Mekong Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Wasilla

I/we have eaten here numerous times since Gary opened. While this place will never be the Conde Nast dining experience that some apparently use as their benchmark...I/we have never had a bad meal here. And no one that we've taken there with us has. And most (visitors) who we've taken there have asked to be taken back the next time they visited; and 'locals' have returned on their own.

Our tastes are pretty simple and conventional so I couldn't tell you if this is 'real Thai,' or if it's 'Americanized Thai.' But it's consistently good. And we don't deviate on our menu choices too often since we found something we absolutely love, recommend and order - the "Special Fried Rice," usually with chicken and usually three or four stars hot. That particular menu item is one that I had at another Thai restaurant somewhere else, liked, got the recipe for and brought to Gary some years ago. We tweaked it a bit to flavor when he first tried it and he liked it. Then he added it to his regular menu - it's a consistent 'top item' in sales. Apparently others like it well enough to both keep their doors open and keep it on top of their menu.

Eating in the restaurant can take a while since they're usually 'slammed' during mealtimes. And it's a smaller operation so it's not like they've got five cooks putting out loads of food. But they do fine; you know everything is cooked-to-order, and fresh. If you're in a 'fast food' hurry go someplace that specializes in faster everything and enjoy.

Last night we phoned in our order - two 'Special Fried Rice,' one three and one four stars, no onions on the three. They said 'give us 45 minutes.' Forty-five minutes later I walked in and they were just taking it off the stove. I paid, grabbed and was back home in less than 10 minutes. It was hot, fresh, tasty and as good as if they cooked it in our dining room. I can't beat that.

Best of all there was enough in each serving to have some leftovers for each of us. They are now combined and will be my lunch. That makes it even better.

And...

I fasted the entire day prior and came with an appetite. I had beef Pho, he had the Mekong chicken plate, we shared the spring rolls. Got a Thai tea for the road. The beef in the Pho was the worst looking beef I've ever seen in Pho. It was unrecognizable cuts, few and far between and the meat ball was questionable. The basil was not fresh, nor were the bean sprouts. We got served water and weren't asked if we wanted anything else. My husband did finally request Iced Tea. Nope, didn't have any. (Also don't serve beer or sake anymore so no alcohol, glad we didn't want any.) So drink choices are water or Thai tea. Who doesn't have Iced Tea though? Asian cuisine or otherwise?

Cleanliness: The chili pepper paste and sugar container spoons were dirty. Like days dirty. Not just "this lunch" dirty.

Service: We ordered the rice paper wrapped spring rolls. Were served fried. We didn't say anything because we were both hungry. This was the best part of the meal and a fortuitous accident. (Last visit I ordered the non fried and the mint was excessive and overpowering)

The Pho broth was very bland. No soy sauce or salt on the tables.

The Mekong chicken dish consisted of peanut "sauce" and a mound of rice. It was way too sweet. Tasted like pureed peanut butter with extra sweetener and some pepper. He couldn't eat it.

Last time I was there I brought my friend who was visiting from the States. They forgot my food. After hers was half eaten they asked if we needed anything else. I said "My food?" Got it to go since my friend was finished eating. It was Pad Thai and I hated it. Was still charged full price!

So got the Thai tea to go. It was so sweet I couldn't finish it.

In closing, I've had Thai in many states and this was inedible. I've never not finished Pho anywhere. We went elsewhere to eat after paying there.

Such a shame we waited for the remodeling and this is what we got. Won't be going back which is sad...

Solid Thai option in the valley! Have dined in a handful of times and got takeout multiple times. Dined in this weekend and very much enjoyed the meal. We ordered fresh tofu spring rolls and the vegetarian curry with added tofu. I have had many, many spring rolls in my lifetime so I have come to have spring roll standards lol. The ones here are quite good. I really like the sauce-- it is vinegary and a little sweet with a bit of spice (exactly how I prefer my sauce, I'm less of a fan of the sauces that are basically peanut butter). The rice paper wrap is perfect consistency too--not too chewy or hard, but just right. The tofu they put in there was fried tofu cubes--they put a generous amount in. Normally the spring rolls come with chicken and shrimp. There is no tofu option on the menu but they gladly granted the request to do it meatless. The veggies in the spring roll are the only thing that is a 3/5 to me. It is lettuce strips and maybe carrot shreds if I remember correctly. I like to have some more herbs in there, like mint or thai basil to add more flavor :) That being said, the base spring roll has chicken AND shrimp which not all places include that so I bet that makes up for the underwhelming veggies for omnivores. Overall though, a very solid spring roll 4/5. The vegetarian curry doesn't appear to come with tofu on the menu but they will definitely add it. They have very good curry here. My favorite part is the variety of vegetables--I would say they have the best variety of veggies in the valley as far as thai curries go. Mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, and zucchini are what I remember. The flavor of the curry is very good too, has a little kick to it but not too spicy at all for those that don't tolerate spice. They do fried tofu in there too which is very tasty. I've tried some others things on the menu too and have enjoyed everything. Definitely worth...