By Far My Favorite Fried Fish - Thai Nakorn Garden Grove

My first visit to Thai Nakorn was the one in Stanton. The restaurant was packed with locals, especially Thai people on a Saturday night, which gave me a confidence boost venturing out this unfamiliar neighborhood. Every single dish ordered that night was packed with flavors - chilies, Kaffir lime leaves, tamarind, lemon grass, you name it and we tasted it all. With such satisfaction, we've decided to give another Thai Nakorn located in Garden Grove a try.

Not sure about the relations between the one in Stanton and the one here in Garden Grove. The dishes on the menu look almost identical but some food presentations and tastes come with slight variations. 

Most popular dishes also have pictures on the side so you won't get too confused by the Thai scripts and not so descriptive English translation -

*Click to enlarge images

Only took a few pictures of the menu but should provide enough information on Thai Nakorn's price range and selections - 

Looking at the menu now, I can't believe I missed the coconut custard, must give it a try next time! -

Lunch specials are available during weekdays - 

Both the Stanton and Garden Grove locations are pretty spacious. The Stanton one was fully packed during my visit on a weekend night and the Garden Grove was about 70% occupancy. 

Singha lager beer and Thai ice tea - 

Unlimited rice -

The long grain Thai rice generally contains less water compared to short grain types, which makes the Thai rice a perfect match with Thai cuisine. Thai food is often cooked in sauce or soup base, otherwise serve in some kind of dressings. The dryer rice works well with juicy dishes. In addition, Thai rice's stronger texture can withstand soaking in the sauce and remains slightly chewy without turning into a mush.

Garlic and black pepper shrimps -

Fried garlic pieces work like a magic with the shrimps. The black pepper also gives a fragrant kick in the end. I can't call it a spicy kick especially most of the dishes here are way more spicy than these tiny bits of black pepper. Highly recommended.

Chicken green curry $9.95 - 

Deep fried fish with mango sauce/Pla dad deaw $16.95 - 

Must order this!! 

I'm never a big fan of fish dishes in Asian restaurants, but this one totally blew my mind. Absolutely no weird fishy or chemical tastes. All I got was crunchy skin with very moist fish meat inside. The crunchiness stays till the very last bite. It seems like Thai Nakorn also seasoned the coating so the even without the mango condiment, the fish can totally stand on its own. 

Almost every table ordered the fried fish that night. To make it even better, no single bones, not even the big ones present. My have-to-order dish from now on. Thai people really know how to treat seafood well.

B.B.Q. tongue on bed of mixed green sour dressing/Lin namtok $9.75 - 

I ordered this out of curiosity. The tongue is on a chewier side but the flavors were packed with sour and spicy seasonings then brighten up by fresh mint leaves.

Beef Penang $9.45 - 

Spicy! However, the heat just can't stop us from eating it. Instead, we fought the spiciness with even more rice!

Lao's chicken soup with coconut milk/Tom kah gai $15.95 - 

The restaurant also offers smaller portion, one big bowl for $9.75. It's similar to green curry but of course more diluted and sourish. 

Both of my visits to different locations of Thai Nakorn were truly satisfying. Servers were very friendly and the price is reasonable. I would definitely come back for more. In fact, I would love to come back every other week if this place is not so far away from my place.


Cindy's rating: 8


Thai Nakorn - Garden Grove
12532 Garden Grove Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92843
(714) 583-8938

*Monday to Friday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and then 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.
*Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
*Situated on Garden Grove Blvd between Harbor Blvd and the 22 freeway

Thai Nakorn - Stanton
11951 Beach Blvd,
Stanton, CA 90680
(714) 799 - 2031

Coconut Bay - Twins of Banana Bay

I had a blog entry about Banana Bay few months ago,
And now there's Coconut Bay,
Two similar restaurants in Rowland Heights.

I'm not sure if it's under the same ownership,
But since almost everything on the menu is the same for the these two "bays,"
I assumed that the owner must made a lot of money and decided to open another gold digger restaurant.

Coconut Bay's Window Display-


Part of the Restaurant-


The basic design is about the same as Banana Bay,
The two restaurants all have live bands playing during weekends, sometimes during weeknights.
But Coconut Bay is more like an upgraded version of Banana Bay,
It has a big banquet room and pool tables,
Many flat screen TVs, video game screens, and projectors throughout the place,
And they even use electronic devices (kind of like PDA) while taking your orders,
What can I say?
Technology is gradually creeping on restaurants these days.

Menu-


Many pictures inside the menu. Very good.

Oyster Omelet and Fried Tofu-


I don't wanna be too picky here,
I can't compare this place to an authentic Thai restaurant,
So I'll just say that their omelet tastes better than fried tofu.
However, I wasn't too happy about the number of oysters inside that omelet.

Cindy's Rating for Oyster Omelet: 6
Cindy's Rating for Fried Tofu: 3

Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice-


Pretty flavorful,
Too bad all of their dishes are kind of small..
Can't feed a food monger like me.

Cindy's Rating: 6

BBQ Chicken Fried Rice-


I didn't taste it so no comment.

Hainan Chicken Rice-

Not as good as Savoy, another Hainan chicken rice joint in Alhambra, I'll write a post about it when I get a chance.

Cindy's Rating: 5

After all, I think both Banana Bay and Coconut Bay are a good restaurant for large groups, And they open till late night, Come hungry, eat happy.

Overall Rating: 5

Coconut Bay

18922 Gale Avenue

Rowland Heights, CA 91748

http://coconutbayonline.com/

Thai Bamboo - Clean Environment with Friendly Service

What's good for dinner in a steamy hot summer night?

Thai food is the first thing that pops up in my mind.

I need something sour and spicy that fires up my appetite (even though I always have good appetite no matter what)!

They also have dishes dedicated specially to vegetarians-

Fish Cake (Tod Mun Pla)-

I can't wait for more food to come after gobbling down this appetizer.

Cindy's Rating: 6

Chicken with Basil-

The jasmine rice served on the side is good enough by itself,

But it tastes even better together with the sauce from this dish.

Cindy's Rating: 6

Coconut Milk Soup with Chicken-

I love creamy soup!

Cindy's Rating: 7

I really like Thai Bamboo,

The place is a little bit Americanized, but the food still tastes good (in an Americanized way).

Our waitress was serving me and my friend with smiley face the whole time.

One more thing, The restaurant was very clean, I can't even spot a tiny dust anywhere.

And it was only 5 minutes away from my place,

What more can I ask for?

Overall Rating: 6

Thai Bamboo

6715 Quail Hill Pkwy

Irvine, CA 92603

(949) 509-4771

Not So Authentic Banana Bay

It's not authentic,

But if you're not too picky,

I think this place is actually pretty nice to dine at,

Spacious, occasional live band performance, and a giant fish tank.

Sign on the Road-

Thai Tea-

Probably the most common drink that a Chinese person will order at a Thai restaurant,

Talking about myself?

Cindy's Rating: 6

Fried Tofu-

Kinda cold already when they served this to my table,

So so quality.

Cindy's Rating: 4

Fried Shrimp Toast-

I love shrimp toast.

Cindy's Rating: 6

Cha Po (Rice with Three Items)-

Top: Roasted duck.

Middle: BBQ pork.

Bottom: Fried pork (my favorite).

Also served with On Choy.

Cindy's Rating: 5

Hainan Chicken Rice (海南雞飯)-

The chicken was ok,

But the rice was delicious.

Cindy's Rating: 5 (most of the points go to the rice)

Overall Rating: 5

Banana Bay

18230 Colima Rd

Rowland Heights, CA 91748

(626) 839-5511

Rooded Restaurant

Drove all the way to Hollywood just for this meal,
Plus traffic,
Is it worth it?
You can be the judge.

Restaurant Logo-


Noodles-


Pick for yourself.
The menu is kinda blurry so of course the picture turned out blurry.
(Trying to defend for my photography skills here)

Egg Rolls-


Cindy's Rating: 5

Shrimp Cake-


I love it!
Look at how thick it is!

Cindy's Rating: 8

Thai Omelet-


Stir-fried onion and minced pork inside the egg.

Cindy's Rating: 6

Stewed Duck Noodles-


One of the biggest reason why I like it so much is because it's boneless duck,
You should know how lazy I am by now.

Cindy's Rating: 7.5

All these food for $38,
(3 Thai tea, 3 duck noodles, and those appetizers up there)
Not bad eh?

PS.

I used GPS to get there,

Somehow it took us to the wrong place,

Just remember this:

You take 101N,

Exit Hollywood Blvd and turn right,

It'll be on your left hand side,

Look for the "duck" logo.

Good thing that I still recognize the restaurant.

Overall Rating: 7

Rodded Restaurant

5623 Hollywood Blvd

Hollywood, CA 90028

(323) 962-8382