Mekong I

Last week, I was on a mission to eat some good Thai food.  My craving for Thai food grew after having the haw mok pla from Yum Yum Thai last week.  So I decided that I would have some Thai food for dinner as well.  After some careful consideration, I decided to have dinner at Mekong I and invited a friend.

Open since the late 70's, this is could possibly have been the first Thai restaurant in the state.  I haven't been here since the mid-80's and found this to be a "reintroduction" to some great Thai food.  Stepping into the restaurant, I remembered the crowds and they were still here even after all these years.  There were no glaring lights here, but a soft glow, kinda romantic in a cozy kinda way.

**NOTE**
These pictures were taken in very dim lighting and without a flash.  I didn't want to disturb the other diners in the restaurant.  My apologies.

Sitting down to review the menu, we decided to start with the mee krob (vegetarian crispy noodles, US$5.95).

The crispy fried noodles were tossed with some bean sprouts, julienned carrots and a few other goodies like cilantro (Chinese parsley) and green onions.  The "dressing" on this dish was slightly sweet and a bit tangy, with flavors of fish sauce and tamarind being quite apparent.  I liked this because there was just the slightest hint of dressing.  Because of this, the noodles remained crispy the entire time that we had it on the table.

The first dish that we ordered was the beef with fresh sweet basil (US$7.95).

Slices of lean beef were sautéed with lots of fresh sweet basil, young bamboo shoots, fresh cut chillies and other spices.  Not knowing what to expect, we ordered this dish "medium-hot".  When the dish arrived, you could smell the aroma of the basil and kaffir lime leaves.  The dish was spicy, but not mouth numbingly so.  In fact, I think I could have ordered this "hot" and survived.  The flavors in this dish were just wonderful.  A great choice!

For the last dish, I was about to order a curry dish, but at the last possible moment, I decided on having something different for a change.  I instead ordered the eggplant with tofu (US$7.95).

This dish was also ordered "medium-hot", but wasn't as spicy as the previous dish.  The eggplant were cooked just right, still firm, and with just a bit of bite.  The sauce was flavorful, but not overpowering.  My only wish was that there were more tofu in this dish.  That would have made a big difference for me.

We each had a serving of sticky rice (US$1.50 per serving) to complete the meal.  Unfortunately, it was not served in the traditional manner, steamed in a woven basket, but in a stainless steel bowl.

All in all, the food here was just as I had remembered it.  Tasty and well executed.  How close this is to authentic, I really don't know.  Will I come here again?  Definitely.  Will I wait another 20 years to do so?  Highly unlikely.

Mekong I
1295 South Beretania Street
Telephone:  808.591.8841

Comments

[julia]

The mee krob looks interesting. After reading your blog, I resolve to be more adventurous in eating Thai food. My knowledge of it is just limited to tom yam soup, pad thai, and pineapple rice. :)

[Clinton]

Haven't had Thai in a long time. My brother introduced me to Thai food when I visited with him in Santa Barbara many years ago. All what really stuck in my mind was this tasty fried rice stuffed inside a pineapple. I was not used to being served fried rice with a sweet salty flavor, yet alone inside of a pineapple (kind of reminded me having one of those tropical drinks with little umbrellas stuck in them...a real tourist gimmick). To my amazement, I really liked it and that's probably why it really stuck in my mind. Since then I've had Thai food in Vegas and LA several times with friends and have found it to be very good but different. We're kind of fortunate to be living here in LA where we have multi-cultural cuisines to sample from. Have you ever tried Peruvian food? Seems like they're popping up more and more here in Southern Cal.

[FatMan Seoul]

Pineapple fried rice is called "khao phad sapparot" in case your readers are interested.

Reid, no offense, but I must say they're not what I'd order if in Thailand. Hahahaha ... interesting nonetheless.

"Unfortunately, it was not served in the traditional manner, steamed in a woven basket, but in a stainless steel bowl." ... that's the trend these days in Thailand too, rice is served in stainless steel container with a lid cover.

[Reid]

Hi Julia,

Welcome to the blog. The mee krob is actually quite nice. I like the way the noodles are crisp and light. This was has a very flavorful sauce that's both sweet and tangy.

Hi Clinton,

I happen to like pineapple fried rice as well, but I haven't eaten it in quite some time. In fact, the last time I ate it was probably when I was in Thailand about 5 years ago. No, Hawaii doesn't have any Peruvian restaurants that I know of. =(

Hi FatMan,

If I was in Thailand I probably wouldn't order this either. Although there are a lot of Thai restaurants here, most often times the menu is limited to curries, satays, salads, and dishes like these. There isn't really much variety from one restaurant to another. Must be the American palate.

BTW...the last time I was in Thailand, a few places had started to do away with steaming/serving the sticky rice in woven baskets. =( I like to eat it that way though...maybe it's just nostalgic...and it seems to taste better!

[Clinton]

Reid,

Sorry to get off the subject but if you ever have the opportunity to try Peruvian food, there is a dish which most people rave about and that's the lomo saltado or "beef lover's special". It's prepared sort of like a beef tomato with cilantro, red onions, tomatoes, spices, all mixed in with French fries with tender beef strips. Yes, I said French fries. It's all served up with Japanese rice on the side since Peru is oocupied by a large population of Japanese immigrants (their president is Japanese too). They have a seaffod version of that too wich is my favorite (lomo marisco). Thought I'd throw in my two cents.

[stef]

You've made me hungry for some Thai food. Looks like I might have to call for some Thai takeout tonight or explore some new Thai place for dinner :) Yum!

[wotmecook?]

Pretty excellent pictures considering the circumstances!

[Reid]

Hi Clinton,

Thanks for the tips. If I make it to the LA area, I'll be sure to look out for some Peruvian restaurants.

Hi Stef,

I like Thai food a lot too! I just wish I had the patience to cook it more often. To eat out can be quite expensive. There aren't very many "new" Thai restaurants opening, but there are many that I haven't been to before. I'm still searching for the next best thing.

Hi wotmecook?,

Welcome to the blog! Yeah, considering the circumstances, I have to agree. I was only using a little Sony Cybershot U40 (2.1M) camera with no flash and no zoom. Photoshop also helped a bit. Hope to see you 'round here again.

[Jessica]

Last night we took our friends (visiting from the mainland) to MeKong's. I highly suggest their Summer Rolls. You will not regret it! We ordered Evil Jungle Prince, Pineapple Curry, Green Curry (all with Chicken) and Ginger Chicken.

I will be forever indebted to my co-worker for telling me about this wonderful restaurant!!!