Vietnamese/Thai restaurant opening in Blacksburg today
Pad Thai
Cafe MeKong, a Vietnamese/Thai restaurant, is scheduled to open today — Oct. 12 — beside Oasis World Market on South Main Street.
Owners of Oasis, Max and Whitney Chen Schuetz, bought the restaurant space in July after its previous tenant, Giovanni’s Italian Cuisine, closed down.
The Schuetz’s owned a 300-seat restaurant in San Francisco, Calif., before moving to Blacksburg in 2006. In July of 2009, the couple bought Oasis World Market, and has since made major improvements to the international foods retailer.
Max Schuetz said he and his wife have wanted to bring a Vietnamese/Thai restaurant to the area for sometime, as it was the couple’s favorite food to eat while living in San Francisco, he said. But, the couple couldn’t get the proper ingredients shipped to the area.
Since building-up Oasis’ inventory throughout the past several years, Schuetz said he is now able to get the needed ingredients to make the cuisine, which includes the popular pad and pho thai, both featured on tomorrow’s limited menu.
The full menu includes tom yum soup (Thai hot and sour soup with veggies or meat), Vietnamese pork and Thai fried rice, various curry dishes and more.
He said he’s also hired two chefs from San Francisco, both knowledgeable of the cuisine, to prepare the dishes.
Schuetz urged the public to “be patient with us” as he and his wife open the doors tomorrow in what he’s calling a “soft opening.”
Wednesday’s restaurant hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Updated to reflect time element.
10 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Finally! YES!!!!
Tweeks
Comment by Thomas Weeks — October 12, 2011 @ 9:45 am
Can’t wait to try their Pho!
Comment by SDBlacksburg — October 12, 2011 @ 2:36 pm
SDBlacksburg, I stopped by there today to get a few pictures, and the food looked great!
Visit http://www.cafe-mekong.com to see the full menu. Thanks for sharing!
Comment by Mary Hardbarger — October 12, 2011 @ 3:36 pm
Good eats! First day they only had two menu items: Pho Combo (brisket, steak, sausage, and tripe) and their Pad Thai. One of our guys said the Pad Thai was a bit “heavy” (I still want to try it myself).. but the Pho was very good. Nice broth, seasonings and side veggies. They seem to use really good ingredients too. They have their own truck that beings in fresh Asian ingredients from the northern DC area. And since they own the Oasis Deli next door, you know they get good stuff. :)
Really looking forward to trying the Pad Sieu, Tom Yum and Vietnamese spring rolls (with nuc mom)!!!
Tweeks
Comment by Thomas Weeks — October 12, 2011 @ 4:08 pm
Went for lunch today. Was told that on their first day, they were overwhelmed with customers. I will be happy when they have the complete menu, as more Vietnamese selections was be nest. I had the Musselman Curry for luck. Too bland and sauce looked canned and had inedible and dangerously hard shoots. Will try a noodle dish next time or just wait until the full menu is available.
Comment by Deborah — October 13, 2011 @ 9:23 pm
Went today 10/15/11…..
Did not like it.
I wish Blacksburg would get a HIGH QUALITY oriental restaurant. When we got seated we heard excuses as to why the full menu was unavailable…….. no problem. We ordered fried rice, coffee and a noodle dish….. as they say in the NFL “COME ON MAN”. If it doesn’t get any better than that it will not last….
Comment by Nick — October 15, 2011 @ 1:52 pm
Calm down Nick. This place is the best shot we have at a decent pan-Asian experience. Give’em a chance! :)
Tweeks
Comment by Thomas Weeks — October 17, 2011 @ 10:57 am
I’ve visited twice already. Nice to finally have a good Pho in SW Va! I liked the Pad Sieu and the Pad Thai although I think the Pho is better. It’ll be great when they finally get the full menu up and running. The restaurant has a no-frills atmosphere but as long as the food is good I’ll keep coming back. I hope it’s not too ethnic for local tastes because I’d love for this place to stick around.
Comment by KM — October 21, 2011 @ 12:32 am
I agree KM.. The Pho is good… But the Thai reminds me of Thai that you get in Veitnamese or Chinese restaurants. More a place holder in the “spicy section” of the menu than a great Thai dish. Both the Pad Thai and the Pad Sieu were marginal.
I hope their Thai gets better.. but what I’m really holding out for is some more of their Vietnamese dishes.. Spring Rolls, Chicken Lemon Grass, etc.
Tweeks
Comment by Thomas Weeks — October 21, 2011 @ 10:04 am
I was so excited about Pho coming to the New River Valley! Finally got to try it today and I was a bit let down. They are going to have to step up with the flavor of the broth. It was not the rich flavor I was used to in DC area. I’m not giving up, I’ll give them another chance! I have to add that the plate of basil was dried up and wilted. Nice, clean place! I’m sure they will do very well with the Thai food. It looked very good going to other tables. Best of luck to them!
Comment by Dana — October 22, 2011 @ 7:40 pm