Tahoe Report: Truckee Thai

I grew up spending a lot of time in the Lake Tahoe area, and I always love heading back. We stay in Truckee which is adjacent to the beautiful Tahoe National Forest and has access to some great ski slopes. While there are a few goodies that I've reported on through the years, the area is not exactly a culinary destination. Usually, if we go out, we hit one of a few familiar places or end up suffering through something mediocre.

I must admit, living a few blocks from LA's Thaitown, I was pretty skeptical of trying a Truckee Thai restaurant. How good could a Thai restaurant be in an area with virtually no Thai population? How wrong I was.

Thai Nakorn, on Donner Pass Road in Truckee, was superb. Nearly everything we ordered there was a hit. The menu is pretty typical American-Thai (no boar, not morning glory, etc.), but the flavors of everything really stood out. Papaya salad had a deep fish saucy flavor with none of the sweetness that can infect the dish; pumpkin red curry was rich with coconut cream and slices of pumpkin while green avocado curry had plenty of Thai basil and Thai eggplant; the noodles in the pad see ew were nicely charred. But the highlight was the duck noodle soup special. The broth was deeply ducky, with noodles, slices of duck and scallion; it was slurpable. For dessert we enjoyed a nice version of mango sticky rice.

This was a fantastic Thai meal, easily competitive with the best of the same dishes in Thaitown.

Thai Nakorn
10770 Donner Pass road
Truckee, CA 96161
(530) 550-0503
(They have another branch in South Lake Tahoe)

We'll have more Tahoe later this week.