’Tis Dining Month, the tastiest time of year! This means we’re dishing up fun and fascinating food content throughout October. Dig in, Milwaukee! OnMilwaukee Dining Month is served up by Potawatomi Hotel & Casino and Wollersheim Winery & Distillery.
Looking for new spots to try? Lori Fredrich has dished out her top five picks in 20 different dining categories, from brunch to BBQ and everything in between.
Most people recognize Thai staples: Jasmine rice, green curry, tom yum soup and pad thai. But what about Lao fare? Fresh herbs, hearty soups, grilled meats and signature sticky rice are just a few of the hallmarks of a cuisine which has – for many years – taken a back seat to Thai food. But that's no longer the case.
In fact, if you want to learn about either cuisine, you need only to look to the new crop of young chefs who are proudly cooking up dishes that represent both countries.
If you always order pad thai or volcano chicken, consider this an invitation to branch out and try something new.
1. An Ox Cafe
An Ox Cafe
7411 W. Hampton Ave., (414) 336-0064
anoxcafe.com
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Among the newest restaurants on the scene, An Ox Cafe serves up Thai and Lao comfort in dishes like classic som tum (papaya salad), larb and a variety of curries including red, green and panang. Their gingery Lao sausage, cooked until crisp and served with steamed rice (ask for purple sticky rice!) and house hot sauce, is also a must-try staple.
But don't sleep on unique offerings like their delectably crispy marinated roasted pork which is served with steamed rice and house hot sauce. It's one of those remarkable dishes you won't be able to get out of your head.
2. Sweet Basil
6509 S. 27th St., Franklin (414) 301-4126
Sweetbasilmke.com
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If the full flavors of street food are what you’re after, you’ll find them in spades at Sweet Basil, which offers playful, modern takes on Lao and Thai classics.
Choose from classic Thai curries or street food favorites like Lao sausage or grilled steak. Or spice things up with playful offerings like jeow bong fried rice, which builds upon their classic house fried rice with the spicey citrusy zing of jeow bong.
Can’t decide? You can’t go wrong with the OG Platter, a feast for two featuring chicken wings (six), Lao-style grilled steak, Lao sausage, papaya salad, fresh pork rinds and sticky rice. Be sure to add a jeow sampler (flavorful Lao condiments that taste great with everything, including sticky rice!) Be sure to eat it Lao style: with your hands!
3. Rice N Roll Bistro
1952 N. Farwell Ave., (414) 220-9944
Ricenrollbistro.com
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Artful, thoughtfully prepared sushi at a Thai restaurant? Traditional Thai fare at a sushi restaurant? Why yes. In fact, you’ll find both at Rice N Roll, where the owners have brought both their Thai heritage and years of restaurant experience to the proverbial table. They’ve also brought some traditional Thai dishes to the ttable that you simply won’t find elsewhere.
Take the khaosoy, for instance. It’s is everything you’d want in a Thai curry, from sweet and spicy to creamy and complex. There’s beautiful texture from both the crispy and soft noodles, plus plenty of flavor from shallots, scallions and a boiled egg (you can get it with your choice of proteins, though it’s excellent with shrimp). Even better, the recipe is based on a traditional dish from Northern Thailand (and adapted from Chef JJ Lert’s mother) that’s difficult to find, even in a large city like Bangkok.
4. Mekong Cafe
5930 W. North Ave., (414) 257-2228
Mekong-cafe.com
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Mekong’s menu showcases myriad dishes that illustrate the liberal intermingling of cultures in Laos and Thailand.
Take for instance their khao jee patê, a Lao street food sandwich that’s similar to the Vietnamese banh mi. The Bang Bang features silky housemade patê, slices of Vietnamese style ham roll, sliced housemade barbequed pork roast, pork floss (delicious dried strands of pork), pickled carrots and daikon, green onion, Shark Sriracha and Maggie sauce. It’s phenomenal.
Also keep an eye out for stand-out weekend specials like mee ka tee, a delicious dish that incorporates the flavors central to red curry in a Lao dish that’s bright, textural and redolent with chiles and lemongrass.
And if you like coconut and appreciate the delightfully chewy texture inherent to desserts like Japanese mochi, save room for Mekong’s kanom nab, a delightful Lao dessert featuring caramelized coconut stuffed in glutinous rice dough and steamed in banana leaves. It’s delightful.
5. Vientiane Noodle Shop
3422 W. National Ave., (414) 672-8440
vientianenoodles.com
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Vientiane Noodle Shop is among a growing number of restaurants that does a great job of showcasing essential Lao dishes – including spicy papaya salad, deep-fried marinated quail and pad burapa – which all-too-often go unnoticed. It's worth the drive to Silver City for their house-made Lao sausage (sai oua); it’s delightfully crisp on the outside, fabulously porky within and redolent of fresh herbs including lemongrass and dill.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with each and every dish. She’s had the privilege of chronicling these tales via numerous media, including OnMilwaukee and in her book “Milwaukee Food.” Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or recording the FoodCrush podcast, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
