Best Pad Thai Twin Cities

[Reddyrat]

My friend wants to go have pad thai this weekend. I love Thai food as well, but am not overally enthused about pad thai. I love spicy curries.

Where should we go? I've tried (and very much enjoyed) True Thai and Tum Rup Thai and the Thai place near Grand Ole Creamery. What are other good places? What do you think of Pad Thai Grand Cafe - also on Grand Ave? Or the Thai place at Selby and Dale?

Thanks,
alison

[AnneInMpls]

My new favorite Pad Thai is at the Jasmine Orchid restaurant in Stadium Village (near the U of M Mpls campus). They have both Vietnamese and Thai food.

I suspect their Pad Thai isn't particularly authentic - this is an expanded branch of the Jasmine Deli, which does all Vietnamese food - but man o man is it good!

Their other food is excellent, too, especially the Green Papaya salad and the Herb-Basil Roll.

City Pages has menu and location info:

http://www.citypages.com/restaurantad...

Anne

[plautus]

I had an unusually flavored pad tai at Peninsula, the Malaysian resaurant on Nicollet and 26th. I lack the expertise to define what made it different, but I liked it. But maybe some folks wouldn't.

[Doghouse Reilly]

I'd stick with Tum Rup Thai. They have lots of other tasty items on their menu. I especially like their red curry.

[cooknKate]

I like Ruam Mit Thai in downtown St. Paul. Parking can be an issue and after dark it can be a little dicey as it is pretty close to a big homeless shelter, but I have never been disappointed with their food. I have not had the Pad Thai as I like to experiment with their dishes, but overall I think it is delish.

[AliceS]

I have not had the pad thai at Krua Thai, but it is my favorite or maybe tied for favorite with True Thai, and I would imagine it is very good, but I could be wrong, as my experience has been that some of the most authentic places tend to fall off a little in the more standard dishes.

[kcmarshall]

The pad thai at Krua Thai (University Ave. in St. Paul) is the one dish that I found unacceptable. It was sweet and lacking in spice and complexity. Otherwise I completely agree with Alice about the restaurant. Everything else I've had there is delicious and distinctive. I especially remember enjoying the asian eggplant in green curry - not a dish I'd normally order but really, really good. If pad thai is a must, Krua Thai may not be the place for you but that's a shame.

I'm also a big fan of Ruam Mit Thai (7th and St. Peter, St. Paul) and their pad thai is very good. RMT is on the "wrong" side of 7th street but not far from Mickey's, Great Waters and Au Rebours not to mention the Children's Museum. Ramp parking is close and street parking is a possibility if not a guarantee.

Taste of Thailand is near Fairview on Selby (St. Paul) and the food is supposed to be very good. The service is legendarily bad though and even managed to annoy my tolerant wife. If you're a zen master and have plenty of conversation to fill the wait, you might give it a try.

Kevin