Thai is one of my all-time favorite cuisines. There's something about the lightness with bold flavors.



And, Country Thai in Lansing had been on my wish list for quite some time, but I kept missing their open hours.



Fortunately, I caught them while open one day! I parked, walked inside and headed to the left side of the restaurant.



Their menu is not set. Instead, you walk in and see the various dishes the owner has created that day. You can get a plate of everything or pick and choose.




Of course, I got a little bit of everything that day! It included pad thai, spring rolls, a noodle dish, a chicken dish and more.



I would love to go back. What's your favorite thing from here?

Who knew a simple chicken and rice dish would gain a cult following?

Nong's Khao Man Gai is more than just that, though. This food cart started out with humble beginnings and has grown and expanded and introduced the folks of Portland to khao man gai.

Poonsukwattana had to teach Portland the ways of khao man gai. "It's about balance," she repeatedly says as she walks through how the dish is made. "Here and there I see people criticize my dish. They think that every part of it has to have flavor, like a burrito. But it doesn't work that way for me." Instead, Poonsukwattana layers flavors slowly, infusing each of the three main components of the dish — the chicken, rice, and soup — with essence of the others, whether in shared aromatics or, in the case of the rice and the soup, literally infusing it with the very chickens being served on the same plate. A wallop of flavor comes from the sauce. "I like the chicken and rice," Poonsukwattana smiles. "And one word comes to my mind: celebrating." (EATER)

 This dish seems so simple, but there's so much that goes into it. After learning about it, it makes sense why it has such a following.

While there are other things on the menu, this is what most people are going for:

Wow. There is so much flavor, the chicken is perfectly tender, and that sauce is spicy and sweet and absolutely delicious. The soup - flavorful and a perfect complement. That rice even has a chicken flavor. It's all very delicious together.

Grade: A

There's a new Thai restaurant in Charleston: Chow Thai.

Have you been? I love how Thai is seeing a surge in West Virginia.

The pad thai was tasty, and they're receiving quite the buzz around town.

Still to this day, I often judge Thai restaurants by their pad thai - it's probably one of the most common dishes so places should be able to make a good one. That was no different with Thai Valley Kitchen in Hurricane.

Thai Valley Kitchen prides itself in offering authentic Thai cuisine. All our dishes are made to order, using only the freshest vegetables, seafood and prime cuts of meat. We are privileged and honored to have the very best chefs, all native to Thailand. Our servers, all of Thai descent, are knowledgeable of our menu and ready to assist and serve you in any way they can. Our goal is to offer the highest quality food and service, allowing you the ultimate Thai dinning experience (WELCOME).

First of all, I love that we have Thai restaurants that are succeeding here. I love having the variety, and having more access to different cuisines I think not only benefits an evolving foodie culture but also adds some diversity to our offerings. So, I was super happy to see Thai Valley Kitchen in Hurricane. The inside has dark tables and chairs, with some brighter mango-colored walls and some standard art. Service was quick, responsive and friendly.


My pad thai - stir-fried rice noodles with egg, carrot, green onion, ground peanut and bean sprouts - was good. The flavor is nice; I just wish it was a bit more. Thai cuisine is so full of fresh, vibrant flavors, and I think maybe even kicking the heat up a bit on this would have given it just a touch more depth. Even without it, it's still good. I also got an order of the crab rangoons - crispy wontons filled with real crab meat, cream cheese, celery, carrot, green onion serve with house sweet and sour sauce. Seriously, I love these things everywhere. A must-have addition to every meal.

Overall, a pretty solid dish. Next time, I need to kick my spice level up just a touch to get some more depth of flavor. But very tasty nonetheless.

Grade: B

So, a new Asian fusion restaurant has opened in Morgantown bringing a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai dishes with it.

Green Tea Asian Fusion has opened on Burroughs Street (in the former Nonna's Bakery location across from The Wine Bar) and is under the same ownership as Asian Bistro in Northpointe Plaza. So, the two are very similar. Green Tea is like a mini Asian Bistro for this side of town.

There are just a handful of booths, a couple tables and some bar seating. The lights glow and cycle through bright colors, and the bar is lit up as well. It's simple, if not a bit sparse. A small case full of toys for purchase is available at the entrance (a nice way to keep kids entertained during dinner?).

The menu has standard items from Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and sushi. It's hard to know what to order in a place like this, because it's just a mish-mash of cuisines. Not that I think that's bad - I think it creates its own cuisine in its own right. Some people poo-poo Americanized Chinese food, because it's not ~authentic~ but that is so dismissive to the cuisine in its own right. No, it's not native to its country of origin; instead, it has crafted dishes specifically tailored to American palates - and some places are doing it really damn well. That's respectable in its own right. Plus, it's always nice to have places like this for when you want sushi, but your friend wants Chinese.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, Lisa and I took a long look over the menu and decided to just go all out and try a few different dishes. But first, we both ordered bubble teas. The mango was the original/most popular, so we went for that. These were deceptively giant. Light, fruity - I'm on board.


And, I already knew I wanted cheese dumplings, because they are my lifeblood. These did not disappoint. Very creamy, perfectly crispy outside (I think I like these folded over versions better than the folded up because they get more crisp). A sweet chili sauce for dipping - very tasty.

Lisa got the shumai - also delicious. I used to buy these at the Asian grocery store frozen, nuke them and pop them like popcorn. They're pretty cheap - like these - but so good nonetheless. Love these little things.

We got an order of General Tso's, because as you know, it's my benchmark for Chinese restaurants. Any decent Chinese restaurant should be able to make a good version of the most popular dish. So, it's a good way to start. And, I think this is a pretty solid rendition of it. The quality of the meat was good - not stringy or too dark. The sauce was sweet, just a touch of heat. It's what I was expecting, if not a little bit better quality. I was satisfied.


So, it came with soup and salad, which I passed to Lisa. Not my favorite parts of the meal. I'll occasionally go for the soup if it's chilly out, but otherwise, bring on the main dishes.

So, in additional to the General Tso's, we decided to try out the sushi menu and ordered the "Crunchy Unicorn Roll" because it just sounded so ridiculous. It was shrimp tempura, avocado, cream cheese topped with spicy crabmeat and crunch flakes. They definitely know how to put on a presentation. Take a look at these photos on Yelp. These were tasty; I'm not sure this combination of ingredients could not be tasty. It was maybe a touch dry with those crunchy things. Spicy mayo would take this up to another level. Spicy mayo takes everything up to the next level.

So, I think this is a nice addition. It has a little bit of all my favorites, and it's in a place that was void of this type of cuisine. Everything we had was good. I haven't tried anything yet that is an absolute "must-try," but the menu is large, so there is time to explore. And, I could see them doing a lot of takeout business since they're small. Or, delivery ... and since they're close to me, I might have to try them out sooner than I originally thought ...

Grade: A

So, a brand new Thai restaurant has opened up above ZenClay along University Avenue, and it's already dishing out meals that will rival many other restaurants in town.

Ta-Khrai Thai Cafe has taken over what was most recently the Dancing Fig location and transformed it into this trendy, but beautifully cozy spot. The vibe isn't entirely different from the previous restaurant, but it's lovely all the same. Lovely dark wood floors, purple walls, bright white accents and beautiful art.

The location is great because 1) it's close to me 2) there is free parking right across the road and 3) the ultra cool pottery studio ZenClay is right underneath. Definitely a nice little gem.

Inside, we were seated near a window and handed these large books full of glossy menu pages. The menu is quite large, and I took a photo of nearly every page so you can check it out. There are a TON of options, so choose wisely.

As we were looking over our options, they brought us some waters full of lemons, limes and grapefruits. My friend Lisa loved it, but it was a touch too sour for my taste, and I asked for a regular water. Mmm I love regular water.

As far as ordering, this presented a challenge. There are just SO many options. I wanted something uniquely Thai, but there's just a lot to sift through. So, I put in an appetizer to buy some time: cheese rangoons. Obviously.

These were ... I think the best I've had in town. Super creamy, but also little hunks of onion all fried up with a sweet sauce on the side. You just can't go wrong. But what's perfect about these is the way they are wrapped makes it so there is cream cheese in every bite (so there aren't those pointy pieces that are just fried), and these are filled to the brim with cream cheese. Plus, I love the little extra texture of onion so it's not too creamy. Just fantastic.

We were presented with another appetizer - on the house. Crab puffs were essentially small fried pockets of crab. It was served with a sort of sweet relish. Not bad, but it's hard to go up against those crab rangoons.

OK, time to choose. I went with the pad thai because I feel like it can be a general measurement by which to gauge. Kind of like every Chinese restaurant needs to, at minimum, have a good General Tso's... I feel like pad thai is probably an easy entry dish for many folks unfamiliar with Thai cuisine, so they should have a good one. You can choose how spicy you want the dish, and she even asked if we'd like hot sauce on the side. No. Thank. You. Just regular, no spicy.

These noodles are a bit thicker than Chaang Thai's, and there's so many wonderful textures. Sometimes just a pile of noodles is a bit much; that texture variation is key. And there were scallions, peanuts, chicken, egg, bean sprouts and cilantro all in a tamarind sauce. The flavor - delicious. Definitely on the sweeter side, but I'm into that. It was very good. I love the slight chew of the noodles and that sweet and flavorful sauce.

It might be a bold claim - but I think I may have a new favorite restaurant in my arsenal. The service was incredible - very accommodating, very helpful and even gave us a 10% discount. One of the other diners knew the place was open from a post I put out and mentioned it to the waitress, who was super thankful. They did only take cash, but they should be online and taking cards by now. Cash might be safe juuuust in case. And, the food - there is a lot, which can be overwhelming, but everything I ate was super good. Give 'em a try. Tell me what you think.

Grade: A


Check out their full menu: