Last week I attended a Thai Tweet-up at Nakama Asian Kitchen in Deerfield Beach hosted by my friends, ThaiCooks.com and Sushi. pro. Anything that this husband and wife team are involved in is astoundingly authentic, real and pure. So I knew this dinner was going to be as close to a trip to the Far East as I was going to get, at least on this particular Friday night; and of course we needed Thai Cooks as our tour guide, because this was the only way we were going to navigate through Nakama’s menu of authentic Thai food as well as converse with the owner/cook/server.

Nakama Asian Kitchen is about as bona fide Thai as you’re going to get around these parts. The menu is written in both English and Thai, and the business is run by 3 family members who do everything, cook it, serve it, clean it. The cultural differences with regard to owning a small business is amazingly different between this particular Thai family and American small business owners. They are not interested in marketing or advertising to grow their small store front to a larger one or even open a second location; the owners seem to be content with serving their core Thai/Asian cliental the very best food from their country in America. Nakama Asian Kitchen is all about quality, getting it right and being 110% authentic Thai.

I personally love Thai curry, the spicer the better and the Panang Curry that was served Friday night was off the hook. I have never had anything even close to the exotic flavors and combination of textures I had in Nakama’s signature dish, with a side pitcher of good old H2O to put out the fire blazing in my throat. (click on the photos for a larger view)

Nakama’s Panang Curry

Nam Kraduk Moo (Northeastern Thailand style pork dish) complete bone-in pork. This was a down and dirty, lick your fingers dish, leave the princess at home for this one.

Pad Thai I always pass on Pad Thai because many restaurants either pre-cook or over-cook this dish leaving nothing but a glob of starch to be served. Not this time, this is how Pad Thai should be prepared.

Rad Prik (fried fish with basil sauce and crispy fried basil leaves) The basil sauce and fresh vegetables in this dish were simply outstanding. Simply being the key word. This dish was simple and not overdone, no one ingredient overpowered another, making it quite an enjoyable dish.

Pad Kana Moo Krob (Thai stir-fried Chinese broccoli with crispy pork) The broccoli was as fresh as the green it looks like in this photo. This dish could almost be really healthy sans the fried pork, but then again we were going for authenticity this night.

Gluay Tod (Fried Bananas) as authentic as getting them from any street vendor in Thailand

Nakama Asian Kitchen 61 South Federal Highway Deerfield Beach (954) 571-7181