Thai Restaurants in Hackensack

[ngatti]

If the soft rock wasn't Thai, you got off easy.

Nice Site, Mamster.  I'm angling for a trip to thailand this coming February.  I'll certainly be spending time on your site before I go.

Nick

[Rachel Perlow]

She does need to get blinds in there, we changed tables last time to avoid the glare. I'll have to try that duck dish next time we're there.

nick:  yawn.  tell me something i don't know.

Errrr...That the professional baseball team whose home field is geographically furthest north is not the Toronto Blue Jays or the Montreal Expos.  But is, in fact... the Minnesota Twins?

Hey I knew that!!!  

[Rail Paul]

Is Minneapolis farther north than Seattle? I'd bet the latitude of Seattle is about 48 degrees, and Minneapolis about 45. The US Canada border in the west is on the 49th parallel, I believe.

If the US had won the "54/40 or fight" battle, all of Canada would legally be part of the US.

[ngatti]

Is Minneapolis farther north than Seattle? I'd bet the latitude of Seattle is about 48 degrees, and Minneapolis about 45. The US Canada border in the west is on the 49th parallel, I believe.

Yeah.  But there was no Seattle Mariners when I first Heard this.  Does this mean I'm old?

Nick

[menton1]

Finally got over to Wondee's last Sunday night. Cannot say we loved it, but maybe we just ordered wrongly. We started with Larb salad, which many folks raved about here. Either the spices were off, or we just did not like the combination. It was served at a cool temperature, which we did not like as well.

We stayed away from Pad Thai, which we love, because we wanted to try something new. We got Pad Prew Warn with pork. It was fairly tasty, but alot like Sweet & Sour dishes you would get in a Chinese restaurant. Not very interesting. Then we got a beef Pad Ped, which the menu said was in a red chili paste. The sauce was very thin and watery, not like a paste at all, the veggies and meat were OK, but again, not very interesting. The best part of the meal was the French white wine we brought along!!

I might go back there after a few months, but possibly we could get some suggestions about what to order. Or maybe the Thai combinations of spices are just not for us. I do love Pad Thai, in the peanut sauce, but you can get that anywhere. We left wishing that we had gone to Saigon in Englewood, where we love just about everything on the menu. Any ideas for us?

[Jason Perlow]

Well, Pad Ped would not have been my choice of dishes. If you wanted something spicy I would have done Gang Keow Warn (green curry) or Beef in Red Curry if you were gonna go for a beef dish. All of their traditional curries are very good.

The Larb is supposed to be a little on the cool side, espeically if you order it very spicy.

The bean thread pad thai is VERY good there, as is the Kee Mao noodles, ordered with sphagetti or the flat rice noodles. Their noodle soups are very good espeically the chicken curry noodle soup.

Appetizers I would definitely look at their soups and definitely Moo Ping, the Kharnom Jib and the Curry Puffs.

[201]

I could certainly see larb as being an acquired taste, but in my experience I haven't seen it served hot. Maybe one of our Thai experts could comment further on that. Personally, I'm a big fan of the larb at Wondee's, but I like the yum pedt (spicy crispy duck salad) even better! It doesn't travel well as take-out, but it's delicious to eat there. Crispy bits of fried duck on lettuce with red onions and fruit slices. Of course, I haven't tried the larb pedt yet... that may beat both.

The pad prew warn is crazy sweet, but you know that already. I think it works well to offset the heat of any really spicy dishes. Also good on that front is the pineapple fried rice. While not quite as delicious as the special fried rice at Saigon Republic, it's still beautiful in its simplicity (and if I'm just in the mood for pineapple, it beats Saigon Republic's fried rice!).

I'll definitely second Jason's recommendations on the spaghetti kee maow and the moo ping. I haven't tried much of the curry, but my favorite non-curry spicy dish so far is beef pad krapow. It's probably not as hot as the curries are, but I just think it has a very interesting combination of flavors. I still need to sample a LOT of Wondee's menu, but so far I haven't run into any dishes I don't like.

[ngatti]

Green papya salad (Som Thom)

Spicy Beef salad (rubber underwear time)

Moo Ping (see above, wear two layers)

Drop Dead Gorgeous, IMO.

Nick

[Jason Perlow]

Also good on that front is the pineapple fried rice. While not quite as delicious as the special fried rice at Saigon Republic, it's still beautiful in its simplicity (and if I'm just in the mood for pineapple, it beats Saigon Republic's fried rice!).

Yes the pinapple fried rice at Wondees is great.

The thing about the fried rice at SR is you have to ASK them to make you the special fried rice. Its not on the menu. So you have to tell Joe "Make me the special fried rice you make for Jason from eGullet" otherwise you wont get the SPECIAL stuff. The special one has the kitchen sink in it including chinese sausage.

[jhlurie]

the thing about the fried rice at SR is you have to ASK them to make you the special fried rice. Its not on the menu. So you have to tell Joe "Make me the special fried rice you make for Jason from eGullet" otherwise you wont get the SPECIAL stuff.

And you need to know the secret handshake too.

[Rachel Perlow]

It's also very spicy. Be sure to make your request with that in mind.

[schmooty]

I tried Wondees after all the great reviews here. I had been to Bangcock garden a few times and thought some things were good, and other things to be mediocre. I really like Thai food, but many of the people I dine with regullary do not. Because of Tommy, I ordered the duck salad as an app. It was wondeful. The crispy duck complinted the salad so well. What a refreshing dish. It would make a perfect summertime lunch. For my mains, I did a shrimp in green curry, and a spicy beef dish that Jason had recommended. The shrimp were overcooked, but the green curry sauce was wonderful. I think it was the first time I have ever had a green curry, but definitely not the last. I will try it w/ something different than shrimp next time. The spicy beef dish was superb. EXACTLY the kind of dish I was looking for. The 2 dishes complimented each other so nicely. I will return again soon. What other dishes are not to be missed? I am always looking to try new things everytime I go to a restaurant.

-AL

[Jason Perlow]

Traditionally Gang Keow Warn (Green Curry) is served with either Pork or Chicken.

BTW, don't miss the "Moo Ping". Thats like the best appetizer at the restaurant.

Their bean thread Pad Thai is also very different from most pad thai's you may have had as well.

[schmooty]

Thanks Jason, that's good to know for next time. I can't wait to go back and try more stuff there.

[pcbilly]

Has anyone else tried a dish called "Lemon Fish" here?

It is off-menu and I only have learned about it because the people next to us had ordered before us. The waitress/host told me it is “lemon fish” but did not give me the Thai name for it. The whole fish (Striped Bass ?) is poached in a sour and spicy broth and heated by flame in a metal fish shaped dish. It was fresh, spicy and delicious.

I highly recommend it.

Bill

[phaelon56]

I've only eaten at Wondee's twice but at Bangkok four or five times. I find myself going back to Bangkok more regularly (or did until I left NJ) probably because of the atmosphere. Like many, I found some dishes better than others at each place. The wird part was that on my last visit to Bangkok we order spicy as 8 on a scale of 10. One entree was off the charts - in essence almost to hot to taste the food. The other was barely spicy - about like a medium American hot. Very puzzling although perhaps a sald chef made the crispy duck that was so hot and some other person made the entree. One being a salad and the other a convenional entree, I wouldn't expect the spiciness to be identical but they were so far apart that it was ridiculous.

[janbee]

Since I work in Hackensack I've been to Bangkok Garden many times and always enjoy it. Been to Wondee's only once. Maybe the decor threw me off. What can I say, I'm a princess...

But reading all your comments makes me want to go back and try Wondee's again. I'll have to focus more on the food and less on the wallpaper, I guess.

Janbee