The Food and Drink Guy

Tag: Thai

  • Coconut Thai (Edina, MN) Review

    Coconut Thai (Edina, MN) Review

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    4.4* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 5*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 3*

    Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely)

    Total check/person: $33

    05/16/2024 Coconut Thai (952) 288-2888

    We were visiting our son and his fiancé in Minneapolis and knowing that we like Thai food, he recommended this for all of us for dinner – as one of his favorite Thai restaurants. The restaurant is beautiful brick on the outside (see pictures) and has a very modern interior decor (see pictures). While the Value is above average, it is a bit pricey – as curry and soup dishes are around $18 with an added protein.

    The four of us started with beers and a Thai Iced Tea along with appetizer orders of Gyoza pan-fried pork dumplings (see picture) and Fresh Thai Spring Rolls (see picture). We all enjoyed both – as they tasted just as good as they look in the pictures. For our main courses, the others ordered Tom Yum Soup (see picture), Squash Curry Chicken (see picture) and Green Curry Beef (see picture). As I wasn’t particularly hungry and always like to order Papaya Salad if its on the menu, I went with that (see picture). We all shared tastes of each others dishes and found all of them to be delicious!

    If you follow my posts, you know how hard it is for me to leave a restaurant without sampling their desserts and tonight was no different. Since we were all pretty full already, we decided to order the Cheesecake Roll (see picture) and a scoop of Grean Tea Ice Cream (see picture) and share both of them. Again, both of them were at least as good as they look in the pictures and I would recommend them both.

    Lastly, I ended up giving Service a 3* rating – not because it was bad, but because it was just that – average. We didn’t have a consistent person waiting on us, the communication was a little challenging and there was a wait for drink refills. Worse yet (and given the previous paragraph), I had a bit of a panic attack when we had to flag someone other than our server down to order dessert, then wait well beyond the check arriving for the dessert to be delivered. I was getting concerned that they forgot the most important part of the meal… 🙂 In the end, it was delivered though and tasted so good that it was worth the wait!

    A modern and attractive atmosphere with great Thai food in Edina makes the Coconut Thai a restaurant that you’ll want to experience in person.

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    Green Tea Ice Cream
    Cheesecake Roll
    Tom Yum Soup
    Squash Curry Chicken
    Green Curry Beef
    Papaya Salad
    Fresh Thai Spring Rolls
    Gyoza

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  • Ocha Bubble Tea (Windsor Heights, IA) Review

    Ocha Bubble Tea (Windsor Heights, IA) Review

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    4.25* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 3*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 5*

    11/12/2023 Ocha Bubble Tea (515) 255-3979

    This place was brought to my attention as a result of a Yelp event and I enjoyed my stop. Full disclosure…I did receive a complimentary dessert and drink as a part of the event.

    I am a dessert and sweets lover, so looked forward to trying a Thai Dessert and flavored tea at a new restaurant. The atmosphere is quite basic, in a strip mall in front of Sam’s Club, with concrete floors and minimal tables, chairs and wall decor (see pictures). However, a great new stop for a variety of teas and Thai desserts – if you like lighter versions of desserts, you owe it to yourself to give this place a try.

    The food and service were outstanding. I needed some help in understanding the options and completing my order, but the kind lady at the register was very helpful in stepping me through the process. The Mango flavored Jasmine Green Tea (see picture) was delivered almost immediately and tasted great – definite mango flavor and sweet, but not overly sugary.

    While the Pang Ping (see picture) took a little longer than I would have expected to prepare, it was delivered to my table while it was warm and delicious. Think of it as a thick piece of Thai sweet bread that is lightly toasted, with your chosen flavors on the outside. I found it to be quite light, yet with just the right amount of sweetness to qualify as a great dessert.

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    Mango flavored Jasmine Green Tea
    Pang Ping (Thai Toast)

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  • De Rice (Johnston, IA) Review

    De Rice (Johnston, IA) Review

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

    4.5* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 5*

    Service: 4*

    I had no idea this place had opened so close to our home.  Went with a group from work today and loved it.  The free soup and fried appetizer was very good, the service was friendly, the food was delivered very quickly and the entree tasted great.

    For my lunch break, I ordered the Crispy Honey Chicken as Very Hot.  I thought the spice level was just right (just at the point of making my nose run) and the flavor was great.  I will definitely be back with my wife for dinner some evening.

    Dinner update 1 week later:  Was so good, I stopped back with my wife for dinner.  We had a coconut mango mojito, the Surf & Turf Roll special, Panang Curry, Tom Kha Kai Soup and Mango Salad.  All were very good, but I really liked the Mango Salad best of all – mango, onion and cilantro with the spicy lime dressing and fish sauce were a wonderful combination!

    Update 2: Dinner last night was delicious as usual.  I started with an Irish Mule and then had the Sushi Set.  I really enjoyed the nigiri, which I had not eaten before.  Per my request, the chef even came out to tell me what each of the pieces were.  There wasn’t a lot of flavor difference between any of them, with the main difference being texture.  My wife had the Crispy Shrimp Cashew Nut (see picture) and it was also delicious.

    01/20/2023 Update

    Yet another stop at one of our favorites last night and once again, we thoroughly enjoyed it…and left very full and satisfied! On this trip, we started with an order of Crab Rangoon, which was delicious – especially when dipped in the honey. I ordered Healthy Fried Rice (see picture) with a heat level of 4 (out of 6) and while I found it delicious, I didn’t feel it had much spice, so added more at the table. My wife ordered the Homestyle Chicken (see picture) with a heat level of 3 (out of 6) and really liked it.

    5/25/2023 Update

    Yet another great stop – this time we enjoyed a Pama Mama Mule (see picture), Heavenly Beef with Sticky Rice (see picture), Crispy Chicken on Ginger Rice (see picture) and a Larb Salad (see picture). As always, all of the dishes were shared by both of us, were delicious and I’d highly recommend all of them.

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    Homestyle Chicken
    Healthy Fried Rice
    Larb Salad
    Crispy Chicken on Ginger Rice
    Heavenly Beef with Sticky Rice
    Pama Mama Mule

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  • Thai Flavors Ingersoll (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Thai Flavors Ingersoll (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    4.0* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 4*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 4*

    03/18/2023 Thai Flavors Ingersoll

    This place has been on my Want to Go list since being listed in Cityview as a favorite. My wife and I took the chance to try it out for dinner last night and while nothing stood out that would make it ‘top of the list’ of Thai restaurants in Des Moines, it is clearly a solid option if you enjoy Thai food.

    For our dinners, I ordered the Yellow Curry with chicken and brown rice at a 4 out of 6 pepper spice level (see picture) and my wife ordered the Panang Curry with beef at a 4 out of 6 pepper spice level (see picture). Our server shared that these were the #2 and #1 most popular dishes there, respectively and after tasting them we can understand why.

    As we always do, we shared tastes of each others dishes and both of us enjoyed both dishes. The 4 pepper spice level seemed good for both of us also, as it was enough to make your nose run a little, but not so hot that it required lots of water while consuming it. I would recommend both of these dishes if you are stopping by to eat.

    The atmosphere was modern and clean and the value seemed in line with other Thai options in Des Moines. The only slight hiccup during our visit was my Yellow Curry that I ordered with chicken. For some reason, our server mistakenly delivered calamari instead. It was still very good (didn’t want to waste it and send it back) and our server was kind enough to bring some steamed chicken on the side to add to the curry.

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    Yellow Curry with Calamari
    Panang Curry with Beef

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  • Thai Pop (Rochester, MN) Review

    Thai Pop (Rochester, MN) Review

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

    4.33* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: n/a

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 5*

    03/02/2023 Thai Pop

    This place was directly across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn where we were staying and since we didn’t stop here for dinner, we stopped here for an after-dinner cocktail on the way back to our room.

    Given our penchant for unique cocktails and my love of spicy and smokey drinks, we really enjoyed our stop (see cocktail pictures below). Our server was very friendly and helpful relative to helping us find a great cocktail for our tastes and in addition to enjoying the drinks, we had great conversation with a couple of people at the bar.

    The food that was being served while we were there looked and smelled delicious, so we look forward to stopping back here for dinner sometime on another visit.

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    Tequila Me Softly
    Tongue Thai’d
    You Drive me CoCo

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  • Cool Basil (Clive, IA) Review

    Rating: 5 out of 5.

    5.0* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 5*

    Value: 5*

    Service: 5*

    4/23/2018

    Can’t think of anything that could have been better with this dinner!  It was Sushi Happy Hour when I arrived (Monday and Tuesday evening), so I started with the Spicy Tuna and Spicy Salmon.  The coconut soup was highly recommended by the hotel hostess, so ordered that very hot with chicken.  It was so cranky and delicious – I highly recommend it.

    Lastly, my waiter recommended Coconut Milk Custard for dessert and it was also delicious!  This is a great restaurant with a fantastic, lively and modern atmosphere that I highly recommend!

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  • Eat Thai, Thai Eatery (West Des Moines, IA) Review

    Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

    3.5* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 4*

    Atmosphere: 3*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 3*

    4/22/2018

    I decided to come back and try this place again upon returning to Des Moines.  On the waiter’s recommendation I tried the Red Curry and added chicken – and ordered Very Hot (one step below the hottest, That Hot).  I loved it – just the right amount of spiciness and very flavorful.I was feeling full but the waitress talked me into some Mango Sticky Rice because ‘it was in season’ and boy am I glad that I did – I highly recommend it!  The ambiance still isn’t Cool Basil, but this meal was very good, so I upped my rating.

    12/20/2014

    I had eaten here several years ago and really enjoyed it.  This time, I ate at Cool Basil (2 blocks north of this restaurant) the night before and was spoiled.  I ordered the coconut soup (as I did the night before at Cool Basil) and  was very disappointed – this soup was very watery and had very little taste (as opposed to the creamy and delicious version at Cool Basil).  I also ordered the Thai Spring Rolls on the waiter’s recommendation and was disappointed when they were delivered fried instead of fresh with peanut sauce, like every other time I’ve had them (clearly should have looked at the menu before ordering).

    Since I had already had these two items and didn’t want another full course, I asked if I could get a 1/2 order of either the Larb or papaya salad to try it – and after the waiter checked behind the counter, I was told I either needed to order a full order or none at all.  So – I ordered nothing and instead went across the street for some Culver’s custard for dessert.

    Lastly, I am usually not big on ambiance – as I kind of like ‘dives’ if they have great food (focus on the food, not the building, tables, menu, etc.).  However, in this case, not only was the food not nearly as good as the Asian restaurant just 2 blocks away, but they were inflexible to requests and it really was a dive (tables and menus in poor condition, ice machine making constant noise, etc.).  I really don’t see myself returning here when there is so much better just up the street for about the same price.

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  • Exotic Thai Restaurant (Moline, IL) Review

    Rating: 5 out of 5.

    4.75* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 5*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 5*

    5/31/2017

    Have been here several times and always enjoy it.  Tonight I ordered the grilled shrimp  papaya salad.  Although it was good, I did detect a bit of a fishy taste in the dressing and was a bit disappointed in the lack of spiciness, given that it was marked as “native spiciness / 3 peppers”, which is the spiciest shown on the menu.

    I enjoy spicy and have also visited the Lemongrass Café in downtown Moline.  There, I order “Hot” (2nd highest on their scale) and it is much spicier than here at Exotic Thai.  My bottom line is that both serve great food.  If you are looking for a higher-end / professional atmosphere with a bit more privacy from other guests, choose Exotic Thai.  If you are looking for spicier food in a tighter and less private seating arrangement (many more tables that are much closer together) that strikes me as more authentic (Thai lady who appears to be the owner waiting tables and making suggestions), choose Lemongrass Café downtown.

    Oh yeah…one more thing.  If you have a sweet tooth like me, you can’t get any dessert at Lemongrass Café, so will have to stop at Whitey’s for ice cream afterwards (I did just that last night).  I just finished a delicious banana crepe here at Exotic Thai!

    5/3/2014

    I have eaten here 3-4 times while visiting on business and have loved every meal.  I like cilantro and lime, and have really enjoyed green papaya salads and coconut soups.  Based on that, the waiter recommend khao soi, an authentic northern Thailand curry noodle dish – with 3 peppers (native spiciness) and absolutely loved it!

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  • Siamville Thai Cuisine (Cedar Rapids, IA) Review

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

    4.5* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 5*

    6/1/2012

    Food was great and the service was even better!

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