Santi and I came to this Northern Thai restaurant after an extended search on Yelp. I wanted to find an authentic fare, and became intrigued after reading several reviews about their Issan cuisine. The squared-shaped interior started with center tables vertically arranged, followed by booths, wall-to-wall cultural artifacts, TV, and a small bar in the back. The atmosphere was casual with lots of foot traffic throughout the day.
The Khor Mee Yang ($9.95) arrived with strips and pieces of marinated charbroiled pork nicely blackened on the ends. The mix of tender charred, lean, and fatty textures was highly addictive, but the marinade and spicy tamarind sauce could have been better, as the level of spiciness was not as robust as I like it to be.
The Khao Pad Pla Salid ($9.50) included a huge portion of fried rice filled with deep fried salid fish, basil, and peppers. The fried rice carried a decent airy texture. Too much fish sauce made it too salty to my liking, but the fried fish was crispy, moist, plentiful, and nicely flavored. The server initially described this dish as "spicy fried rice." However, we didn't find a hint of heat even after we had requested these dishes to arrive Thai spicy.
Overall, portions were excellent with discernible authentic flavors. However, the level of spiciness was the absent element that could have advanced the flavors further. Contrary to other reviewers' account, our service was timely, attentive, and friendly. I would be interested in returning to give them another chance.