Two of my friends and I went to Mino Sushi & Thai Restaurant on Saturday night, and with some luck got the last table available in the restaurant. Seconds after we sat down, the entire restaurant shook, the light fixtures wobbled, and everyone around us stopped eating and looked up. A Ford Focus station wagon had driven up over the curb and plowed into the Mr. Subb resturant in the middle of the strip mall connected to Mino. I had to mention that because it was one of the most bizarre and unreal experiences I’ve ever had.
After the commotion settled down and everyone had returned to their seats, the waitress came over to take our order. Mino offers a wide array of Thai food options, such as various curries, noodle dishes, Pad Thai, and rice entrees. They also have an excellent sushi menu with soups, sashimi, and several other dishes you’d expect to find at a sushi restaurant. We only tried one kind of sushi and instead focused our appetites on Thai food.
I settled on their Pad Thai, and made it clear that I wanted it very spicy. For the first time in years, I got my wish and then some. It was excellently seasoned, filling, and clear-your-sinuses spicy. The noodles were also amazing, with the perfect combination of sweet and salty flavors evident from the first bite. I also liked that it came with crushed peanuts and bean sprouts on the side, so you could add just the right amount to your dish according to your own personal taste.
My friend Nappi ordered the Masaman Curry, which was so soupy that it was served in a bowl, but was rich and delicious nonetheless. It had a lot of coconut and cream flavors floating around and was just as spicy as the Pad Thai I ordered. My roommate Craig got the Panang Curry, which had chicken, coconut, veggies, and a lot of curry. It was less coconut-centered than the Masaman Curry, but was still amazingly tasty.
The appetizer of spicy yellow tail rolls that we ordered were also incredibly good. They were well seasoned, even for sushi, and could be eaten without any wasabi or soy sauce to provide extra flavor. Something else worth mentioning: Mino was amazingly cheap for high quality Thai food. The bill for the three of our entrées, an appetizer, and hot tea was below $40, with most Thai entrées priced around $10 and sushi platters around $15. Craig noted that for a restaurant in the middle of a run down strip mall in Colonie, it was a testament to how amazing the Thai food was that it was so packed with customers.
Overall, all three of us loved Mino. The food was flat out amazing and our only complaint, although a minor one, was that the service was a bit slow. It took a while to get menus in the beginning and when we began eating, we were dying for water to quench the fires that the Birdseye Chiles had started, and it took several minutes for a waitress to stop by and refill our glasses. I’ll chalk it up to the fact that they too were greatly distracted by the accident. The bottom line, though, is that Mino is now my favorite spot to get Thai food in the Capital Region, and it’s worth a try if you’re in the mood for some delicious and spicy food. You can also order their dishes medium, spicy, or mild if you prefer.
Mino is located at 1558 Central Ave, in Colonie. The quickest way to get there is to take Route 7 to 87-South and then take the Route 5, Schenectady exit, which puts you on Central Avenue/Route 5. Mino is just a few blocks down from that in a strip mall on the left side of the road, at the corner of Lincoln Avenue.
