Krungthep Thai

I love finding new restaurants to love blocks from my apartment.  The Whittier neighborhood is no stranger to good food, but I'm always grateful for more edible opportunities. Krungthep Thai (no website of their own so yelp is helping me out on this one) is a restaurant I've walked or driven by without a second glance more times than I can count.  It's on the same block as Bad Waitress and Pancho Villa, which have more eye-popping signage, and that block is not the easiest for parking (although, note to future diners, a sign inside Krungthep welcomes patrons to use the lot across the street reserved for the Vietnamese restaurant.

My Thai experience in the Cities has been hit-or-miss.  I've loved some (Sen Yai Sen Lek) and been underwhelmed by others (Amazing Thailand). But Krungthep was just wonderful.  The spring rolls, with strips of poached pork and a less-syrupy-sweet peanut sauce were a wonderful way to start. The Spicy Noodles w/ mock duck (pictured) and Stir-Fried Flat Noodles with chicken we tried were also fantastic, and about as spicy as we could handle.

I tend to think of myself as a brave soul when it comes to heat.  I've been disappointed by MANY Minnesotan restaurants that deem dishes "spicy" and then serve them with all the kick of a bottle of ketchup. So when the waitress warned me that Krungthep's "medium" was pretty spicy, I still went for it.  I loved the level of heat, enough to clear the sinuses and demand glass three of water, but not so hot as to cloud the flavor of the dish. That being said, there'd have to be a substantial amount of money involved for me to be able to muscle through a level "hot" serving. Yikes!

Not only was the food great, the restaurant wasn't crowded or overly expensive. The service was great and the proximity to a host of late night watering holes would make this the perfect pre-out-for-the-evening spot. I also plan on coming here the next time I have a cold.  Spicy food is better than Sudafed.

You can follow all my edible (and non-edible) ramblings on Twitter https://twitter.com/TheMinneapolite