absolutely fantastic without any sauce at all.

We had to try the sauces though. Pauline and I started with the St Paulie Sauce and Kansas City Spice. The St Paulie Sauce was mild while the Kansas City Spice had great kick. It was spicy enough for me to get a little sweat on the brow. But that wasn’t even close to the hottest they had.

We decided to venture a little further and pulled the Georgia Sticky and Memphis Sweet from the shelf. The Georgia Sticky was a simple brown sugar and mustard (tasted like some honey too) while the Memphis Sweet blew my socks off. It was a perfect combination of smokey, sweet and spicy.

In summary all I can say is if you are ever in the south Metro, you have to stop at The Rack Shack and enjoy the great ribs sides and sauces.

rating onrating onrating onrating onrating on 5 of 5 stars

El Loro – Burnsville

Having just moved to the area, we feel fortunate to have a large selection of independent restaurants. Coming from western Minnesota/Eastern North Dakota, it is refreshing to have alternatives to the vast amount of chain restaurants that seem to dot every corner in the Fargo-Moorhead region.

Our first review is a Mexican Restaurant that my wife had heard good comments about. El Loro appears to be a small chain of authentic mexican restaurants around the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. I only say appears because I can’t really find any true link to the various El Loro restaurants, so I don’t want to assume that they are all the same.

It was late on a Friday night and our party was not very large (only four of us) so we chose the Burnsville location because it was the closest to our home. The restaurant appears to be small and the parking lot was full, but in reality the restaurant has plenty of seating. Although the parking lot was indeed packed, we were seated immediately and were brought the standard chips and salsa.

The chips and salsa were nice, but there was a third bowl of white sauce that I can only describe as a “sweet mayonnaise”. Everyone at the table tried the white sauce and the reaction was the same from everyone (ewww).

Our waitress came and we ordered drinks and promptly delivered the drinks, understandably because a few party members still were scanning the large menu. We waited some time after that until my father flagged down another server to retrieve our waitress and take our orders.

We ordered the large Shrimp Cocktail, Enchiladas Poblanas, Yolandas and La Superior. The shrimp cocktail was brought to the table almost immediately.

Andrew Sr. ordered the Shrimp Cocktail which was a nice mix of shrimp, avocado, cilantro, cocktail sauce, herbs and spices and garnished with a lime.

A short time later the rest of the meals arrived.

The Yolandas consists of three chicken enchiladas, topped with ranchero sauce and served with a guacamole salad and a large portion of mexican rice. The enchiladas and rice were good, but were missing something that made the special. Kobe was the one that ordered this and he did not eat the somewhat dry rice, but that is Kobe.

Pauline ordered the Enchiladas Poblanas. The meal is described as two chicken enchiladas topped with brown mole sauce, sliced onions & grated cheese and served with rice and tossed salad. The brown mole sauce tasted authentic and was probably made fresh, but was a little overpowering with the chocolate. The rice was a tad dry and the tossed salad was more of a garnishment then a salad.

The La Superior had a burrito, a chile relleno and a chalupa. The burrito was simple ground beef filling in a flour tortilla with a nice red sauce poured over it. The chile relleno was made with a nice tasting large chili, but had little batter and a large piece of stem which made a few bites awkward. The cheese sauce with the chile relleno was fair, but nothing special. The chalupa was disappointing. After cutting it, I realized it was made with just a corn tortilla and was more of a tostada then chalupa. What was even more discouraging was the fact that the chalupa was cold and soggy instead of warm and crisp.

One item on three of the plates that was excellent was the guacamole. It tasted fresh and had just the right amount of spices, but not too much spice (I need to learn that less is more with good guacamole when I make it).

Overall the meal was good, but the meal overall did nothing really to stand out. The service was fast but the vibe was not friendly. The restaurant was clean and had plenty of seating and was very busy even for our late meal at 8:30 pm. We would eat here again with others, but it won’t be a restaurant that we go out to as a dining favorite.

rating onrating onrating onrating onrating onrating onrating offrating offrating offrating off 6 of 10 stars
 Scroll to top