Thai Village

For some reason (I have my theories) Fairbanks has a disproportionate number of Thai restaurants for its size, and they are by and large good places to eat. Thai food is one of the areas in which Anchorage falls short.

We've been to several Thai places and all have their relative strengths and weaknesses. This past week we dined at a Thai restaurant in the the low rent neighborhood of Muldoon.


Housed, like so many ethnic restaurants in Alaska, in a former fastfood restaurant (likely a Pizza Hut in the pipeline days), Thai Village does a couple things really well, and some others just acceptably.


The service was great in the way a true family run restaurant can be; multi-generational, joking, and very slow. I like that, though.


The larb (beef salad) was average. It had a tang to it and crisp lettuce to wrap it with, but it wasn't dusted with rice flour the way I like. I would order it again, though. The pad thai was hot, which was a first in Anchorage, but it was also too sweet for my preferences. Where Thai Village scored was with the panang curry. It was the best I've had in a while, and makes Thai Village worth a stop if you want Thai food on the east side of town.

Downtown Weekend Market

I love street food and think it is the best way to experience a culture's food. Unfortunately, like most US cities, the street food scene in Anchorage is sparse. Besides some reindeer dog carts in downtown and the various coffee 'huts' along the commuter routes there really isn't much to sample around the city.


A bright spot is the Weekend Market held during the summer here in Anchorage. Each Saturday and Sunday the market emerges on a large parking lot that overlooks Ship Creek. The market is mostly for tourists with trinket sellers galore, but there are also some food sellers (local vegetables and seafood) and most importantly with the dozens of vendor trucks, trailors, and carts, this market is the nadir for Anchorage street food.


Some of the highlights are the relatively affordable Alaskan seafood served dozens of ways, good ethnic food such as Hawaiian and Russian, and traditional carnival food in all it's fried and sugar coated glory.

Road Trip: Kodiak and Mill Bay Coffee Roasters

We went to Kodiak for the King Crab Festival a couple weeks ago. The festival itself was a bit underwhelming but Kodiak is an interesting and beautiful place.


There is a coffee shop on the road north out of town called Mill Bay Coffee Roasters. It's in a nondescript strip mall and we actually missed it on our drive out.


The owner is a master pastry chef from France who was the pastry chef for the French president early in his career. He later moved to the US and worked on the East Coast and at this point he began to visit Kodiak regularly to hunt and fish. He fell in love with the place and decided to retire there. Mill Bay is that retirement.


We ate there a couple times and everything was outstanding. There is a limited breakfast and lunch menu (crepes, eggs, waffles, quiches) that is very reasonable priced, especially for Kodiak. Pictured above is the king crab quiche and the seafood pie. The real draw here, though, is the baked goods. They include things like croissants, cinnamon rolls, tarts, eclairs, and a slew of cakes and pies. The pastries at Mill Bay beats the pants off of anything I've come across in recent memory, and it is a true gem on those cold, rainy mornings when you are touring about Kodiak.

Yamaya's Seafood

This is the best Japanese food I've had in a long time. It is very simple, but it is always excellent. The family who own this place are nice people too, and don't be surprised if they bring random stuff out for you to try. This is a favorite spot for the international air crews, so it's not unusual to have the place filled with native Japanese speakers.


The restaurant is in an old house off 6th Ave. in downtown Anchorage. It is very informal and the menus are written on the walls, so be sure and look around everywhere before you order. The prices are good, too, especially considering their focus on fresh seafood.

We had:

shrimp tempura udon soup
fish cake
grilled whole squid
gyoza
fried idiot fish

and some dried king salmon fin sake...

...which was as nasty as it sounds.

Big Al's Wings and Wings

The best hot wings in town aren't found at the locally renowned Wings and Things, but at a little dumpy place located on Spenard Avenue.


Big Al's Wings and Wings uses a chili powder heavy rub on their wings which is hot and flavorful. Their wings are a bit small but the skin is crispy, and the motif of the restaurant (Al Pacino's Scarface seems to be the primary theme) makes for an interesting experience.

Most Anchorage residents will tell you to go to the reopened Wings and Things, but they use nutmeg and some other seasonings that I don't care for on hot wings, and they are extremely greasy with the wings resting in deep pools of oil in each order. W&T is almost Caribbean in taste, whereas Big Al's is Mexican influenced. Also, the 2 hour wait for Wings and Things is a bit much.


So, go to Big Al's instead for the ghetto-chic atmosphere and fast, spicy hot wings.

Live King Crab at New Sagaya's

New Sagaya's, a specialty food market with two locations, has live golden king crab for $8.99/pound this week. I prefer red king crab to golden, but the goldens are a bit smaller and easier to transport.


Supposedly the ones with barnacles on them taste better. It may have something to do with molting cycles or it could just be superstition.


Our crab weighed about 5 pounds and we ended up with about 3 pounds of meat.


Although it is cheaper to buy frozen king crab, fresh is much better. When the crab is fresh, stuff like butter or lemon detract from its flavor.

Marx Brothers' Cafe

Located in an old house on Third Ave, this is, in my opinion, the best restaurant in Alaska. Everything is inventive and correctly prepared. They use excellent ingredients. The menu changes daily. Pretty much everything is prepared in house from scratch (you'd be surprised how much frozen/packaged stuff is used in even the better restaurants around town). The wine and beer list is good, too.


Marx Bros. blows places like Orso and Simon and Seafort's out of the water.

We had:

caesar salad, prepared tableside
wild boar baby back ribs
rabbit rangoons
celeriac soup with tea smoked duck and marscapone
pan roasted breast of pheasant
seared Kodiak scallops and grilled prawns

and for dessert:

blueberry sorbet
creme brulee (best I've had in memory)
chocolate mousse (unbelievably good)