It took more than two years but we finally ate in at Bangkok Thai Deli again. Our last visit was in February of 2020. During the pandemic we got takeout from them a number of times and enjoyed all those meals very much (here, here and here). But it’s not the same as eating in—and not just because some dishes don’t take so well to being reheated after a 50 minute drive. Some restaurants mean more to people than others and for us Bangkok Thai Deli is one of the cornerstones of our Twin Cities dining life. We’ve been eating there since we arrived in 2007 (which is when they opened, as per their menu; I would have guessed it was earlier) and it would have been a big blow if the pandemic had claimed them as well. All this to say, we were very happy to eat there again in person.

We met some of the friends we eat with often for an early lunch on Saturday. We were five adults and our two boys. We got there at 11 and the restaurant was slowly beginning to fill up—the parking lot was full when we were leaving. As it wasn’t hopping that early, the kitchen was not as stressed as it can sometimes be and the food all came out pretty quick.

We got a number of our favourites. The boys got their beloved chicken satay to start. One of the party had wanted egg rolls and I accidentally ordered spring rolls and so we eventually ended up with both. And both were very good. The grilled beef salad to follow and then a bunch of heartier dishes. These included their khao soi (just excellent); roast duck, got in entree form for better shareability (very good); green curry with pork (very good); stir-fried Chinese eggplant (cooked with ground pork and shrimp and always excellent); and the stir-fried spicy catfish (one of the highlights of the meal and a dish we didn’t order for takeout in the last two years). To end, a couple of desserts: the mango with sticky rice and the custard with sticky rice. These were just okay.

For a look at the food and the menu etc. launch the slideshow below. Scroll down for price and a few other thoughts and to see what’s coming next.

This was not as excessive an order as we normally put together but everything on the table was at least very good (well, the desserts were just okay: Basil Cafe‘s version of the mango sticky rice is far superior in our view). I’d asked for everything that should be hot to be made extra-hot and to not be sweet and they delivered on both fronts. And it’s not like it was a small amount of food for the seven of us—we all took leftovers home.

The total came to $175 with an included tip of 15% for a table of 6+ people. We added on another $5 to take the tip to 20% and make for easier splitting. So $180 for effectively six adults (our boys ate enough for one hungry adult). With the leftovers and keeping in mind that we all over-ate, it was enough food for eight adults. So the actual per head price was closer to $23/head. However you do the arithmetic, it was very good value for the quality of the meal. We hope to be back again in a few months. We also hope to get to On’s Kitchen in person this summer—our last meal from them was also takeout.

Alright, what’s coming next? I have a bit of a backlog of unreported on meals. Coming up next will be the most recent of those: dinner at Tenant—another place we were glad to return to after almost a year. That’ll be next Tuesday.