David K.
Yelp
This review is long overdue and isn't just for my last time eating there (2 nights ago) but for the 6-8 times we've been there since they opened.
First off, I read both of the 1 star reviews, neither have anything to do with the food and both sound like the typical problems you get trying to keep a Bozeman restaurant staffed when cost of living in the area is so high and you struggle to get committed long term staff.
Secondly, I don't need to read any of the 5 star reviews because they are all spot on as far as I'm concerned. Bozeman couldn't be more lucky as a town to have had a chef like Jarett happen to stop and invest here. This is far and away the best restaurant this town has ever had.
Third, you need to put in 2 orders of the lamb dumplings WHEN YOU SIT DOWN. I don't care if your reservation is at 5 when they open. We've tried to order them at 5:30 and they've only had 1 left. This is my only complaint about this restaurant. MORE LAMB PLEASE OK THX.
The wings are spicy and the shit. The salads are all delicious you can't go wrong with any of them. The green curry is better than any Thai in 3 states and I've tried them all. The Bison Mapo Tofu is delicious, ESPECIALLY left over, and I hate tofu anywhere else I've had it.
It's a weird thing to say in Montana that a freaking skirt steak is the best cooked beef I've had here, but this steak beats the prime rib and ribeyes at Stacey's, Land of Magic, and Chico's fancy dining room IMHO. It's totally different than a steak at any of those, which are all great, but it's so good that I can only imagine they give it a 2 day butter bath before cooking it - tender AF.
The tamarind ribs are the best ribs in town, I'm glad they've survived the menu changes. If they have the Chang Mai sausage special you'll want to get that too. It's a carbon copy of the same sausage I've had at Kalare Night Bazaar in CM itself.
The Dan Dan Noodles will burn your rookie tongue off and they're also my third favorite thing on the menu after the lamb dumplings and the below.
Arright hear me out cause this is a sleeper on the menu and most of BZN and the world is MISSING OUT. Veggie section. Earth's Three Treasures. You will never think about Eggplant, Peppers and Potato the same way again after you have it.
Wife used to live in a rural area of China outside of Beijing. Di San Xian (Earth's Three Treasures) was a staple in the tiny little street restaurants there. But she could never get it in the fancier restaurants in Beijing, and when we moved back to the states, she searched high and low for it in the authentic Chinese restaurants in places like SF, LA, NYC, you name it. The standard response she got, even while inquiring about it in Mandarin, was "We don't make peasent food here," with a scoff. For about a decade after her years in China she fruitlessly sought after this dish (and a couple of the other peasent food options from her village). But her efforts were not rewarded.
Until one year a random, amazing wonderful chef put ETT on the menu of his new little endeavor in my wife's hometown.
This dish will warm your tummy and soul.