Satay Restaurant

Satay Restaurant is one of the best Thai restaurants I have found -- and certainly the best in Austin. The food is always fresh, flavorful, and healthy. In addition to Thai cuisine, you can also find items on the menu from the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. The owner and head chef is Dr. Foo Swasdee. Foo is originally from Bangkok, and came to the US to get her PhD in Food Science at Texas A&M University -- and ended up staying in Texas. She grows many of the herbs and spices used in the restaurant in her own garden. She is famous for creating new recipes and new sauces, and teaching cooking classes.

Here are some of my recommendations for a great meal:

For appetizers, I like Miang Khum (Thai for 'little bites')-- little leaves of spinach with fresh lime, ginger, red onion, toasted coconut and roasted peanuts with a lime/fish sauce/thai sweet chile sauce. Also try the Lumpia -- a Filipino egg roll with thai sweet chile that is amazing.

For soup, my favorite is Tom Kha Gai -- a coconut milk - gulunga based soup with chilis, chicken, lime, mushrooms, scallions and kaffir lime leaf. Awesome soup.

For the entree, I recommend Phuket Wonder -- a great stir fry dish with green beans, thai basil, sweet chili, and garlic -- you can add chicken, shrimp or tofu. Its a little hot, a little spicy, a little sweet -- a great mix of Thai flavors.

For dessert, I recommend the Chocolate Silk Pie. This is a dessert created by Foo's husband, Manot and is amazing because it contains no dairy. It is made out of chocolate and tofu. It is sinfully light, chocolaty and delicious.

Satay has a great list of wines to accompany the meal, as well as Thai beers. They also have a great outdoor patio.