Thai Village

       

Address:

208 W Main Street

American Fork, UT 84003

or

410 N University Ave.

Provo, UT 84601

Price Range:

Under 10$

Website:

www.thaivillageprovo.com

This is our favorite Thai restaurant. If you're familiar with the Provo and Orem area, you'll know that there are quite a few to try, our suggestion would be Thai Village. Recently they opened a new location in Provo, so if you don't want to make the trip up to American Fork, they have one a little closer to home.

Order:

Pad Thai: The mark of a good Thai restaurant is always going to be whether their Pad Thai is worth ordering. Thai Village accomplishes such a feat. For those who don't know what Pad Thai is, it's a noodle dish made with rice noodles, eggs, fish sauce, tamarind sauce, some sort of protein and served with peanuts and a lime. A friend once described it as the cheeseburger of Thai food. I don't think he was too far off. It's hard to mess up such a dish, but it has been done. Fortunately not by Thai Village. The Pad Thai is definitely noteworthy when going to Thai Village.

Massaman Curry: For those curry lovers and even for the skeptics, Massaman Curry would be the way to go. It's so sweet and nutty you can hardly believe it's curry! Made with coconut milk, peanuts, cashews and potatoes and various sweet spices such as cardamom and cinnamon, Massaman Curry is a sweet dish served with rice and certainly an dish one can order with no regrets except for perhaps the little extra loving it will add around the waist when eaten in excess.

Thai Village is a family owned restaurant which means their service is rather personal and attentive. Their decorations are quite beautiful and diverting. You can't help but look around you when sitting in the restaurant. Make Thai Village your next stop if you have Thai food on the mind!

Maria Bonita Mexican Grill

Address:

171 West 800 North

Orem, UT 84057

Price Range:

$5-$15 an entree

You can tell a good legitimate Mexican restaurant when you can hear the cook singing along with the Mexican radio station that's playing in the back. It's been a while but Craig and I FINALLY got to go on a date of our own since our second child was born.

Order:

Each order came with a rice and chicken broth soup to start as well as the standard chips and salsa.

Pork Carnitas: Craig chose the Pork Carnitas without regrets. Though I'm not a fan of pork, this pork was sweet and moist. It was served with sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro to add as toppings. They gave him beans and rice (as per ALL good Mexican restaurants) and a spicy roasted jalapeno pepper (which he ate of course). He was able to finish the plate, but he was VERY full when he finished.

Beef Chimichanga: Two words. Fried burrito. Can anyone really go wrong with that? I asked the waitress which dish she would suggest and this was the first dish she listed off. She DID suggest the pork chimichanga, but as stated above, i'm not a big fan of pork. However, if I had known the pork was going to be as moist and sweet as it was, I would have gotten the pork version of this dish. The beef was well seasoned and moist and complimented the beans and rice it was served with nicely. If you're like me and skittish about pork, the beef chimichanga would be an excellent choice.

The service was friendly and helpful. They spoke pretty clear English, as well. It was a little more laid back. A couple of the servers were eating at the table next to ours, which was no problem for us but if that's something you're not a fan of, be warned.

If you're looking for a laid back delicious Mexican restaurant in Orem, UT, Maria Bonita's is the place to go!

Chen's Noodle House

Address:

435 E. 1150 S. Orem, UT 84097

Price Range:

Under $10

Chen's Noodle House is Craig's and my go to Chinese restaurant for delivery. Although it is Americanized, we love the food and the service is fast and friendly. It's right next to University Mall and is a lovely place to go if you're looking to dine in after a stop at the mall.

Order:

Cheese Wonton: Craig and I had never really tried cheese wontons before so this time we gave them a try. They're little pieces of heaven. Fried wonton wrapped around seasoned cream cheese and served with sweet and sour sauce. I can see nothing wrong with that sentance.

Mu Shu Chicken: For those that have not had Mu Shu anything, it's a dish NOT served with rice but served wrapped in a thin pancake. They give you the two separately so you can build it how you want it without being left with a soggy pancake. The dish consists of whatever meat you choose (in this case chicken) with cabbage, carrots, eggs, scallions, and dry sherry served with hoisin sauce. Chen's Noodle House is extremely generous in their portions so there is enough to go around and then some. It has a perfect mix of a sweet and salty flavor when mixed with hoisin sauce that you can eat them without the pancakes and still enjoy it.

Beef Lo Mein: Lo Mein, often confused with Chow Mein (thanks Panda Express), are soft noodles mixed with a soy type sauce, green onions, carrots, cabbage and a meat. In this case we chose beef. I prefer the beef to the chicken because the fat in the beef makes the beef juicier and very tender rather than the tough and sometimes dry chicken. Whenever we get the Lo Mein it seems like the box will never empty, no matter how much we eat. We appreciate the large sizes as we love Chinese food.

Fast, delicious Chinese food = Chen's Noodle House

Period.

The Bohemian Brewery

Address:

94 Fort Union Boulevard Midvale, UT 84047

Price Range:

$10-$15 an entree

Website

This past weekend some friends of ours, Craig and myself attempted to attend Oktoberfest up in Snowbird, however, when we arrived they were evacuating everyone because of an unforeseen complication. We decided that since we were denied the food and joys of Oktoberfest to venture down to Midvale and visit The Bohemian Brewery. I had heard good things from various friends about the food and decided we should try it.

Order:

Classic Reuban: $9 This Reuban consists of rye bread, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and pastrami instead of corned beef. You can tell a good reuban by how fresh the sauerkraut is and I would say this reuban is definitely one of the better in it's class because of the sauerkraut. You can tell The Bohemian Brewery's sauerkraut was fresh because the cabbage still had a slight crunch to it and as far as flavor, it was some of the sweetest sauerkraut I've ever had. Nothing like the overly "preserved" sauerkraut you find at the store in the jar. Also the pastrami was not too overpowering as one might think and complimented the mixture of sauerkraut and swiss nicely. Another fantastic thing about this entree is that it's served with The Bohemian Brewery's signature garlic fries. They were so fresh and garlicky, you could smell the garlic from right outside the restaurant. If you're in the mood for a traditional sandwich, the Classic Reuben should be taken into serious consideration.

Bavarian Brats: $12 This simple entree consists of two Bavarian bratwursts served with sauerkraut, mustard, and seasoned potatoes. The potatoes were cooked O'Brian style and lightly seasoned so as to not steal the show from the bratwursts. The bratwursts were stuffed with just the right amount of meat and seasonings as to give it a sweet yet slightly spicy flavor. The sauerkraut complimented the brats perfectly with it's sweet and slightly sour flavor by allowing the brat to still hold it's own spicy flavor.

Pierogies and Bratwurst: $15 This was Craig's choice and he did not regret it one bit. Another dish that included the above described bratwurst was complimented with four cheese and potato stuffed pierogies. These pierogies were delightfully heavy like much of Bavarian food but was lightened up by the dill flavored sour cream that accompanied it. They were served with sauerkraut and bacon sprinkled on top to give them a salty flavor. This dish is definitely a good choice if you're looking for more than just a bratwurst.

Bohemian Goulash: $15 I chose the Bohemian Goulash because I knew I would regret it if I didn't get an authentic Hungarian dish. I am without regret. The meat was the first thing I noted with my first bite of this goulash. It was so tender it practically fell apart in my mouth. The vegetables in the goulash were tender but not mushy, which is a hard feat when braising meat for as long as i'm sure they braised it. And the sauce was perfectly spiced with paprika that it wasn't too spicy but just enough to know that there was some in it. Alongside the goulash was served a mini loaf of soft, almost gooey, bread. All in all, a fantastic choice for a cold day.

Service:

The service was laid back and warm. When I asked for suggestions, the server was quite helpful and willing to describe the different entrees that I was having a hard time deciding between. Also, my drink was never empty, which means a lot since I always seem thirstier at restaurants.

All together, it was a fine dining experience and Craig and I can't wait to go back!