Recently we ventured over to Northwest Crossing to check out the new (sort of) Thai restaurant, Nam Tok Kitchen. The style is unique to Bend, a blend of northeastern Thai and Lao cuisine, and notably the menu is entirely gluten free and made from scratch. Owner Pahlee Bretoi is from Laos originally and this is the style of food she grew up with. Here’s a bit from the website’s About page on the food:

As a rule, the food tends to have more fish sauce, and be more savory than the sweeter dishes from southern Thailand. Thai food tends to be very Americanized and it is our wish to share with you the food that we are accustomed to. We hope that you will really enjoy this experience rather than the run-of-the-mill Thai food.

I received an invite from Bretoi’s husband Daniel to check out the restaurant, which is what prompted our visit. Located on Mount Washington Drive, it’s one of the westernmost restaurants in Bend to be sure, but it was well worth the visit as we enjoyed the food and the service.

We started with the Savan Beef, which is “beef jerky, soy sauce, cane sugar, sesame seed, prik nam pla, tomato sauce” and comes with dipping sauces:

It was sweet and tasty, similar yet unlike the beef jerky you’re used to. Definitely a good starter and the sauces were interesting; the prik nam pla is a fish sauce made with green and red Thai chilis but it wasn’t too hot. The tomato sauce was more of a tomato jam and complemented the beef well.

For main courses, we went with Pad Krapow Gai (“chicken, garlic, chili, basil, soy, stir fry suace, onion, fried egg. slightly spicy”) and Kæng Garee (yellow curry).

The curry was good, though milder than we’ve had elsewhere. We were told the spices for the curry are ground fresh, rather than relying on bulk curry paste.

The Pad Krapow Gai was excellent, and I really liked the basil which added a sweet flavor. The egg was also a nice touch.

Service was excellent, with our server Clay enthusiastic, friendly, funny, and knowledgeable about the menu and what to expect with the food. He was definitely a big part of the experience.

As for the physical location and space, well, frankly I find it a little odd and impersonal, in a strip mall kind of way—but that’s hardly Nam Tok’s fault, as Thai Thai before it had the same problem. I don’t know if it’s the layout or the overall architecture of the building complex itself, but perhaps additional decoration and color (like the last picture above) would help.

Overall, however, we enjoyed the meal and plan to go back, and I’d recommend anyone who likes Thai to check out Nam Tok Kitchen when you get the chance.