Asian Food In Montana
KEEPING THE FAITHFULL AT THE MUSTARD SEED
By Glenda Wallace
The morsels of chicken are always plump and delightful—complemented as they are by a ginger bath and a helping of a golden, creamy mustard sauce with the lyrical name of Osaka. Then there’s the rice—consistently fluffy, compelling, the perfect bed for my favorite meal from the Mustard Seed Asian Cafe, located along Brooks Street in the heart of Missoula.
I order the Chicken Osaka every time I go to the full-service restaurant with the beautiful brick facade on the southern end of Southgate Mall. I also order the Chinese Roast Pork (a piece dipped into the mustard sauce and then the sesame seeds offer a mind-blowing experience). I also request some plum wine.
I figure this makes me pretty boring, but, according to Assistant Manager Mike Smith, I’m not alone in my single-minded eating habits. Some folks come in twice a week for “their fix” of favorites.
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Red Curry
photo by Stella Fong
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“We’re the comfort food standby,” he says. “We can definitely suggest more exotic flavors and dishes... but we’re an Asian fusion restaurant, meaning we pull from all different types of food. We’re something different to everyone. Some order Maui Chicken or the Szechwan Beef every time. Others come in and try different items on the menu. So we have something for those wanting comfort food and those who want adventure.”
Livingston native Dave Hall explains that his wife Betty Tokumoto and her sister Nancy—both originally from Okinawa—opened the first Mustard Seed in Missoula in 1979. Dave and Betty were already running a popular “ham and eggs” restaurant (the Old Town Cafe in downtown Missoula) when Nancy came to town and the sisters started talking about fusion food.
“They both lived in Bangkok and Honolulu and had a passion for food,” Hall says. “They both knew French cuisine, and they wanted to blend Asian foods with the American foods they liked.”
The result has become award- winning. Nearly a dozen plaques—most from reader polls by Missoula’s two newspapers—hang in the foyer. In 1992, Pacific Northwest magazine named them “Best in Montana.” By then, the couple was living in Spokane, where today they oversee two Mustard Seed Cafes. Several years ago they opened another in Billings, already home to their six fast-food-style outlets called Noodle Express. Started in Missoula in 1993, Hall says the Express idea germinated at the Spokane Fair, where the Japanese Fried Noodles were an annual favorite.
“Our philosophy” has always been “do the food right,” says Hall. His Missoula assistant also speaks enthusiastically about the fare. “We’re always adding something to our menu,” Smith says. “We recently offered a wok-braised Tilapia...with honey and cilantro and chili peppers. It was a perfect combination of sweet and heat.”
As for dessert, the Poppyseed Rum Cake is perennially popular, but Smith says so are the Huckleberry Rhubarb Tartlet and the Deep-Dish Banana Crème Pie. As with the kitchen staff, the restaurant’s two bakers use the freshest ingredients to create their array of treats, which are bound to tempt anyone—especially the children, who have their own nine-item food menu.
“We have a lot of happy children who come in with their families,” Smith says.
The decor also won’t intimidate. With an open layout, metal accents and dark-wood tables with plush, same-colored seating (some of it booth style), and a long mirror behind the bar, the restaurant offers a sense of warmth and light. The crisp dress of the staff and their friendly banter complete the feeling of Montana comfort amid clean angles and good aromas.
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Mustard Seed
photo by David Baumstark
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Smith says the Asian fusion tradition is about sharing and coming into the restaurant as a family or with friends. All the dishes are served family style in the evening, but the bowl style of food is good for single diners too.
The restaurant is also re-introducing the tradition of dim sum or “small bites,” Smith says. It’s popular in China, where you’re not given a big meal—you’re actually given a little portion of different flavors.”
These small plates are only featured during Happy Hours (4-6:30 pm). Including spring rolls, wontons, pot stickers, hot wings and ribs, they are as popular as the Seed’s high-end martinis or signature drink: the Hong Kong Cosmopolitan. The bar also serves a variety of microbrews, including Montana-made.
Open seven days a week, the lunch menu averages about $8. Dinner prices are in the $10-$13 range. The restaurant is located just off Brooks and Paxson streets and offers delivery and take-out. Their phone number is 542-SEED (7333). For more info, visit www.mustardseedasiancafe.com.
Warm Welcome at Siam Thai Restaurant
By Stella Fong
In the Magic City, there is a place to clasp your hands together and tip a slight bow of welcome in the Thai way. Siam Thai Restaurant provides a taste of Southeast Asia beyond its offering of food.
In a nondescript strip mall off of King Avenue, the busiest thoroughfare in Billings, behind glass and metal, is a salute to Thailand. “Welcome Home” reigns throughout the intimate eatery. A life-size carved wood statue of a woman costumed in traditional dress with hands clasped together in prayer conveys the Thai greeting, “sawat dee.” She stands facing the entrance, welcoming every diner who enters.
Throughout the restaurant, tranquility reigns. Good luck and spirit abound. Vases of colorful silk flowers are placed throughout. On the walls are photographs of the King of Thailand, Bhumidobl Adulyadel, whose name means “strength of land.” He has been immensely popular with the Thai people since becoming head of state in 1950. A small statue of Buddha perches on a shelf on the wall above the cash register. A gold figurine of Guan Yin, the Chinese goddess of compassion, sits on the counter adjacent to a small American flag and a bouquet of silk lotus flowers. Several times a week, she is honored with an offering of sweet soda.
Owner Thawee Williams opened Siam Thai in 2001 after she relocated to Billings with her husband Ray. A Thai native, she learned skills as manager of the 5-star Hotel Chareoen in Thailand. Neatness is characterized in small details. A fresh pink rose with baby’s breath in a thin blue and white patterned vase adorns the center of the tables. Precisely folded blue napkins in the shape of a bishop’s hat sit on top of blue and white patterned plates. Long-stemmed water glasses grace the white clothed table for dinner service. Williams admits that she folds all the napkins herself, assuring that each is perfectly shaped.
Though rigid in her standards of service, Williams is adaptable. Before coming to the United States, she accompanied Ray around the world to destinations such as Pakistan, India, Somalia and Ethiopia after they married in 1982. After 36 years in the Foreign Service, they returned to Basin, Wyoming, where Ray had landholdings. When they decided to open up a restaurant, Billings was where they settled.
The Williamses took a year to prepare for their new venture, collecting recipes and honing the execution of each dish. Her son Preecha Thaseethong, who was finishing school in Toronto, was recruited to cook. While Thaseethong is in the kitchen, Ray helps with serving and clearing tables. With a bright smile, Thawee admits she is the boss and lives up to this admission by constantly watching over every detail of the restaurant.
Thawee’s favorite dish is the Kang Phed or Red Curry, a spicy blend of a rich rustic orange-colored sauce with a coconut- milk base, fired with red curry. Eggplant, green and red bell peppers, bamboo shoots, and green beans are bathed in the sauce, with a choice of beef, pork or chicken. The curry carries a slight sweetness with a punch from the chilies and is delicious with steamed white rice. The degree of hotness can be customized to the diner’s palate.
Nua Nam Tok or Beef Salad dances with fresh flavors of sweet, sour, hot, and salty. Thin slices of grilled beef are tossed with juliennes of red and green bell pepper, chunks of celery, and slices of onion with generous additions of red chili flakes. Lemon wedges, shredded carrots, cucumber slices, and leafy celery hearts garnish this salad flavored with fish sauce, lemongrass and basil.
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Pad Thai noodles
photo by Stella Fong
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The ultimate comfort food is Pad Thai noodles. Soft rice noodles are cooked with shrimp, eggs, fried tofu and bean sprouts in a sweet tamarind sauce. As with all the other dishes, the food is served on a blue and white patterned plate, garnished with fresh herbs and vegetables.
Siam Thai brings bright and fresh Southeast Asian flavors to the Magic City under the Big Sky. The diner can leave the cooking to Chef Thaseethong or buy Asian groceries from the store next door. Alcoholic beverages are not served but may be purchased elsewhere and consumed in the restaurant.
The Williamses make treks to Denver and Seattle several times a month to buy supplies for the restaurant and to stock the shelves of the market. A clasped hand in welcome will always be found at Siam Thai Restaurant.
Siam Thai Restaurant
3210 Henesta Drive, Suite G
Billings, Montana 59102
406-652-4315
Email: SiamThai@msn.com
Hours: 11am-9pm Tuesday to Saturday, 12pm-8pm Sunday, Closed Monday
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