Restaurant Review: Nong’s

As I mentioned in my Tuesday post, I am going to tell you about Nong’s Thai.

picture off Nong’s website

My sister Katy texted me Sunday morning asking for a restaurant suggestion to get some paid thai, which she was craving. She wanted to go somewhere different. So, I suggested a bunch of places, with her landing on Nong’s. She invited Steve and I, and my other sister Krissy and her boyfriend to meet up for lunch. How could I turn down lunch a) out with my sisters (who I don’t get to see nearly enough) b) Thai food (my favorite) c) going out = not cooking lunch.

picture off Nong’s website

Nong’s is located in Golden Valley, off Highway 169 and Medicine Lake Road, in a little strip mall. Which don’t be fooled by the outer appearance.  There is a McDonald’s on the corner across from the strip mall and an amazing bakery, Valley Pastries right next door. I will most definitely have to do a post about the bakery!!

Steve and I have been to Nong’s many times and absolutely love the food. The portions are large enough that you can save half for lunch the next day and the prices are perfect so you aren’t breaking the bank.

Whenever Steve and I go there just the two of us, we get four or five off their appitzers and just share them. We seem to like the apps slightly more than the entrees. And, we both like to try a variety of items, this offers us the opportunity to do so. However, this time, we shared an order of spring rolls and each had our own entree.

I am telling you guys, these spring rolls and peanut sauce are the best ever! I have eaten a good amount of spring rolls and I can’t seem to beat these.

The peanut sauce is the perfect combination of slightly sweet with a slight saltiness. And the spring rolls, are just so fresh tasting. It’s the right ratio of veggies, noodles and protein.

Then for my entree I ordered the Bean Thread Vermicelli with Tofu, no heat. Noodles sounded really good, so that narrowed down my choices. And, whenever I eat Thai, I get tofu. I don’t cook tofu at home simply cause I don’t have the experience to make it right and Steve doesn’t like it. This dish was so good! The vegetables were fresh, crispy, but slightly tender; the noodles had a slight sweetness to them, and the tofu, was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

And, of course when eating with my family, it’s round robin with your entree. Loved Katy’s paid thai, but a little to spicy for me (she got HOT- I am a weakling), Krissy got a supper yummy soup, that was super savory and perfect for a cold Minnesota day, lastly, Steve’s was my favorite it was similar to my dish, but a little more savory flavor.

Every time I go to Nong’s I leave completely satisfied with the food, the prices, and restaurant atmosphere. My only complaint is the service. There never seems to be enough staff working both in the front of the house or back of the house. I understand its hard to know how busy a restaurant is going to be at any given time and having people standing around is not good business, but the restaurant has been around for a few years now and I would imagine that they have a good handle on their customer flow. A couple more servers working would make attentiveness to tables better and a couple more cooks in the kitchen might make getting food to the tables quicker and easier all together.

Picture off Nong’s website

Picture off Nong’s website

Have you guys been to Nong’s before? If so, what are your thoughts? Or do you have any other Thai Restaurant recommendations? Would love to hear from you all.

Valentines Day Weekend!

I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing and romantic Valentines Day weekend!

My weekend started out relaxing. I went over to my girlfriends Meg (at My Monochromatic Life) house for a little spa day. This was the perfect opportunity for me to try out the DIY at home spa routine I had been dying to try when I read about it on one of my favorite beauty bloggers blog (say that fast 3 times 😉 ) The Beauty Snoop. I was super excited to try it because I had most of the items to execute it,  I am a lover of DIY,  and what girl doesn’t like a little spa pampering at a fraction of the cost.

Between the two of us we had almost everything except for a face mask, so off to one of our favorite stores, Target. After a lot of searching on our part and some help from a wonderful male worker we found a face mask.

That night we executed a relaxing facial, manicure and pedicures, girl talk, wine drinking and enjoyed some red velvet Oreo. It was the perfect start to the weekend.

Saturday, Valentines Day, was romantic.  Steve made breakfast in bed for us, then we were off for a morning date at our local Caribou Coffee. Steve worked on some homework while I played games on my Ipad and read my magazine. It was perfect!

Once home we had started to get ready for our evening out with our friends for Valentines dinner.

dress front

dress back

This is the dress that I was loving for Valentines day. I picked it up at Primp around the holiday’s and saved it cause I thought it would be more appropriate for Valentines Day. It was the perfect amount of classy with the long sleeves and v-neck, but little sexy with the open back and shorter length. I paired it with my favorite shoes that I picked up around Thanksgiving. Even though these shoes have a tall heel, they are so comfortable!

Steve and I have been together for 7 years and this was our first Valentines Day going out. I really wanted to celebrate by going out this year and wanted to celebrate with our friends that we love. I was so happy that everyone accepted going out for a fancy meal and getting dressed up. I made reservations for the six of us at Vincent. I had heard great things about the restaurant, so I was excited to try it.

I had the sea scallops and sweet potato gnocchi. Which was amazing and filling. I choose the dish because I hardly ever prepare scallops at home and its a dish that needs to be prepared just right. And, the gnocchi cause why not, sweet potato and gnocchi are like my two favorite things.

The restaurant ambience was simple, beautiful and romantic and the serves was welcoming and helpful. This restaurant was definitely busy, which was fun to see on such a cold MN night. Since, the food is more on the expensive side, I would go back to Vincent to celebrate a special occasion. I was glad to have the opportunity to try it and happy with my experience.

After the fancy meal, we weren’t ready to go home yet, so we headed over to Brits Pub and The Local for some drinks. We ended the night around midnight, which was perfect.

*I didn’t take any photos of the delicious food, because it wouldn’t have been appropriate in such a nice atmosphere. You will just have to make a trip out to Vincent to see how beautifully presented the food is.

Then Sunday, we went to one of Steve and I’s favorite Thai restaurants to meet up with my sisters and their significant others. Come back Thursday to read about it.

How was your Valentines day? Do anything fun? Would love to hear about it.

The Ultimate Veggie Burger

It’s been a while since I have posted; life has been busy.

I am super excited to share with you all an awesome veggie burger that I made for Steve and I last night. I stumbled upon this recipe while playing on my phone trying to wake up Monday morning.

As soon, as I read that the burger used beets, I clicked away. If you have read some of my previous posts you will know that I have been loving beets this year. Once scrolling through the recipe, I was happy to read that I had most of the ingredients and just a short, quick trip to the store was necessary after work.

The Ultimate Veggie Burger is a recipe created by Ana from The Awesome Green. This was my first time visiting her blog and it is absolutely beautiful! I look forward to scrolling through her beautiful pictures and trying other fabulous recipes.

I followed this recipe to a “t” except for a couple tweaks:

– used Naan (Indian flat bread instead of whole wheat bun); I had Naan that needed to get eaten

-Omitted the coconut oil; didn’t have any on hand and my patties were moist

-instead of wholemeal bread crumbs used panko bread crumbs

-Instead of Himalayan salt used kosher salt

– Substituted 3 tbs chunky peanut butter + 1 tbs sesame seed oil instead of tahini.

– didn’t place the sweet potatoes on the burger; tossed the slices in olive oil, salt and pepper and baked at 350F for about 30 minutes or until tender

The burgers were flavorful just by themselves, but the avocado dressing is out of this world. It was creamy, salty, and fatty all at the same time.

The burgers were tender and moist, but held together nicely. I was a little worried when forming the patties that they were going to fall apart, but the baking process really helped hold them together.  The texture was perfect, the softness from the beets and quinoa matched perfectly with the crunch from the flax seed and onion.

Note: Make sure to spray baking pan generously with cooking spray to avoid sticking. I had some sticking on a couple, but the clean up was really easy.

I was really happy that Steve loved the burger and gave me the thumbs up to make it again. 🙂

This recipe is a definite try! I just wish my pictures were half as beautiful as Ana’s.

Enjoy! Let me know if you make it and what you think.

Laughter is the best medicine

Going into last weekend, I didn’t have any plans, which I was ok with and I knew that I would find something fun to do. And, I did!

Saturday, during the day Steve and I relaxed in preparation of his last semester of school! Then, that evening, Steve had guys night out at our house. So, my friend Meg (at mymonochromaticlife) and I, headed out for girls night out. 🙂

Meg suggested first going to Betty Dangers Country Club for drinks and appetizers and I suggested seeing an act at Acme Comedy Club.

When Meg, suggested Betty Danger Country Club, I was super excited. To be honest, I didn’t know a lot about the resturant, except for, it was the restaurant with a ferris wheel in-front.  Yup, you read that right, ferris wheel, which Betty calls The Danger, her vertically revolving patio (or mechanical tree).

I absolutely loved the restaurants quirkiness! The were different rooms within the restaurant, for example, if you are looking to sit down, you can choose the library, if you want a more casual experience you can choose either the bar or what felt like the garden area. The staff was helpful and prompt.

Once we were settled in the bar, our server presented us with three books, which we were slightly confused about but quickly discovered the books had both the food and drink menu tucked inside.

And, the books were actual books, not just props. So, we had fun flipping through them.

Then on our way out, we made a quick stop at the restroom, which I am glad we did because look how cute it was!

Meg and I both agreed hands down we will be back once the weather is nice to enjoy the outdoor activities. Make sure to put Betty Danger’s on your restaurant to try list.

Next, we were off to Acme Comedy Club to see Jackie Kashian. I suggested this because I hadn’t been to Acme for a very long time and I thought it would be something fun and different to do.

The MC started off the night for about 20 minutes, then followed by 2 comedians, one a young gentleman getting ready to embark on his first national tour, and lastly, a magician comedian from LA.

The whole experience at Acme was about 2 hours. And, the tickets were reasonable at $18 a piece.

Since, we were up chatting the night away till about 3 am, Sunday, Steve and I slept in. I literally did not get out of bed till 11:30, which for me is extremely late! Usually, by 8 am on the weekends, I am at least sitting up in bed.

Steve and I took it easy again, made some cookies, played some cards and we were off to Meg and Derek’s for a Superbowl party. I was present for the game, but didn’t intently watch because I was to distracted by Meg’s ADORABLE niece. She was the perfect baby, she didn’t cry or fuss, and she has the most beautiful eyes that are just mesmerizing to look at. I was lucky enough to sit next to Meg’s mom, who is the baby’s grandma and we talked baby and everything in between. The highlight of my night was getting to hold the baby twice!!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend!