Meeting some colleagues for lunch and looking for someplace new, north of Buckhead, I suggested we meet at Tum Pok Pok, on Buford Highway.  From owner Adidsara Weerasin, the food focuses not on traditional Americanized versions of Thai food, but rather Thai street food and the cooking of the Isan (northeastern) region. The foods there are based primarily on sticky rice (although I’ve failed to order that in two trips), with meat and vegetables and is thought of as salty, sour, hot and spicy.

As you enter, the first thing you notice is the abundance of color and decoration.  And the vibrant music – like you’re in a Thai store in one of the malls along Buford Highway.  In fact, the music and flashing lights in the men’s room made me feel like I was in what I imagine to what a rave would be like Bangkok.  One of the unique things about this restaurant is that the menu is online, via QR code.  This, solely, doesn’t make it unique, but you also order and pay from your phone, as well.

On this initial visit, we started with the lemongrass scented E-Sarn (Isan) sausage, sliced and served with a chili dipping sauce, mint and peanuts.

The sausage was good, much like some of the sage-heavy sausage you find in parts of the South, but the chili sauce really added some kick.  I ordered Pad-Zee-Ew (fried flat rice noodles) with pork belly and vegetables, in their house brown sauce.

This was a delicious dish, full of heat and flavor, with enough salt from the pork belly to carry the dish.  I’ve eaten pad dishes at many Thai restaurants around town and this was among the best.  In the area for lunch, a couple of months later, I ordered the penang curry with chicken (and a really spicy ginger beer – Pentiman’s – that I’d never tried before).

The curry was thick and rich, and the few chili flakes scattered across the top added all the heat that I needed.  This place will be in the rotation when I’m on that part of BuHi.