We ate quite well in the nine weeks that we spent in Italy and Ireland this summer. But by the end we were missing a number of the cuisines we eat regularly here in Minnesota. Accordingly, after getting back a few weeks ago we’ve been hitting up some of our favourite spots for those cuisines. I’ve already posted a report on our lunch at Homi—where we fed our yearning for Mexican food. Here now is a report of the first Thai meal we’ve eaten since the beginning of the summer. You might think, based on my earlier reports, that just as we went to Homi for our Mexican fix, we would go to either On’s Kitchen or Bangkok Thai Deli for our first Thai fix in months. But in fact we chose to go to Krungthep Thai in St. Paul’s North End (at the intersection of Maryland and Rice).

Here is where I tell you that despite my love of and loyalty to the University Ave. stalwarts, On’s Kitchen and Bangkok Thai Deli (and also Thai Cafe), I might these days actually pick Krungthep Thai as my favourite Thai restaurant in the Cities. They are a sibling restaurant of Bangkok Thai Deli and have much the same menu (though it’s not identical) but what you get at Krungthep Thai is much better ambience and service and none of the chaos that you are apt to find at Bangkok Thai Deli at busy times. And we’ve also not encountered here the variability that can plague On’s Kitchen, especially now that On herself has retired. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll still be going back to those places on the regular; it’s just that Krungthep Thai can more than hold its own in that company.

We were there on Saturday in a large group. There were 11 of us, including our two boys and one surly college student with no respect for his elders (by which I mean to say that he was very cruel to me at one point in the conversation). Being a large group, we managed to do a fair bit of damage. What did we eat?

At the starters/salads end of the spectrum were the following: Moo Ping (pork skewers) for the boys; for the adults, two orders of sour E-San Sausage, Grilled Beef Nam Tok, Thai Papaya salad (less fish sauce than in the Lao style) and Yum Nam Khao Tod (a rice salad). We also got an order of the clear Tom Yum soup with pork. All were very good indeed. For their main, the boys shared the Khao Mun Gai (steamed chicken over rice with broth etc.). The adults shared the following: Stir-Fry Spicy Catfish, Stir-Fry Chinese Eggplant (cooked in a curry-style sauce with ground pork and shrimp) and Clams Pad Cha. And an order of Stir-Fry Chinese Broccoli with Garlic Sauce on the side. All were mopped up with rice and all were rather excellent as well.

Indeed, almost every dish was at the top of someone or the other’s list of favourites at the meal. My own favourites were the E-San Sausage, the Yum Nam Khao Tod, the Stir-Fry Chinese Eggplant and the Clams Pad Cha. And a special shout-out as well to the mild but perfectly cooked Chinese Broccoli as well.

For a look at the restaurant, the menu and what we ate, click on a pic below to launch a larger slideshow. Scroll down to see how much it all cost and to see what’s coming next.

A couple of sodas and a Thai iced coffee rounded out the order. I’d had my eyes on the mango sticky rice for dessert but we were all too full by that point. By the way, we got a number of the dishes at either the “Very Spicy” or “Spicy” settings and I can tell you they brought quite a lot of heat.

Cost? There was an included 15% tip (as we were a large party). We added on a bit more to bring it up to 20% and this brought the total to just above $233. This was enough food for 10 adults (we left nothing uneaten). So that’s a per head cost of $23/head. Which is just a steal for the quality and quantity. Really, there’s no reason that those of you who live closer to them than we do shouldn’t eat there often.

Okay, what’s next on the food front? Another report each from Ireland and Italy, in some order in the second half of the week. Next week’s Twin Cities report will see a return to the high end. We’re continuing our “Twin Cities Favourites” tour at Alma this weekend.