Ruam Mit Thai

475 St Peter St
St. Paul, MN
651-222-7871
http://www.ruam-mit-thai.com/

Category: Thai

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 8
Service: 6
Ambience: 3

Recommendation: Very Good. Our positive streak with finding great Thai restaurants in the Twin Cities continues after our visit to Ruam Mit in St. Paul.

We had tickets to Stomp at the Ordway recently and instead of the popular pre-theatre restaurants like Pazzaluna or Meritage, we were looking for something low key, casual, and ethnic. Ruam Mit Thai fit that bill perfectly. Located just 4 blocks from the Ordway on St Peter Street, Ruam Mit makes a great pre-theatre or pre-Excel Energy Center casual dinner option. The restaurant recently re-opened but the exterior looks so dilapidated, you’d think the place was still closed. The ambience has nothing noteworthy about it either. Thankfully, the food is so delicious that you soon forget about the surroundings you’re in. They also have a lunch buffet on weekdays which makes it a popular place for the St. Paul office crowd.

The Spring Rolls #3 (lettuce, cilantro, shrimp, rice noodles wrapped in fresh rice paper) came with a delicious sweet dipping sauce that was topped with crushed peanuts. The Toam Kha Khai (#17), a rich coconut lime flavored soup with straw mushrooms and lemongrass was satisfying on so many different levels…simple, comforting, and downright flavorful. We asked for the Phra Nua (#22 Beef Salad) to be prepared “Thai Hot” and it was really spicy. “Thai Hot” is not for the weak! The salad itself was sweet and tangy and the beef was brimming with flavor. For the entrees, our top two favorites were the Roast Duck Curry (#26), and the Pha Ram Long Song (#30), a sweet red curry with coconut milk, spinach, and peanuts. The Duck was so tender it literally melted in your mouth. The curry base in both dishes was on the sweet side but the sweetness wasn’t overpowering. We were disappointed in the Tod Gratiam Prig Thai (#38) which promised to be a delight for garlic lovers but didn’t even come close to satisfying us. The pork was supposed to be stir-fried in a garlic and black pepper sauce but we couldn’t taste either. The deep fried Tilapia (#39) was topped with small pieces of lemongrass, ginger, onions, green mango, and lime. While the fish was good, we felt that the toppings didn’t really go well with it…the ingredients simply didn’t complement each other and did little to enhance the flavor of the fish. The Pad Thai (#52) which is probably the most popular dish in most Thai restaurants was excellent. For dessert, we tried the Thai Custard with Sweet Sticky Purple Rice and the Sweet Sticky Rice with Fresh Mango. The purple rice had a unique flavor we didn’t care for and we couldn’t taste the custard. The Sticky Rice with Mango was good. Our friends tried the Thai Iced Tea with Sweet condensed milk, which we’d never tried before. The drink was peach in color and was very sweet.

$-$$. Most dishes cost around $10. Meter parking on St Peter Street (free after 4:30pm and on Sundays). There are several ramps in the area as well.