I’m back, Dear Readers (I’m looking at you, Baig). About the long hiatus- I was busy traveling due to some work and family commitments, and had pretty much no time to Snapchat or Instagram, let alone open my blog. I got back yesterday morning, and a few hours later, got a very welcome surprise: a big bag full of wok-fresh food from Nom Nom Asia (Vikram, you’re awesome. Thank you).

I love reviewing small, family-owned businesses, because the love and passion the owners have for their brand is heartwarming and can truly be tasted in every bite. Nom Nom Asia is testament to that. I regret not trying their food earlier. I thought it would be another MSG-drowned, sadly confused Asian take-out place; I was wrong.

The bag of goodies I received had an assortment of Chinese and Thai dishes, and the first thing I noticed was how fresh and hot the food was, even though I live a good 30 mins away from the restaurant.

For appetizers, there was Som Tam Salad, and Chicken Lettuce Wraps. The former happens to be one of my most favorite salads EVER, and the latter intrigued me as I make a soy-protein version of these at home and wanted to see how this version weighs up against them. Verdict: The Som Tam was legit spicy- which I LOVE. However, I wish there had been quartered baby tomatoes in it instead of cubed big ones, and I really couldn’t taste any fish sauce in it. That said, I did eat the whole bowl pictured below.

As for the Chicken Lettuce Wraps, these were probably the weakest link in the entire bag of food. Although the chicken itself was okay, the sauces really weren’t up my alley. The sweet sauce was far too sweet, and although the spicy sauce was ok, I felt the wraps could use a hit of acidity to them as well. I definitely prefer my home made version over these ones :/

(Recipe here http://passmethedimsum.com/2015/06/23/lettuce-wraps-with-vegan-soy-protein-mince/ )

There were two kinds of starches: a Vegetable Garlic Fried Rice, and a Pad Kee Mao. Both were delicious, but I especially loved the the Pad Kee Mao. The sauce on those soft flat rice noodles was done perfectly.

There were also two stir fries; a Black Pepper Chicken, and a Pepper Chili Tossed Chicken. I wasn’t a fan of the former, as the sauce tasted predominantly of soy sauce and not much else.

The latter however was AMAZING. It was boldly flavored with fresh ginger and scallions, and I absolutely LOVED it.

Last but not the least: my FAVORITE part of the meal: the Thai Green Curry and Red Curry. Oh my God. These were really, really good. Both the curries had a lot of depth to the flavors, were beautifully fragrant, and the best part was that they were extremely spicy- the Green Curry was spicier than the Red though. If I wasn’t afraid of it burning, and if I was a lot smaller,  I would have swam in these curries. Hunger pangs ensue as I write about them.

I would have loved some sticky rice with the curries instead of the garlic-veggie fried rice, but hey, I’m not complaining. Overall I felt that the Thai menu items were much better executed than the Chinese menu items, and will definitely be more of a preference when I order from them again. That said, I did love that all the food was very warm and fresh, and I’m glad to have finally tried the delicious noms from Nom Nom Asia.