LRP Redux* installment 14: Bee’s Thai Kitchen food truck (MOVED)

Bee's has moved to a permanent location in Erie as of 2024.

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I don’t usually include food trucks in the restaurant project unless they are always parked in the same place, but I made an exception for Bee’s Thai Kitchen because Bee Kisich lives in Lafayette, and her truck is parked in Lafayette every week, probably about two-thirds of the time overall. To find her location on any given night, check her Facebook page, where the current schedule appears at the top. In addition to her usual rotation among Cellar West, Liquid Mechanics, Romero’s, and East Simpson Coffee Co., she makes regular appearances at Industrial Revolution (Erie), Fritz Family Brewing (Niwot), and a few other places, so check it out!

We decided to go on a night when Bee was parked at Liquid Mechanics so we could meet some friends who are fond of that brewery. It was a nice evening, and we found a pleasant spot on the patio and went inside to get some beer after ordering our food. The LM patio is right on the highway, but the grassy strip and big trees counterbalance the traffic, and it was actually a very nice place to hang out on a warm spring evening (this was a couple of weeks ago because I am running behind again!). We had to wait a little while for our food, but we were expecting that because there was a bit of a line at the food truck when we arrived.

There were four of us, so we got two orders of two appetizers to share: roti puffs (chicken, potato, onion, corn, snow peas, carrots, herbs and spices rolled up in a roti wrapper and deep fried, served with cucumber salad) and shrimp egg rolls (large shrimp wrapped in egg-roll wrappers and deep fried). Mike got drunken noodles (wide rice noodles stir fried with egg, cabbage, young pepper corn, ginger root, bell chili, onion, and sweet basil in chili garlic sauce), and Jane got green curry (carrot, eggplant, bell pepper, and Thai sweet basil cooked in green coconut curry served with steamed jasmine rice); I’m not sure what meats/proteins they chose. G got red curry (for which I can’t find a menu description but was similar to the green curry except red) with beef, and I got pad thai (stir fried rice noodles with egg, green onion, bean sprouts, diced tofu, and ground peanuts in tangy sauce) with chicken. Finally, I got one order of mango sticky rice to share for dessert. 

We all thought our food was excellent. G said the roti puffs were the best thing he had eaten in a long time, and the rest of us agreed. We also liked the shrimp egg rolls, and we all devoured our entrees. G liked his curry so much that he rated the meal one of the best in the whole restaurant project. The curries were packed with fresh vegetables, and Mike also had quite a lot in his drunken noodles (not in the pad thai, however, as it does not contain veggies). Jane said her green curry was delicious but not spicy enough (she asked for “spicy” but said next time she would ask for “Thai hot”), G (who also asked for spicy) said his was almost too hot, and Mike and I (who both asked for medium) found ours to be a little beyond our tolerance but delicious anyway—so we persevered! The mango sticky rice was AMAZING. I would go back just for that.

I tried a flight of Liquid Mechanics beers to wash it all down: Dark Foreboding (dark lager), Dammit Patrick (maibock), peanut butter porter, Flightless (pilsner), and Hopacity (IPA). My favorite by far was the Dark Foreboding.

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

With my flight of beers while we waited for our food

Bee's Thai Kitchen

Roti puffs: AMAZING

Drunken noodles

Jane's green curry

Bee working away in her kitchen

shrimp egg rolls

Pad thai with chicken

Red curry with beef

Mango sticky rice: DELICIOUS

Patio at Liquid Mechanics

LRP Redux* installment 13: Westbound & Down Mill

There has been a bit of a lag in my restaurant project reporting because we actually visited Westbound & Down Mill a whole week ago! I’ve been swamped with work and preparing for a rather large trip, so it has been hard for me to keep up. It is in Atlas Valley at the northwest corner of 95th Street and Dagny Way where Endo Brewing used to be. The original Westbound & Down Brewing is in Idaho Springs, and the Lafayette location opened just a few months ago. This location specializes in artisan pizzas (Detroit-style or round) with beer in the sourdough crusts. It also has an assortment of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, and a couple of desserts. And, of course, a wide variety of beers!

We were ordering takeout, so I had to pick from the canned beers, and I decided to try the Chicago Peaks kölsch, which is brewed in partnership with Bierstadt. I liked it a lot, which was lucky since I was committed to a four-pack! For food, we ordered the “95th Street” pizza (Ezzo pepperoni, salsa verde, mozzarella, red sauce, and spicy honey) in the Detroit-style square (um … really a rectangle, but that’s a quibble). All of the pizzas are named after streets in the Atlas Valley area or elsewhere in Colorado. 

I liked this pizza a lot, but G was not sure about it. I didn’t actually tell him the ingredients ahead of time, so I think he expected it to taste more like a traditional pepperoni pizza, and it really didn’t. But I thought the flavor combination was interesting, especially the unexpected sweetness of the honey. The leftovers reheated well in the toaster oven the next day. We also shared a burrata salad (roasted asparagus,snap peas, pesto, romesco, pickled onion, arugula, hefeweizen vinaigrette, and marcona almonds) and were in full agreement that it was spectacular.

I would definitely revisit this place, and next time I would like to try one of the pizzas with white sauce and chicken and try a few of the beers on tap. It has a nice big patio, and G said it was hopping last Friday night when he went to pick up our order. We used the online ordering system and ordered a little on the early side (between 5 and 6), and our food was ready within half an hour.

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

Burrata salad: excellent!

Detroit-style "95th Street" pizza

SBRRP installment 9: Front Range Brewing Company (CLOSED)

Update 2024: Permanently closed.

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This is the last installment of the SBRRP, as I could not find any other restaurants that were not fast-food chains. I will post the summary separately. After this, we will be moving on to the Arapahoe and 95th Street Restaurant Project (A95RP).

When I was compiling the SBRRP list, I wondered, "Does Front Range Brewing have a kitchen?" I went to look at their website, and one of the top links is labeled "We Have a Kitchen," so the answer is yes! Apparently I am not the first one to ask that question. The menu is limited to the nicer kinds of bar food: appetizers, a few salads, wraps, quesadillas, flatbreads, and two "brewhouse favs" (brat and grilled cheese). There are also a couple of kids' options (grilled cheese and grilled PB&J).

This brewery has been around for a while, but we had never been there. We thought it had a pleasant interior, with nice lighting, colors, and decorations. It was very quiet when we arrived about 5:45, but they have limited Sunday hours (2 to 7 p.m.). Other nights, they're open until 10. The nice bartender answered a lot of questions and helped me sort out a flight of five beers, and I tried a mix of the small-batch, core, and seasonal beers. I liked them all, but my favorites were the Helles and the Märzen because I tend to favor light, crisp beers. For our food order, we shared a small spinach salad, G had the bbq pork quesadilla, which came with a side of chips, and I had the CAM flatbread (marinara sauce, mozzarella, salami, grilled chicken, and beer-brat sausage). The beer flatbread is house-made, and this meat-heavy version was delicious. I especially liked the slightly sweet marinara sauce and the sausage. G devoured his quesadilla and said the fusion of flavors was tasty. We'll definitely be back!

Quiet on a Sunday evening

My flight, left to right: Prairie Fire Helles, the November-fest Märzen, the Ma Belle Peche saison, the Hogback Double IPA, and the Waneka Lake Session Chocolate Stout. I especially liked the Helles and the Märzen. These were all 5.5% ABV except the IPA (8.5%).

Flight labels

Small spinach salad (very good, with cheese, walnuts, bacon, and balsamic vinaigrette). I especially liked that the nuts were not candied! Plus bbq pork quesadilla with chips and CAM flatbread.

A rare photo of G, featuring his bbq pork quesadilla

The bartop has a collection of 2,700 beer-bottle caps. The bartender was showing me that they had an original Avery beer cap.

 As a side note, we used to frequent this mall when it had a whole different set of restaurants and the FRBC site was a bingo parlor. Obviously, this was a long time ago! We hadn't seen it yet in its newest incarnation and under its new name ("The District"). We liked the new arrangement of the interior mall space with couches, armchairs, and tables, and a few people were hanging out in this area. There is a coffee shop (OTIS) that was closed when we arrived, but the open area would be a nice space to relax with a cup of coffee.

The inner area of the District mall

PRRP installment 17: The Post

We picked the Post instead of drawing from our remaining restaurants because we wanted to use our coupon for $10 off that came as a door hanger a month or two ago and expires 2/9. Thanks, Post! 

As many of you know, the Post used to be the Lafayette VFW Post building before it was renovated to its current brewpubbery glory. It is technically half a block off Public Road, but close enough! I walked by it for many years on my route to the PO when the VFW just had a couple of picnic tables in the side yard, and you never saw anyone out there. Of course, there was no reason for it to be busy, as it was not a restaurant, but it's just interesting to contrast the atmosphere then and now! These days it is almost always hopping, even on a Monday night. 

Why Monday? BURGER NIGHT. I promise you, the Post has an awesome burger. Kat introduced me to this phenomenon a year or so ago, and it ratcheted my general liking for the Post up to a recurring Monday-night obsession. The burger (which is not served other nights of the week) comes with a Thousand Island sauce and onion jam, and the bun is a house-made English muffin. It is a good idea to split the burger to leave room for dessert! 

We also shared a big house salad, one of my favorite things there, and some garlic fries and topped it off with a show-stopping kahlua bread pudding with candied almonds and chocolate ice cream. I had a Howdy beer because I am a fan of pilsners. See photo captions for more food details.

The big salad comes with big chunks of chewy bacon, tomatoes, pepitas, croutons, blue cheese, and cucumber chunks. I just noticed the menu says it also has apples and boiled eggs, but I didn't spot any of those tonight. Oddly, on my one visit to the Post in Boulder, the big salad did not live up to my expectations based on how good it is at the Lafayette location. I don't think the Boulder kitchen had the vinaigrette right.

The burger is not huge, but it is big enough to share! The bun is a house-made English muffin, and it is topped with Thousand Island dressing and onion jam. It does not need any other condiments. It comes with a garnish of pickled veggies; sides are a la carte. 

Garlic fries with cheese crumbles

This out-of-focus photo shows how excited Kat was about her half of the burger.

Make sure you get over to the Post before this dessert rotates off the menu. Kahlua bread pudding with candied almonds and chocolate ice cream. It was amazing!