My first visit to Nom Nom Restaurant & Grill was before the official Grand Opening. On that day, a young man threatened to jump off of the Interstate 5 Bridge, the highway was shut down, and most of the Nom Nom staff were absent. The space was half full with customers, but it was total chaos. It felt like an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. I expected to overhear Gordon Ramsey shouting profanities. After 90 minutes without food, my friend and I cancelled our orders and left.
A few weeks later, I planned to meet the same friend. This time, she called 30 minutes after our meeting time to cancel. Fortunately, feeling that Nom Nom was some type of personal Bermuda Triangle where people or food go missing, I had already ordered. I had the fresh salad rolls with barbecued pork and shrimp. The rolls were freshly made — the rice wrapper stretchy and fresh, the lettuce and herbs in the wrap were crisp and herby. The pork added meatiness and the shrimp added sweetness. The peanut sauce was smooth and sweet.
I also ordered the Kaopoon Nam Gai soup. The bowl that the soup came in was more swimming pool than soup vessel — filled with luscious, slightly spicy, red curry coconut milk infused soup with a twirl of vermicelli rice noodles, shredded cabbage, carrots, cilantro, mint and bean sprouts and topped with shredded chicken. I slurped down my soup and miraculously the bowl never seemed to empty. Was this some type of foodie soup nirvana?
On another visit, I enjoyed the Nom Nom bowl (rice vermicelli noodles, shredded lettuce, carrots, cilantro, and cubes of fried tofu with a sweet chile sauce) and tofu fries (crispy strips of tofu with peanut dipping sauce).
