Thursday, October 22, 2015

The Laotian Spot!

    Much apologies for the long absence but I am back and with some pretty good content (not biased at all)!  This one will be a review of a restaurant in Murrieta called Noodle Land that I found on accident because of Mel's cousin Ryan and his wife Boonmee.  Shoutout Chicagoans!  She definitely schooled me in the magical wonders of Laotion food so without delay please feast your eyes on this lunch that I rave to anyone and everyone about.

Green Papaya Salad and Fresh Beef Jerky

     Now we had this with traditional Lao style sticky rice not the dessert kind with coconut and mango.  The sticky rice is made over a stove top in a cone shaped bamboo steamer allowing the natural rice starches to stay in the rice and produce a sticky translucent accent to the two dishes above.  The green papaya salad is a traditional Som Tam but Lao style which has a bit more acidity than the Thai style.  The Jerkey are thin strips of beef marinated in Lemon Grass, Garlic, and some secret ingredients I am not sure of then fried to order. You almost get a chewy cure type of flavor enveloped in a bunch of aromatics.  

     These three components together gave me a feeling I haven't felt in a long time which I can only describe in this sentence, "WTF ALL OF THIS WORKS TOGETHER AND TASTES SO GOOD."  I put the all caps because that's how it felt like I said it in my mind the first time I had this.  Boonmee and Ryan proceeded to eat with their hands using the sticky rice and making a perfect vessel to make the perfect bite with the rest of the food.  I would like to thank the Gube family especially Ryan for marrying Boonmee and letting me experience this type of cuisine which I have to fight the urge of spending all my money on for my meals everyday. 

     Everyone go out and try this place and order these three things,  I highly recommend it! 

     Disclaimer: I got a 5 out of 10 on the spicy scale on the papaya salad and Mel said her mouth was on fire so order accordingly.  Enjoy you won't regret it!