Archive for the ‘Thai’ Category

Chicken Curry Noodles-comfort in a bowl

Really wish I could have gotten this picture larger for you guys, but enough is enough!  My favorite Thai meal of all time HAD to get on the blog now.  Lemongrass Thai Cafe is a quaint restaurant in a little known strip mall in Tempe.  Located on Broadway Blvd, just past Hardy Dr. , just look for the bright green and yellow signs and you will find your destination.

I came here about a year ago for the first time on a recommendation from my friend Christy who is a Thai food fiend, so I trusted her word.  That night I got to sample a few of Lemongrass’ amazing dishes.  The sheer size of their menu is daunting at first, but if you know what you like you can find it or something quite similar somewhere on their menu.  My second trip in is when I ordered the chicken curry noodles, the dish that ruined me for any other Thai dish  for the rest of my life.

yummy Thai Iced Tea

There is simply nothing in the world like these noodles, even in 110 degree weather.  Like last night, in steep desert temps, I will get in my car and drive from Fountain Hills to Tempe to get my fix. Yes, I said fix because this comforting Thai soup is an addiction that I will never kick.  Imagine a creamy, thin, brothy, spicy, chicken noodle soup.  Next, picture incredible flavor with raw red onion slices, thin sliced chicken, ramen noodles, and a panang broth.  This is fill your soul, curl up on your couch, feel good food.  I order it spicy and get a Thai Iced Tea to drink as a refreshing cool down from the heat of the curry.  Think the lime wedge on top is just useless decoration? Don’t set that baby aside, it is crucial in the final flavor of the dish.  The lime gets squeezed all over the top of these curry noodles that adds the perfect zing to the creamy spicy broth.  I’ll put up a few pics of the dishes that came before the Curry Noodles, and they were delicious, but if I’m driving 28 miles round trip, I am going to get my noodles on.  They are heavenly every single time.  I LOVE Lemongrass Thai Cafe.

green curry and beef

It’s been so hard for me to write this article due to the immense respect I have for Tottie Kaya and her cooking.  For two weeks I’ve been trying to think of some clever one liners for this review and just the best way to deliver a stunning review for a stunning lady. Tottie grew up in Laos and her mother was the cook to the royal family there, so you know Ms. Tottie knows how to cook!!  She fled her country after communism took over and immigrated here to the United States.  Six years ago she accomplished her goal and dream to have her own restaurant and it’s just so darn good,  she needs two to accommodate all of us who love her cooking!

Tottie’s Asian 2 is sister location to the original Totties’s Asian Fusion on Thomas Rd. in Scottsdale.  Tottie’s 2 is a little closer for me, being located in the Lincoln Village on  Scottsdale Rd. behind Fogo De Chao and next to Trader Joe’s.  My first time into Tottie’s was for her Media Dinner that she had in February.  It was just spectacular!  The whole restaurant was closed to the public as food writers, bloggers, and people of the industry got to see how incredibly hospitable Tottie and her crew really are.  She had an artist there who’s amazing drawings covered the walls of her restaurant and we each got our own beautiful full color lithograph to take home.  Arizona’s own Candy Lesher was our host for the evening who made delectable white cupcakes with fresh blackberry buttercream frosting for us to take home.  Tottie had flamenco dancers to entertain us while we munched on Asian style tapas that covered a ten foot long mission style wood table.

must have Tottie rolls

shrimp, chicken and beef in this rice!

At this party I was introduced to the “Tottie Roll” ($7.50) which are crispylicious spring rolls that you put inside a lettuce leaf along with fresh mint, cilantro and some fish sauce.  Then you roll it all up in the lettuce leaf and go to town! This appetizer is just a happy party in your mouth with crunchy texture and popping fresh flavors all over the place.  It is a “must order” item in my opinion.  Also, that night I got the pleasure of eating the best panang that I’ve ever had.  At our table I was sitting next to one of Tottie’s distributors, and he too agreed that the panang rocked.  For the party it was just the curry sauce without any meat or veggies, but it was just perfect and we slathered it all over almost every tapas we had.

With such a wonderfully positive experience from Tottie’s media event, I decided I needed to go back sooner than later and bring my husband and some friends of ours along. As soon as I was seated I looked to see if  Tottie was in the kitchen, and happily for me, she was!  Cooking away she even had time to wave to me and say hi.  I was very excited to know that Tottie herself would be cooking our meal.  It was the perfect dinner and we learned a lot that night!  Going from a tapas party to Tottie’s regular menu I didn’t know how enormous her portions were.  For one thing, she’s on Scottsdale Rd. close to old town and every high priced restaurant or shop imaginable, however nothing on her menu tips $13.95.  For $10.95 I got a humongous bowl of beef panang that could have easily fed the whole table along with an appetizer.  The thing was, we had no clue about the size and the price was so reasonable that all four of us ordered our own dish so you can imagine the leftovers.  It was all so tasty and amazing service to boot! 

beef panang

singapore noodles

For the table we also go the Tottie Rolls ($7.50), of course,  Tottie’s Fried Rice ($10.50) and also potstickers ($7.50).  For entrees we had the beef panang ($10.95), Beef Kang Keo Wan (($10.50),  and Singapore Rice Noodles ($10.95). For me, I like some heat, so I learned that the perfect spice level for me is Medium -low.  They have low, medium-low, medium and from there it would just be super hot so I can’t tell you what the level is higher than medium.  Another one of my favorite things at Tottie’s is their Thai Tea.  It’s a brewed tea with a sweetened cream swirled in at the top and served on ice. Oh my goodness, it is so delicious, I have to have two when I am there and I have no desire to know the calories in them

Then, after eating two appetizers, four mains we were finished, ready to take our leftovers home.  We told our server we were passing on dessert, but Tottie would have none of that.  What she brought next was more than our eyes could behold.   All of Tottie’s desserts are dairy free (great for me and my lactose intolerant hubby) and made from coconut milk.  My favorite is the fried honey banana served along side coconut milk ice cream ($5.95)  We also had the pleasure of trying the ice cream sampler ($12.95) and her pumpkin cheesecake ($5.95).  Those honey fried bananas are out of control amazing good!!  My second favorite is the pumpkin cheesecake made from small green kamancha pumpkins.  The cheesecake has little bursts of the pumpkin puree inside and it is just very honest and pure in flavor.

mmm honey fried bananas w/coconut ice cream

no pain from this non dairy ice cream, YUM!!

This article is clearly getting long, and I could post pictures and descriptions all night from Tottie’s.  I just think you need to go and see for yourselves folks!! Tottie’s Asian 2 most undoubtedly gets the FOOD-TRAMP-STAMP OF APPROVAL!!

Tottie’s Asian 2

6204 N Scottsdale Rd. #106

Scottsdale, AZ 85253

 Lemongrass Thai Cafe is definitely a diamond in the rough.  Located on Broadway Blvd. in Tempe, Arizona, it’s a short five minute drive from the ASU campus in a very random strip mall.  Its vibrant green and yellow sign was nicely visible from the street for first timers like me.

cream swirled thai tea

golden nests

Having missed out on Thai food for years, I was excited and hoped that my spicy knowledge base was still alive and kicking!  Thank goodness it was because Lemongrass Thai has a gigantic menu! With over 60 entry selections, 8 appetizers, 5 soups, 10 salads, and 5 desserts.  It was a rough decision, but in the end wise choices were made.  To start, do not miss out on LT’s golden nests.  They are deliciously crisp hashbrown nests filled with chicken, carrots, green beans, corn, and green onion.  Served with a sweet and sour sauce; these were gone fast! We seriously almost ordred more, they were so different and deliciuos. For entries there are infinite possibilities, but LT’s yellow curry with beef and spicy noodles with chicken did not disappoint. Their curry is superb to any I have ever acquired. I honestly didn’t remember which colored curry was the hottest.  Yellow was actually the mildest and I was a little dissapointed in myself because I wanted to taste some heat.  However, the flavor of LT’s yellow curry was so light and perfectly seasoned.  My friend wanted to switch me for her noodles!  The spicy noodles had the perfect heat with tons of fresh vegetables such as broccoli, carrot, onion, bell pepper, and fresh sweet basil.  Lemongrass Thai works on a spice scale of 1, 2, or 3 with 3 being the hottest.  My dining pal ordered  a 2 for the noodles and there was some definite heat which was intriguing.   The Thai tea also can’t be beat. Fresh brewed Thai tea with a swirl of sweet cream over top makes a delicious pairing to the spicy food.

what a pie!

spicy noodles with chicken

amazing yellow curry