Anybody else been to Khaosan & Taylor at 1104 W Taylor

I am far from an expert on Thai food, but they said they had dishes from the NE Plateau as well as the South coastal areas of Thailand, which seem to be rare. I liked the ones I sampled and they seemed different to me.

This is part of a quest for new (to me) ethnicities as well as regionalities. I know there are a several recommended GNR restaurants for Northern Thai food, and one or two for the Northeast Plateau, but I have not seen any others for the South coastal.

Carey Schug

PS any recommendations for "weird" or unusual gratefully accepted. I am specifically looking for Bosnian (is there any food identified with a that political entity? I think there was a post about Bosnian but that restaurant is long gone.) and Hmong (I have visited the two largest Hmong communities in the USA).

Interesting - I hadn't heard of this place . . . and honestly, I'm not sure I'll make it there simply because I'm far north in Lincoln Square near Aroy, Rosded and Rainbow. But the menu has several Thai dishes you used to have difficulty finding at most Thai restaurants and I saw a picture of a whole fish dish on Yelp that is calling my name. I hope to hear more about this place but it certainly appears to stretch beyond the menu of the average neighborhood Thai restaurant.

I looked at the menu and, while it offers certain once-unusual (for Chicago Thai) dishes, there is nothing on the menu pictured on Yelp! that isn't available around town at the LTH faves - with one exception, a dish with sator beans that is marked on the menu as "Southern Food." Apparently, sator beans, a/k/a stinky beans, are a southern coastal thing shared in Indonesian and other nearby cuisines.

Bosnian food is a thing and a number of Chicago restaurants have offered it over the years, notably the long-standing Sarajevo in Lincoln Sq., as the name would suggest. I'd venture that the menu is similar to other former-Yugoslavian places in town, minus the pork.

Separate thread on "unusual" and other food, including Bosnian, started here:

Recommendations for "weird" or unusual gratefully accepted

=R=

diversedancer wrote:I am far from an expert on Thai food, but they said they had dishes from the NE Plateau as well as the South coastal areas of Thailand, which seem to be rare. I liked the ones I sampled and they seemed different to me.

Thanks for the tip. I’d seen the restaurant before, but didn’t pay much attention to it. I will now. The only other Chicago restaurant I know that advertises Southern Thai dishes was rather disappointing.

diversedancer wrote:PS any recommendations for "weird" or unusual gratefully accepted. I am specifically looking for Bosnian (is there any food identified with a that political entity? I think there was a post about Bosnian but that restaurant is long gone.) …

I don’t think you should have too much trouble finding some good Bosnian food in Chicago. You already got some excellent suggestions.

Since you’re looking for something a little different, I can heartily recommend Balkan Grill, a Bosnian truck stop just off I-80/94 in Gary IN. Very good food (limited menu, however) plus a glimpse into the Bosnian long-haul trucker lifestyle.

diversedancer wrote:… and Hmong (I have visited the two largest Hmong communities in the USA).

The Hmong are underrepresented in Chicago. If it’s feasible, I’d suggest a visit to Phongsavan in Milwaukee. This Hmong mall is small compared to the ones in St Paul, but there’s nothing like it in Chicago. Some gems can be found in the modest food court. A larger new building will open right next to the old one, but I don’t know its status (it’s been “opening soon” for several years now).

Re: Sator Beans,

Andy occasionally has them at his places (ATK, TAC Quick), also I just picked up ealier this week a pretty tasty pork and Shrimp with Sator Beans from the PNA Market on Leland