We long ago learned to not be afraid of restaurants attached to gas stations and truck stops (Wayne's Pizza in Genoa City, WI and some amazing Indian restaurant in Holbrook, AZ.). This is yet another restaurant in that list.
I ordered the combo pho, which was chocked full of meat. The broth was delicious which, face it, is the main attraction in pho. The accompanying plate had 2 fat wedges is lime, a nice Asian basil stalk and a pile of super fresh bean sprouts.
My husband ordered pad thai, which I reminded him wasn't Hmong. It was, however, better than I have had in some Thai restaurants. Perfectly sweet from tamarind. Decent amount of shrimp, albeit kind of small. Also piled high with fresh bean sprouts. It lacked the traditional chopped peanuts and we did miss that. 1/2 star off for that
We had pork egg rolls which were good, and the spicy sauce they provided was just the right amount of kick.
I ordered one of their Laotian sausages which were uniquely spiced and not as funky as some Chinese sausages I've had. Took that home to cook with.
For dessert we ordered one yellow yam-filled sesame ball and one purple yam-filled. I love sesame balls; chewy, lightly sweet, crunchy outside, sesame flavor. These were the best I ever had... And big.
Lastly was the Thai tea boba. It wasn't a great flavor. I mean it didn't taste like the traditional jasmine tea and sweetened condensed milk. Interestingly, we had the exact same flavored Thai tea in a Chicago-area buffet recently. I think these places are buying a boba "system" and their version is Thai iced tea is sucky. Another 1/2 star off for that.
We would come again, get pho and a rice-based dish, order a different flavor of boba and take home 6 sesame balls! They would be amazing reheated in an air fryer. read more