The River Thai Cuisine, 424 East Bidwell Street, Folsom, 916-983-7388.

As my husband and I settled into our table at River Thai, a mother and son walked in and waved hello to our waitress, who smiled broadly and said: “Welcome back! It’s good to see you again!” 

It’s always encouraging to see repeat diners, and even more regulars flocked inside the small but welcoming restaurant as we scanned the menu. 

Awaiting our appetizer’s arrival, we sipped on Thai iced tea (an absolute must if you’ve never had it), enjoying the intermingling of strongly brewed tea and sweetened condensed milk. Soon, the vegetarian pot stickers landed—the delectably soft dumpling packed with cabbage, soybeans, corn and rice noodles were surprisingly filling and came alongside a sweet, sticky sauce that was sublimely tangy. 

I’m an absolute sucker for pad Thai, so there was no question when it came to my order. The only thing I wasn’t sure of was the spice level, which can vary widely by restaurant. I opted for a mild-medium and was pleased when the heat turned out to be just right. The tender noodles were fantastic paired with snappy fresh bean sprouts, long strands of aromatic green onion, fried egg, chopped peanuts and ultra tender shrimp—all coated in the signature and perfectly balanced sweet, salty, sour and spicy sauce.

My husband picked his go-to red curry, which came out steaming with hearty chunks of supple eggplant, peppery basil and large slices of green chili peppers cut on the diagonal. He asked for “spicy” and boy did he get it! 

Although we were in the mood for some mango and sticky rice, the mangoes weren’t in their prime, so our waitress offered us another traditional Thai dessert called roti—a large, flat, fried pastry topped with chocolate chip ice cream. The pastry itself was crunchy and chewy, dusted with sugar and condensed milk. It was so tasty we weren’t even mourning the loss of our beloved mango and finished our meal on a truly sweet note. 

by Jennifer Resnicke // photos by Dante Fontana