John and I traveled to Thailand last summer and fell in love with the fascinating culture and the stunning food climate. Since that experience I have been craving Thai food regularly. While I do plan to do a lengthy blog post on that trip, today I am writing about a hidden gem of a restaurant that I found tucked away in an unassuming strip mall in Golden Valley. My oldest son and I try to meet for a meal when I am in his neck of the woods . Usually those outings take place in Golden Valley, close to his job.
The desire to try something new for lunch last week had us yelping nearby restaurants. Nong’s Thai Cuisine popped up. The restaurant was close in proximity to our location and the reviews were consistently above average so we gave it a try. My impression: insanely good! The incredible menu made it hard to choose just one dish. I’ve found that a long menu doesn’t always correlate with high quality, favorable food choices but at Nong’s I truly could not decide what to order because there were so many fantastic options. I ended up with the Sukiyaki Soup found on the noodle page. Ingredients included: glass noodles, egg, Napa cabbage, onion, green onion, celery and special sukiyaki sauce. The flavors were addicting. The choices on the spice scale were mild, medium, hot and thai hot. I am a spice girl so I opted for hot and loved it. The portion was extremely generous which I appreciated as I had the remaining soup for lunch the next day. I don’t refer to that as leftovers, I call it: same soup, different day….
Josh ordered the pineapple fried rice with chicken. Like me, he ordered his dish with a spice level of hot and was very happy with his choice. He gave it high praise. The ingredients included: flavorful fried rice with juicy pineapple, egg, cashews, raisins, carrots, peas and green onions. It was festively served in a hollowed out, halved pineapple. The flavor and presentation were marvelous. His portion was also lavish and he had enough take home for dinner.
We are a family that loves a variety of cuisines and values food exploration. As empty nesters this makes meals with our adult children even more lively, especially when they take place in a newly unearthed spot. I hope that we’ve instilled in them a sense of culinary discovery that never gets tiresome. I hope by reading my restaurant posts you are inspired to venture out to places undiscovered. Please comment and share with your favorite spots with me. I want to hear about your esteemed establishments in MN and beyond.
Open Hours:
Monday through Saturday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Sunday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Lunch Buffet Monday – Friday 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Address:
2520 Hillsboro Ave N
Golden Valley, MN 55427
Phone:
763-404-8190 for reservations or catering services