Ruam Mit Thai – St. Paul, MN

D.Rough and I were starving on a Sunday night and decided to head downtown for some Thai food. She had driven past this place and thought she needed to try it – since I’m always game for Thai food, I was a willing participant. Once we got inside the place, we started seeing all kinds of City Pages awards and a write up from MinnesotaLife magazine, so we thought this was going to be a decent meal.

The place had a handful of people in it for a Sunday night, so we got seated almost immediately. We scanned the menu and thought we should just decide on an appetizer and then worry about the main entrees – the menu is pretty significant so we knew we’d be a while. We are both pretty adventurous on the Asian cuisine, so we got something neither of us had ever heard of before: Banh Xeo – a rice flour crepe with coconut milk and yellow curry folded over bean sprouts and pork. Then we decided on some pretty crazy dishes: D.Rough opted for the Roast Duck Curry but she had them replace the sweet peas normally included in the dish with pea pods. She can only eat peas in pod form (it’s not even worth asking the question, believe me) and didn’t feel comfortable asking them to reassemble peas back into the pods on a Sunday night. I went with Tod Gratiam Prig Thai (it said it was for garlic lovers – which I am). Both were ordered with the highest spice level of hot – sometimes you just need to clear your sinuses, right?

We didn’t wait long for our appetizer, probably because we ordered it before ordering our entrées. It wasn’t at all what I thought I was getting, but it was delicious. It is best described as a sort of egg-less omelet with curry and bean spouts in the middle. It came with this amazing dipping sauce that was clear and sweet and light and then there were angry red pepper flakes throughout the sauce that made it an epic battle in your mouth. It was perfect with this curry crepe – well played, Ruam Mit Thai!

Our food came out shortly after that and, as usual, D.Rough’s looked much better than mine. Mine didn’t look bad by any stretch, it just looked… uhhh… simple. I’m used to complex dishes with lots of things mixed together in an unidentifiable sauce, and this wasn’t it. It was very straight forward. It looked like a fancy salad with chicken. It looked pretty, but simple. The cucumbers were cut into fancy garnishes, but it was simply some iceberg lettuce pieces, some cucumbers and tomatoes and strips of chicken in a brown. I WILL say, the brown gravy was really amazing, especially since that was where all the spice was at – though it still could have been a couple notches higher on the spice level and I wouldn’t have complained. It was a delicious meal, but I would probably reserve that item for people who aren’t very adventurous with their Thai food.

D.Rough’s Roast Duck Curry looked fantastic. You could see the spices were pretty significant, but what was really impressive was the amount of duck that was in the bowl. The waitress had told us they were sadly out of basil, but it looked like they managed to find a couple pieces to put in her bowl, so that helped the flavor as well. The whole thing she had was awesome. With a side of white rice to cool down the mouth, it was a perfect dish and I would recommend this one VERY highly. It was very impressive, both the flavor and the heat.

After we both finished our dishes and I conceded that her dinner was leaps and bounds better than mine (even though mine was just fine), we both realized that the longer we sat there, the more on fire our mouths were. Sometimes Thai spices will do that. You don’t know you’re in danger of spontaneously combusting until after the meal. It was a good heat though. Again, no complaints at all about this place. The staff were super helpful and attentive and made sure we were doing alright without pestering us.

We will be back to Ruam Mit Thai, for sure. We took a to-go menu, since D.Rough lives within walking distance of it. This may become a regular Sunday night staple for bringing home and watching movies. At least, that’s MY vote…

Top 5 things about Ruam Mit Thai
1. Roast Duck Curry
2. Bahn Xeo
3. Very diverse menu that made me want to try everything
4. Spice level was probably closer to accurate than I initially thought
5. Super awesome light sauce with angry-ness flakes

Bottom 5 things
1. My dish was good, but still a let down when I was TRYING to be adventurous
2. Sooo many things I want to try on the menu
3. They were out of basil (though they still found us some)
4. I felt like I betrayed the Thai people by not ordering fresh spring rolls, but D.Rough and I made (and ate) about 50 of them just a few nights earlier (yes, about 50… really)
5. I should have read the articles to find out if they have a signature dish – totally my fault

www.ruam-mit-thai.net