Lexi, Tata and I are almost in tears.
Despite the obvious lack of meat, including the missing flavor of Thailand's condiment of kings, fish sauce, the lunch at May Kaidee vegetarian restaurant in Bangkok is spectacular. It's so good, the three of us sit at the table in silence, fighting with our chopsticks to get the last nibbles of the glorious cornucopia in front of us. The restaurant is an oasis in the backpackers strip of Khao San Rd, which is populated with McDonald's, KFC, westernized sandwich stands, and overpriced, watered-down Thai street food. The restaurant is located in a cramped street behind Burger King -- a hidden heaven behind chain hell.
May Kaidee is the proprietor, but it's really a family restaurant, and her sister welcomes us in with open arms and smiles, encouraging us to join her tomorrow for a cooking course.
We start with seaweed fritters, moist inside surrounded by a golden brown tempura-esque batter and dipped into crunchy, sweet peanut sauce. The dish is for those who feel, "well, I enjoy the taste of sushi but do not appreciate its health benefits."
Fresh spring rolls here are wrapped in a thin, crepe-like paper versus the traditional transparent rice paper. They're stuffed with noodles, basil, carrots and covered in that same peanut sauce. At once, crunchy, savory, sweet, and herbal.
Next up is Massaman Curry, hands down the best curry I've had to date in Thailand. It's beyond thick, almost like a stew. The curry itself has strong flavors of coconut, cinnamon, anise, garlic, and chilis. Inside, there are large pieces of tofu, onions, carrots, and potato and we eat it alongside brown rice. It's nearly 100-degrees out but somehow the spicy hot curry still seems like the perfect answer for the day. I will say, however, if I ate in front of a fire on a cold winter's day, I may fall into a coma of sheer elation.
Dessert is a bourgeois take on the street food staple of sticky rice with mango. White sticky rice is replaced here with thick purple long grain rice, which is cooked in sugar, coconut milk, salt, and sesame seeds into almost a coconut rice pudding. Served alongside candy sweet mango and banana.
This just might be the best meal to date. We may be nearly crying, but they are tears of joy.
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