Jonathan D.
Yelp
When we were scouting out restaurants for our trip to Boise, it didn't seem like there was much in the way of Asian cooking of any kind (no, P.F. Chang's doesn't count). But when we got here, Nahm came up in a Yelp search as being within walking distance, and the five-star average got my attention; I know how hard it is for a restaurant to keep that kind of average. Further, I saw that some of the raves were from fellow elites. My foodie companion and I both love Thai food--we live in LA, which is arguably home to the best Thai food in the country--but we were particularly excited that Nahm cooked Northern Thai and Burmese food, as these are much harder to find. So we were sold, and today at lunch, we discovered that the hype is indeed real.
The restaurant is located in an upscale strip mall not far from the Whole Foods (there seems to be parking, though we were on foot), and inside, it's clean and comfortable. It was fairly busy when we arrived--about noon--and the server greeted us immediately and showed us to a two-top. We wanted to focus on the Burmese and Northern Thai specialties rather than the Thai dishes that tend to be more ubiquitous (e.g., yellow curry); we wanted things we couldn't get at pretty much any Thai restaurant back home in LA.
We began with the tea leaf salad, which is a Burmese specialty. It combines fermented tea leaves with greens, nuts, fried shallot and garlic and more. Their iteration was very light and dressed in a way that offered a bit of kick and a little "funk" of just the right variety. It was the perfect starter, and the more I ate, the better it got (and the more I craved it).
For our mains, we opted for Hung Lay, a pork belly curry from Northern Thailand, and Shan noodles, a popular Burmese dish. Both of these were just as outstanding as our starter. Hung Lay isn't particularly spicy; it's more rich and flavorful (we had ours accompanied by coconut rice) and includes ginger and pickled garlic and tamarind (for just a little sweetness). It's also surprisingly not nearly as heavy as one might imagine. The Shan noodles were a great pairing to go with the curry: They're rice noodles with house tomato sauce, soft-boiled egg, ground pork, bean sprouts, broccoli (and other goodies), all in a clear broth. Another dish that was lighter than you might expect and addictively delicious.
Service is attentive and friendly. I also loved the Julia Child quote they had posted over the entrance to the kitchen. Clearly, these are folks who love pleasing others with their food, and their food is pleasing indeed.
Bottom line: Nahm is a keeper. It's not just a great restaurant for Boise; it's a great restaurant for anywhere.