Finding Faith ... in a second chance?

The leftovers from our dinner night provided by ThaiKota.

My mother drilled into us the old adage that if you don't have something nice to say ... well, you know the rest.

So, I'll do my best to pay honor to Mom. ... My very best.

Shelley and I love Thai food. ... All kinds of Thai food, from all various regions of Thailand. ... And we are actually very spoiled by the fact that there is a wonderful Thai food restaurant that is family owned and a great story in itself here in Moorhead. It is called Thai Orchid, and if you ever get the opportunity, please eat there. ... You'll thank me!

So a couple weeks ago when we learned of a new upstart Thai-themed restaurant here in the Fargo-Moorhead region, we were thrilled! ... We continue to watch the food scene here in town grow, and we applaud anything that doesn't serve up your average Midwestern chain restaurant fare.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, we both started to see these Facebook posts for a new little, mom-and-pop restaurant called ThaiKota. Various people in our many spheres were raving about the food, and the story was too cute to ignore.

We learned in a feature story that was published in our local paper that T.J. and Gina Edra opened ThaiKota on New Year's Day at 1201 1st Ave. N. in downtown Fargo. Husband and wife, T.J., a Hawai'ian by birth, and Gina, from northern Thailand herself, handle everything at the upstart, six-table restaurant.

After graduating from a culinary program here at a community/technical college here in Moorhead, and then serving 10 years as the head sushi chef at Wasabi, another local Asian food staple, T.J. left the Japanese restaurant to pursue Gina's dream of owning a restaurant. ... And thus the mom-and-pop dream restaurant was born!

Who couldn't take a chance on them, right? ... Right.

Only, it looks like we'll need to offer up a second. ... Maybe. ... Let me explain.

So an hour and 40 minutes after Shelley placed our order to ThaiKota tonight, I found myself sitting in our car in their parking lot ... still waiting for our food. ... And Shelley kept reminding me to be patient and give them a chance ... because after all, they are new to the restaurant game and maybe the were still working out some kinks. ... "Remember, they are new to this; there's only two of them; and they are still working out the kinks."

So, appropriately put in my place, I went back to surfing my phone and listening to the radio. ... But maybe we should start from the beginning.

Shelley had been planning this little culinary escape for tonight for days. She was excited that we were going to order a mess of dishes from ThaiKota, head to "The Office" -- my nerdy version of the man cave located in our basement where we hide from the kids -- and watch movies until late into the night. ... Check! Awesome! ... I'm in!

Well, we both had some crazy schedules today, with a ton of things to clear off our plate so it was finally about 5 p.m. when Shelley said, "Ok, we ready to order?" ... Having finished my "to-do" list, I said, "Yep, let's go!"

She got on the phone, and found out that the small, mom-and-pop shop didn't use a food delivery service so we'd have to come pick it up. ... "Yep, fine," Shelley said. "How long?" ... The answer was an hour.

Oh, whoa. ... "Well, OK," Shelley said. "They are new; they are working out the kinks; it'll be worth it."

"Yep, OK. ... Now what?" I asked.

"Well, I have a few things I can finish at my office downtown," Shelley said. "Why don't we go down there; I'll finish my work; and then we can pick up the food." ... So, we headed out. We drove downtown; Shelley went into her office to work while I hung out in the car. After some Facebook and Instagram surfing, Shelley emerged 30 minutes later, and said, "Well, I called and they said they need 15 more minutes. ... Soooo, you want to come in and see my office?" ... And I did. We went in and toured her office, which I'd never seen before.

After the tour, we went back to the car, and on the way over to the restaurant, Shelley decided she wanted to pick up a few ciders from our local cidery, Wild Terra. ... Ok, we go the time, sure, why not. So we swung by and picked up a couple of four packs -- Gutter Bunny and No Danger Seltzer -- and then finally headed to the restaurant. Shelley went in, and only moments later, she was back, saying, "Ahh, yeah, there is one more order ahead of ours. They need 15 more minutes, and they'll bring it out to us."

This is where we left off the story earlier, with me, sitting in our car, scrolling through Facebook and grumbling. ... And Shelley preaching patience to me. ... So, we continued to talk, listen to music and hang out. ... And then finally, at an hour and 40 minutes after Shelley had placed our order, I walked back into the restaurant to see what was up. ... And there sat our food, only getting colder on the counter behind the cash register.

Ok, so ... yeah. They have some kinks to work out.

And now I hear you screaming, "All of that is nice. Boo hoo. ... But what about the food?" ... Oh yeah, that's why we're here, right?

So, admittedly when we order from somewhere new we probably appear as gluttons. Because we generally order six or seven dishes, share a little of each and then put a bunch of leftovers in the fridge for the next day. ... And tonight was no different.

So here was the lineup: spring rolls, Sai Aua sausage, Gina's Fish Sauce wings, Pad Thai with shrimp, Thai fried rice, Drunken MaMa, Keang Oom Moo and Labb Moo.

And here are some descriptions:

Spring rolls: Fresh lettuce, mint, carrot, cabbage, and choice of tofu or red pork wrapped in rice paper and served with sweet chili peanut sauce or spicy Thai chili sauce

Gina's Fish Sauce wings: Chicken wings marinated with fish sauce and fried with a crispy Thai flour and served with Jim Jeaw sauce..

Sai Aua sausage: Northern style spicy Thai sausage sliced and served with cabbage ginger and Thai chili.

Pad Thai with shrimp: Thai style stir-fry rice noodles, egg, peanut, beansprout, with a sweet tamarind sauce..

Thai fried rice: Fried rice with egg, tomatoes, Chinese broccoli, onion, and garlic

Drunken MaMa: Spicy noodle dish with basil, green onion, tomato, cabbage tossed in house wok sauce.

Keang Oom Moo: Ground pork tossed with lime juice, red onion, mint, culantro, cilantro, green onion, chili powder, and roasted rice with vegetables and sticky rice

Labb Moo: Northern Thai herbal soup made with pork broth, chili paste, fresh dill, Thai eggplant, culantro,onion, Thai chili, and pork.

Ok, so, I'm going to be frank right from the get-go. The flavors just weren't there. All of these friends that we'd heard raving about ThaiKota said the flavors were big and bold and out of this world. ... And that excited us! ... We are all about big, bold and out-of-this-world flavors. ... But unfortunately our order left us underwhelmed and feeling that we could have ordered from one of our ol' favorites and been much happier.

To be fair, the Keang Oom Moo and Labb Moo brought some heat. So if you find yourself in downtown Fargo, and you need a quick lunch, these two dishes might suffice. But the Pad Thai had a very distinct spaghettig/marina taste to it, and the Drunken MaMa was average. Out of everything we ordered tonight, my favorite was the Labb Moo, the Northern Thai herbal soup. And it is the one thing that I'd automatically order again.

OK, so this is really unfair to you, the reader, and to the restaurant, because I'm not giving you much to work with if you are a foodie. A review should tell you about the tastes and the flavors, but unfortunately the flavors here are just ... meh. A couple of dishes that bring a little heat, a good soup ... and not much else. So I don't want to waste your time.

But-t-t-t ... Shelley reminded me many times tonight that I can't make my judgements about the restaurant only 16 days into their existence. ... So, we will order again. We have to give them another shot, as we do with all of our culinary experiences. ... And next time, I really hope they bring us to flavor town. ... Sorry foodie fans! ... I know this review isn't really helpful, but how about this time we just give ThaiKota a "wait-and-see," and I'll report back again the next time we chow down there. ... Because, tonight I'm finding faith ... in a second chance!

Happy food hunting everyone! ... Please leave us any recommendations you have for us, regardless of where it is in upper Minnesota and eastern North Dakota!