14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
MAI TONG
THAI FOOD
Mai Tong fills
Thai gap in
Astoria cuisine
Rating:
400-498 13th Street
Astoria, Ore.
97103
971-320-0849
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thurs-
day through Monday
Price: $ – Entrées from $8 to
$10
Service: Take-out only,
well-packaged
Vegetarian / Vegan Options:
Plentiful
Drinks: Bottled water, soda
Review by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/MOUTHOFTHECOLUMBIA
W
hen the Mai Tong Thai
Food truck opened at the
end of October, Astoria’s
two and a half years without Thai
cuisine came to a merciful end.
I’m surprised it took so long.
Since Astoria’s Blue Ocean Thai
Cuisine shut in mid-2015, Thai
joints have popped up across the
region. Malai Thai arrived in
Long Beach in 2015. A Mighty
Thai launched in Manzanita in
early 2016 and was followed by
Seaside’s Yellow Curry shortly
thereafter.
Neighborhood diners arrived
eagerly, longing for creamy coco-
nut curries, ginger-flecked stir-fry,
noodles, sweet peanut sauce, Thai
coffees and the like. Meanwhile,
Astorians with those cravings
had to travel to Warrenton, to
the well-regarded Nisa’s Thai
Kitchen.
That’s where Sopa Burns
worked before setting out with her
husband, Robert, to set up the Mai
Tong truck. (Hailing from north-
eastern Thailand, the name pays
tribute to Sopa’s family.)
The gleaming, custom-built
truck is parked at Duane and 13th
streets, in the burgeoning Astoria
Station pod. Anchored by the ir-
repressible Reach Break Brewing
and alongside the irresistible Hot
Box BBQ and Reveille Cider-
works, Astoria Station stakes
claim as the first worthwhile mod-
ern pod on the coast. The cluster
of businesses are simpatico, each
staking out individual lanes. Here
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Poor
Below average
Worth returning
Very good
Excellent, best in region
THE MOUTH
Beef salad
is a rising tide that lifts all boats.
It’s no small thing that in inclem-
ent weather Mai Tong customers
can find refuge inside Reach
Break.
I began with a glass of ESB
and the Lemongrass Chicken
Wings ($6). Long-marinated, the
wings have deep, subtly devel-
oped flavors; they don’t shout, but
still speak volumes. Supple and
wildly juicy, they’re cooked gin-
gerly, a reminder of how regularly
chicken is overcooked. The skin,
quivering and slippery, having
soaked up the most of the mari-
nade, might be the best part.
The sight or scent of the wings
led a nearby couple to order their
own. And, 10 or 15 minutes later,
they, too, were sucking their fin-
gers in ecstasy.
The couple also ordered the
Drunken Noodles ($8), ranked at
two-stars on the spice scale. In
short order, both were blubbering,
ordering more water at the bar,
dabbing sweat from their cheeks.
The spice had thrown them for a
loop. Some modicum of manners
prevented me from asking for a
taste to gauge the heat. I’d have to
return and order my own.
EDWARD STRATTON PHOTO
Sopa and Robert Burns opened Mai Tong Thai Food at the corner of 13th
and Duane streets last fall.
More than the heat — which
at two stars I found resolutely
mild-medium — I was taken
by the texture of the flat, wide
Drunken Noodles — not rubbery,
enjoyably chewy, just right.
But anyway, back to the spice.
Like many Thai restaurants that
begin with red chili flakes before
graduating to Thai Chilis, Mai
Tong obliges, delights even, in
cranking up the heat. But a little
clarification may be in order.
Mai Tong’s scale of one-to-
three stars (printed as large chilis)
on the cart, was an early design
choice. Talking with Robert, who
takes orders while Sopa cooks, I
was a little confused where things
stand now … Had they moved on
to a different system? He certainly
said they can go above three stars.
Regardless, a three-star scale
doesn’t leave much wiggle room.
A five-star scale would help keep
unsuspecting folks like the couple
I met from blowing their ears out.
I had the Thai Ginger stir-fry
($8) at three-stars and found a
throaty, peppy medium. The veg-
etables, particularly the bell pep-
pers and onion and finely sliced
ginger, made clear their freshness.
They weren’t frozen from a bag
but vibrant.
And so it made sense, then,
when I asked Robert one night
what surprised him most about
opening the cart. Answering with-
out hesitation, he said, “The prep!
Every day we’re cutting so many
vegetables.”
There are meats, too, of course,
which Robert said come from
Reed & Hertig. Most dishes come
with a choice of chicken, beef,
pork, tofu or shrimp. The tofu was
totally adequate, the chicken a bit
dull (especially compared to the
supple, juicy wings). Generally I
preferred the beef, at least where
it’s appropriate. (For whatever
reason, beef feels awkward to me
in a curry.)
The Curries ($8) come in Red
and Yellow, and they certainly do
the trick, extending the depth of
rich coconut milk into something
enveloping.
Of the two soups, I had the
Creamy Tom Yum ($10), and it
yearned for maturation. The Beef
Salad ($10), with iceberg, toma-
toes, cucumber, onion, celery and a
tangy lime juice dressing, was thin
and dainty. Both lacked the multi-
faceted flavors of their peers. Both
were also on the small side. (That
said, nothing at Mai Tong is huge.
Leftovers are not guaranteed.)
The Tom Yum and Beef Salad
were the only dishes I had at Mai
Tong that I wouldn’t order again
— rare outliers. At the top are the
Lemongrass Wings. The majority
of Mai Tong’s dishes — noodles,
curries, stir-frys — are clustered
toward the center, pushed above
average by the fresh-cut veggies
and neat, involving balances.
Qualms aside, let it be known
that Mai Tong is more than
capable of filling Astoria’s Thai
food gap, delivering us from this
painful and prolonged state of
want. CW