Mee Sen Thai Eatery

Right next to Churn Cafe and their fabulous fusion brunch, you will find an authentic Thai eatery in Mee Sen Thai.  We took the opportunity to hop on over for a meal since we were in the neighbourhood already.  I've already mentioned that the Thai food game is strong in Portland compared to where I come from (Vancouver, B.C.).  In addition, what I've noticed is that the Thai food is also more diverse with an array of dishes I've never seen before.  This would also apply with our visit to Mee Sen Thai Eatery.

An example of such a dish is the Kang Jued.  This was a refreshing and comforting dish featuring a clear soup, egg tofu and minced chicken meatballs with glass noodles, carrots, shiitake mushroom, napa cabbage and bak choy.  The broth was light and a bit sweet while taking on the flavors of the ingredients.  The noodles were slippery and not overdone while the veggies were still vibrant.  Loved the soft egg tofu and the meatballs were moist.

Now 2 dishes that were more typical and I've definitely had before - Moo Ping (Pork Skewers) and Tod Mon (Fish Cakes).  Beautifully charred, the pork skewers were tender with an appealing meatiness.  They were properly marinated where there was some aromatics and sweetness.  As for the fish cakes, they had an incredible bounce texture that was great.  They were lightly sweet and moist.  On the side, we found a sweet & sour sauce with crushed peanuts.

Another dish I've yet to try before was the Larb Gai Tod.  Sure, I've had Larb before, but not with fried chicken breast.  So texturally, this was completely different than the ground meat that I'm used to having.  There was a robust quality to the dish where the usual larb flavors (sweet, spicy and tangy) were still there.  However, the pieces of chicken were not as crispy anymore due to the addition of wet ingredients.  The chicken was tender though.

One dish that I was strangely in love with was the Hoy Tod.  These crunchy pancakes had mussels and scallion hidden inside.  This provided a seafoody chewiness beyond the crunchy exterior and somewhat fluffy interior.  Not complex by any means, yet the textural contrast and the brininess was really up my alley.  I couldn't stop eating these!  This also came with a sweet & spicy sriracha sauce.

Back to the more typical dishes in the Peek Gai Tod (Fried Chicken Wings), we had them sauced in spicy basil.  These wings were ginormous and hence with the modest deep fry, they were also juicy and tender.  Personally, I would've preferred a more aggressive deep fry since the skin wasn't all that rendered.  It was still lightly crispy though and the spicy basil glaze was delicious.  There was aromatics, spice and garlickiness.

Another form of fried chicken arrived with our next dish in the Hat Yai Fried Chicken.  Unlike the North American type of fried chicken, this one featured a barely-there batter.  It was thin and allowed the skin to completely render.  By virtue of using rice flour, it was also very crispy.  Inside, the dark meat chicken was juicy and nicely brined.  I could definitely taste the sweetness as well as the brininess of the fish sauce.

Another dish I've never had before was the Goong Ob Woon Sen featuring prawns with glass noodles.  Albeit, I've had something similar in Cantonese cuisine (just like the Kang Jued), so this was familiar to me.  With plenty of aromatics from the garlic, ginger and cilantro, the slippery and chewy glass noodles were tasty.  There was some pepperiness to the dish and the addition of pork provided depth.  The shrimp were buttery with a snap.

Onto a classic Northern Thai dish in the Khao Soi Gai.  This was a good version featuring a creamy and rich red curry broth.  The egg noodles were still chewy and not clumpy.  They soaked up some of the broth and the aromatics and slight spiciness (nutty smokiness from the chili condiment) made me want to keep eating it.  The chicken leg was fall-off-the-bone tender.  Also, the crispy fried egg noodles helped soak up even more of the delicious broth.

For me at least, a Thai meal isn't complete without both the Pad See Ew and the Pad Thai.  Yes, a bit defaultish, but at the same time, when done right, delicious.  I'm happy to report that the both exhibited good wok hay which meant there was smokiness, nuttiness and caramelization.  For the Pad See Ew, the noodles were not clumpy and had elasticity.  We choose tofu instead of meat and that enabled the flavors from the stir-fry to stand out including a bit of spice (we chose medium) and balanced saltiness with sweetness.  The Pad Thai was tangy from the tamarind and also sweet from the palm sugar.  There was some brininess and of course some spice too.

Saving the best for last, we had the Khao Pad Puu (Crab Fried Rice).  We've already had some great versions on this trip to Portland and I was glad we ended off with another great dish.  The discernible grains of rice were chewy, nutty and caramelized.  There was plenty of other aromatics from the garlic, onions, scallions and sesame seeds as well.  Add in the on point seasoning and plenty of fluffy crab, the fried rice was really good!

For dessert, we were served a Thai Tea Cake that was reminiscent of cheesecake in texture.  Specifically, a Basque cheesecake where it was fairly dense and creamy.  It wasn't as sweet as it appeared but definitely wasn't flavorless either.  In the end, the meal at Mee Sen Thai was satisfying with some real highlights.  The wok hay was evident, especially with the noodle dishes and also the fried rice.  Also had some unique items we've never had before as well.  Portions are large, so bring some people to help share!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Dishes had wok hay (good caramelization and smokiness)

- Large portions

- Cute decor

The Bad:

- Maybe the wings could've been fried more golden brown and crispy