When you think you’re eating authentic Thai food, chances are, you’re likely not. What we’ve grown to eat here in the United States is a more Americanized version of Thai food, think pad thai, pad see ew, etc. You see, I didn’t know this truly until I spent a meal at Nour Thai Kitchen in Oakland Park, Florida, which gave me an experience that goes beyond just delicious food. I’m going to emphasize the word “experience” here, because this Fort Lauderdale restaurant is so much more than what meets the eye.
Nour Thai in Oakland Park isn’t just serving food — it’s telling a story centuries in the making. Rooted in a specific region of Thailand, the restaurant builds its menu, cocktails, and even its interior design around the heritage of its owners and chef, who hail from the same village. Dishes like Chor Muang, a purple “royal dumpling” once reserved for Thai royalty, require hours of meticulous hand preparation and exact measurements using traditional ingredients like 100% palm sugar and complex spice blends. At hundreds of years old, this recipe is one of the main reasons people come from all over to dine here.
I decided to sit at the bar for my visit, mainly so that I could speak to the staff and get a feel for what the restaurant has to offer. I started with a Singha beer (on happy hour) and a hot sake.
It was shortly after, while the staff was setting up for dinner service, that I found myself in conversation with Andrew, a server who seemed to have an encyclopedia of knowledge about Nour Thai, its owners, and the menu. Andrew explained to me, “Ken, our owner Edric’s husband, comes from a place called Yasipong, and our chef is from the same village. Our chef, Yute, was a Buddhist monk for about 10 years and has been a chef for 35 to 40 years. Everything we do is focused on where they come from. You’ll see a lot of fermented items, crispy rice, and traditional techniques throughout the menu.”
I was curious about the difference between this Thai food and others I’ve had throughout the country, which tended to lean more toward the Americanized version of the cuisine. Andrew explained, “We don’t use canned products, artificial dyes, or food preservatives. We’re seed-oil free, and we source ingredients from four local farms, with deliveries every two to three days to keep everything fresh.”…