Side notes- This is for the outstanding khanom jeen lunch buffet. Also, if you don't like spicy, sour, and bitter flavors, I probably wouldn't recommend this place even though I liked it a lot. Also, some of these dishes rotate occasionally so you might not get the same dishes as me.
Anyway, I went to this place a few weekends ago with a couple others for their rather unique lunch buffet serving their take on a Thai dish, Khanom Jeen; a type of rice noodle that is served with a variety of curries. For $18.95, you leave stuffed and the food here is quite authentic with curries/kaeng/gaeng from all the different regions of Thailand along with a couple extra dishes. As said, the various curries here tend to be spicy with some bitterness and some sour flavors so if you're used to primarily Massamun or Panang and other sweeter and less spicy curries, this might not be for you. Said curries also come with several toppings including greens, long beans, bitter gourd, hard boiled eggs, and pickled mustard greens where I liked primarily adding the pickled mustard greens, bitter gourd, and bean sprouts,
The rotating curries included the following described the following as a translation (as Thai words don't show up on yelp,) the description, and the region:
Nam Ya Kati Pla, fish coconut curry, central- Sweetest of the bunch along with the peanut chili. Had some fish balls inside which added good textures.
Nam Ya Pa Dtin Gai, chicken feet curry, northeastern- Chicken feet were surprisingly tender. Nicely spicy with a lot of aromatics as expected being a jungle curry with some vegetables as well.
Kaeng Tai Pla, fish entrails, southern- Strongest flavor of the curries with some vegetables to soak up the funk. I recommend a little bit of it if you're not used to it and it worked nicely paired with the other curries such as the nam ngiao.
Nam Ngiao Moo On, Burmese style Thai curry with pork ribs, northern- My favorite of the bunch. Super tender pork ribs and some well cooked pig's blood for texture along with a lot of ground meat (presumably pork also.) Had a good mix of spiciness and a bit of sourness.
Kaeng Khiao Wan Gai, green curry with chicken, central- My least favorite of the bunch as I'm not the biggest fan of Thai eggplant. Mildest flavor with light herbal flavor. Still fine.
Nam Prik Thua Gai, peanut chili sauce with chicken, central- Least filled of the curries in terms of proteins and the sweetest. Was fine with some nuttiness compared to the other curries.
Outside of said 6 curries, there was also egg fried rice (nice wok hei,) chicken pad see ew (same nice hei,) an excellent Moo Palo/five-spice pork belly with eggs, a subtle mixed sauteed vegetables which went nicely with the stronger flavored curries, a solid Som Tom/papaya salad with dried shrimp, vermicelli with seafood (didn't try,) vegetable spring rolls, and an excellent take on Kui Chai/fried Chinese chives cake which both had the usual sauces. To drink, there was pandan flavored water and there was also watermelon for dessert.
It's hard to complain about a spot serving AYCE rice noodles especially when the flavors are this authentic. Come in with an open mind and prepare for a lot more flavor than usual and you'll have a very good time like we did. Would heavily recommend. read more