Bida Manda

Bethany and I had dinner out, without the kids, twice last week.  It is rare to get alone time these days.  We both have a deep and abiding passion for food.  In fact, there are few things we love doing together more than cooking or trying a new restaurant. We had been hearing rave reviews for Bida Manda, a Laotian restaurant located in downtown Raleigh.  Bethany's friend, Kam, brought her takeout from here a few months back, but she had not had the opportunity to go.  Our affection for Thai food has only grown in recent years and so when deciding on a dinner location, we knew we had to try this spot.  

It was freezing outside and my leather shorts were doing little to keep me warm.  Few occasions in Wilmington call for leather shorts, so dinner out in the city seemed a justifiable reason to wear them.  To warm my bones, I started with the Hazelnut Manhattan, which was divine.  Shrimp chips served as a complimentary starter.  

We chose the lettuce wraps, Thai wings, and spring rolls for appetizers.  The lettuce wraps and wings were delicious, but the spring rolls left something to be desired. 

The star, however, was this soup! We decided to split the Crispy Pork Belly soup for our entree. The portion below was the "half" portion.  Y'all, I almost licked the bowl, it was that good.  In this bowl I found everything I love about Thai food: it had noodles, fresh herbs, flavored ground pork, crispy pork belly, all swimming in my favorite curry broth.  My all time favorite curry is "Jungle Curry" at Indochine in Wilmington.  This was that exact curry flavor, except better, because this dish had the noodles and pork and crispy pork belly. I will be dreaming of this soup until we meet again, which with any luck, will be sooner rather than later.