Thai Mekong

Where: 10224 196th St. Ct. E., Graham, 253.847.3853, www.thaimekong.com
Hours: Monday -Saturday 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Cuisine: Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese
Scene: Casual, family-friendly dining
Drinkies: Thai iced tea, coffee, bubble tea in assorted flavors, hot jasmine and green tea, coconut juice, fountain drinks
Prices: $6.95-$15.95

ANNOUNCER: Opening in the summer of 2007, Thai Mekong has developed loyal clientele in the Graham area who make repeat visits part of their regular dinner plans.  Family owned and operated, the medium-sized restaurant is located in a newer strip mall set back from Meridian Avenue. It appears as an island in a sea of fields, farming and undeveloped land. Focusing on freshness, Mekong is open for lunch and dinner serving traditional Thai as well as Vietnamese and Chinese dishes.

JAKE: Everything on the extensive menu sounded good. Rather than order regular courses, Jason and I just picked a bunch of stuff and asked that it be served as it became ready and thus created our own nonstop buffet. The woman who waited on us was obviously part of the family that owns Mekong. We could tell she really cared how our food was and if we liked it. And she called me honey.

JASON: And you blushed. I’m totally telling your wife so I can watch you squirm. The décor was tasteful — not cheesy or overblown — and there weren’t any dollar store vases or glass flowers anywhere. For variety, the appetizer sampler is the way to go. You can swap out what you don’t want for more of what you love. We skipped the deep-fried egg roll and had an extra spring roll. Crisp lettuce, julienned carrots, fresh cilantro, soft rice vermicelli, and cooked shrimp were rolled in a rice paper wrapper. Oh, freshness, we’d missed you! Peanut sauce was on the thin side, for which I was glad. I really don’t get down with peanut butter and shrimp.

JAKE: That’s not what I heard. Moist but not greasy, dense fish cakes were spruced up with fragrant basil. Dipped in tangy vinegar and sweet red pepper sauce, they were delicious. Chicken skewers had good coconut milk flavor but were disappointingly dry, and a bath of peanut sauce improved things only a miniscule amount.

JASON: Pork candy — it’s sweet, meaty and finger-lickin’ good. Heavily marinated and barbecued till lightly charred, this Thai-style barbecue pork had a slight zing of chili pepper heat and a subtle hint of garlic underlying the sweet forefront of flavor. Served with slices of ruby red tomato on top of shredded lettuce and garnished with green and red onion, this is a no frills all-the-way-good dish. A rice wine vinegar cucumber salad rode shotgun.

JAKE: Yeah, hard not to notice that you ate with your hands. All you had to do was ask for a steak knife.

JASON: Lay off. You’re allowed to eat barbecue with your hands.  Pad kee mao, or drunken noodles, is a fave on the after-hours circuit in Thailand. Seems it satisfies the drunken munchies and is damn tasty, too. The sauce is a work of art with a base typically of oyster, soy and fish sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, chili-garlic paste, and lime juice, but each cook has his own version.  Broad flat rice noodles were a bit overcooked; yet, the broccoli, thinly sliced carrots and red peppers had a nice snap to them. The chicken in this dish tasted rich and savory. Baby corn, bok choy, onion, long green beans, and red pepper flakes rounded out the ingredients.

JAKE: Mekong’s signature fried rice is out of this world. Lemon Grass in Olympia makes a similar dish called east west fried rice. Mekong’s is serious competition. Soft but not mushy rice was loaded with sweet raisins and pineapple chunks, cubed carrot, large pieces of soft white onion, green peas, whole basil leaves, long strips of green onion, cooked egg, and plentiful tofu chunks.  The steaming combination was like having a 12-piece New Orleans jazz band play in your mouth — It’s impossible to determine which part is your favorite when it’s all so good together. Cool cucumber slices were fanned out as garnish.

JASON: Pretty stuffed at the end, so we had ultra sweet lychee bubble tea and a creamy Thai iced coffee for dessert. We’ll be back for crispy creamy coconut khanom krok.