Ban Thai Restaurant: White Bear Lake, MN

April 10th, 2008 in Restaurants, Reviews

Soup and Wontons

Aaron received an e-mail from one of his readers suggesting that he try out Ban Thai in White Bear Lake instead of his usual pizza reviews. Aaron isn’t much for Thai so he asked if he could pass it along to me and he did.

I haven’t ventured very far from Century College, where I currently work, due to traffic issues but have hit some very local hotspots including Donatelli Bros and JJs Bierstube in White Bear Lake and Three Seasons Drive-in in neighboring Mahtomedi. The rest of the surrounding area is pretty devoid of anything decent to eat until you get out to the downtown area of White Bear which is several miles away.

Being that I’m leaving for a new job in a couple of weeks, Andy offered to take me out to lunch. I asked where we were going and he said, “your choice!” I thought about it quickly and asked if he liked Thai. I know that I would never be able to get Kim to agree to eat it as she’s pretty much a Satay 2 Go or Lee Ann Chin type of girl, so this was a perfect chance to give this place a proper review.

I checked out their site and glanced over their lunch menu (PDF) which included 15 items all priced quite reasonably, at $7.50, which includes soup and a wonton. They note three options in red and with a pepper next to them which I assume to mean “HOT!” Two are curry (which I can certainly do without) and one had an oyster sauce. Figuring I have nothing to lose by spending all day in fits of stomach cramping, I would go with the non-curry spicy dish (the #6 or Khao Rad Khai Pad Kha Prow). Andy also decided on a DANGER option and decided he’d try their #7, Khao Rad Nai Pad Prik Khing.

We arrived at almost exactly noon and walked in to find only a few tables occupied. We were both surprised that there weren’t more people enjoying their lunch specials… We were immediately greeted by the owner who pointed to a table for two with three chairs (while three could have eaten there, I think it would have been very cramped) and asked us what we would like to drink. We both stuck with the water, which she eventually replaced with an entire pitcher (when we were all said and done, was refilled again), even though they do offer several wines and “strong beer” many of which appeared to be Asian imports but they also have several domestics on hand if you’re into that sort of thing.

Andy looked over the menu and mentioned that their #12 (Thai Noodle Soup) looked pretty good and wondered if they could spice it up for them. After assuring him that I was certain they could, he stuck with this original choice, the #7. I didn’t even really look over the rest of the menu knowing that I’d likely end up changing my mind 5 or 10x and was happy to settle on the #6. The owner asked us how hot we liked it on a scale of 1 to 4 where a “2″ is a jalapeno level and “4″ is “Thai hot”. While I understood what a “2″ meant, I wasn’t terribly clear on “Thai hot” and knowing that this was lunch and I probably wanted to function for the rest of the day without dragon breath, I settled for a “3″.

Soon after placing our orders our soup and wontons arrived. A simple chicken and rice soup and a cream cheese filled wonton with sweet and sour sauce were placed in front of us. At first taste, the chicken rice soup was little on the bland side for me but after I added a healthy dose of pepper it ended up being a very nice starter. The wonton, on the other hand, while nice to look at, had a heavy taste of oil which really detracted from my ability to enjoy the cream cheese filling. I still managed to finish both the soup and the wonton ;)

Our orders came out soon after and Andy claimed that his just looked hotter than mine and I had to agree. Because his curry sauce was quite a bit darker, especially that his was a beef dish (Stir-fried beef, green beans, green pepper, Thai basil in a spicy Thai red curry sauce. Served on a bed of Thai Jasmine Rice) it *did* in fact look “hot”. Mine, being a chicken dish with an oyster sauce based sauce (Stir-fried ground chicken with green beans, onions and Thai basil in a Thai oyster sauce. Served on a bed of Thai Jasmine Rice), it just didn’t have the deep colors that his did. I did immediately notice that the “bed of Jasmine rice” wasn’t a bed at all but was an ice cream scoopish portion off to the side. I ended up rolling all of my stir fry into it.

Simply put, I enjoyed my dish. None of the flavors were all that distinctive, which was nice, as I was at first concerned that the oyster sauce might overpower the entire thing. I was glad I chose the “3″ on “4″ scale as it was definitely not hot enough to make me cry but did give me some of the sniffles and the staying power was good enough to keep a small fire lit in my mouth even an hour later as I sit here writing this.

Andy said his dish was good as well. Knowing that he’s not into the reviews quite like I am I asked if he would return. He said that he would but it would be more to support downtown White Bear Lake and a local restaurant owner more than for the food itself. He was glad he chose the “2″ on the “4″ scale and said that while he usually finds “spicy” Asian food to be a bit on the not-so-spicy side, this was definitely fine for him.

The owner and staff were very friendly and were happy to chat with us for a bit. I did ask if they used MSG and was told that they most definitely do not. I should have really asked before I dove in and I was glad to know that they didn’t — I’m thrilled I didn’t have to deal with the issues I would encounter later if they had.

Overall, a great spot for lunch that I would most definitely return to if I were staying in White Bear Lake but being that I will be moving downtown after the 18th, I probably won’t ever be back — at least not anytime soon. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s better than Satay 2 Go (it’s not IMHO) it’s definitely better than heading to something like Pei Wei which apparently has a location over at the Maplewood Mall.

Thanks Andy for the great lunch, you own!

Address:

2186 3rd St
Suite 111
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
Map

Phone:

(651) 407-8424

Hours:

Monday 11:30 AM to 2:00 pm & 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM
Tuesday-Thursday 11:30 AM to 9:00 PM
Friday 11:30 AM to 9:30 PM
Saturday 12:00 PM to 9:30 PM
Sunday: 4:30 PM to 8 PM

See all the pictures from today here (camera) on Flickr.