Monsoons

This is authentic Thai food… not in the sense of having every Thai dish you ever dreamed of available or even necessarily the option of requesting your favorite… but authentic in the sense of if you went to Thailand and stopped in a small three table eatery in the country where one little Thai lady served her versions of local cuisine.
If you’re super particular and some kind of foodie, this place might disappoint you. But, if you’re into local family operations serving good localized homemade fare, then this place is it.
There are only four tables and the locals love it, so go early. Look at all the menus, because they have different items. The portions are decently sized, but I’m a hungry guy and I liked the Pad Thai immensely, so I was overly satisfied with two orders.
We go out of our way to go to this place. It’s not the best I’ve had, but for Mountain City TN you could do a whole lot worse.

I am a Thai junkie, especially when it comes to green curry. My local friends have been pushing Monsoons on me for years but till recently it has hard for the wife and I to make the trek to Johnson County (technically Doeville). We finally made it up here tonight and…
Folks, I have never been to Thailand, but I have had Thai food in every major city I have ever visited, usually prepared by Thai or Cambodian immigrants. I tell you without a shred of exaggeration that this is the best Thai food I have ever eaten. EVER.
At the outset I note that like Red Chili in Elizabethton and some other small-​town establishments, Monsoons is right now a victim of Unilocal’s algorithm which emphasizes long, negative reviews over shorter positive ones. Note that including this one and three hidden reviews it’s total rating should be about a 4.5÷5.
To address some of the reviews below, Monsoons décor is nothing fancy. If you have ever looked for ethnic Asian cuisine anywhere BUT a hole in the wall then you are doing it wrong. The owner Mel and her daughter were the only staff around when we were there, and they share cooking and serving duties, so the service was not fancy but was friendly and responsive. The menu is posted on a poster board above the open kitchen but guests are provided with a couple of pictorial menus in binders. No, it is not professional food photography, but I have no idea why you would expect that at a small town restaurant.
The secret behind the amazing flavored of the food is in plain sight right out front. Mel grows her own peppers, herbs, spices, and veggies right there in the property. This is literal garden-​to-​table fresh. Very few American Thai places can offer that, especially not in urban areas.
We started with an order of egg rolls, which have near-​mythical local status. The cabbage and other fillings were fresh and flavorful but not overpowering. The Monsoon Sauce was a welcome kick in the teeth, bursting with complexity and a fiery but not overwhelming blast of spice.
The waitress misheard my green curry order the first time and brought red, so I got the pleasure of sampling the fried rice straight-​up while we waited. WOW. It was so packed with flavor I could have eaten it straight.
Then came the green curry chicken. The portion was just right – if you expect leftovers look elsewhere. The flavor hit every note I have come to expect and then some: a tart beginning with amazing sweetness and a perfectly warm finish. It got nicely spicy as I kept going. I was in culinary Heaven.
I cannot WAIT to go back and sample more of Mel’s wares.

My first impressions are: «Where’s the menu?“I was told of this place by our lovely innkeeper. I was also told the chef will make whatever we want… However I was told we were restricted to what’s in the binder of pictures of «Thai» dishes when we finally got there. No indication of what’s in the food and the pics are a bit fuzzy. Maybe it’s the greasy feel of the plastic?
I’ve had authentic Thai food before and this isn’t really authentic.
At the end of our visit the owner gave us a real menu which included dishes that weren’t in the binder.
My steak and peppers dish was spicy but I received like a dollop of it, so it wasn’t very filling. I got a ton of rice which was doused in soy sauce.
The highlight of my meal were the egg rolls. They were homemade and the accompanying sauce was cool, but I’ve had better.
For a local «treasure» it’s not worth trying and I recommend stopping in Elizabethton for something better before it gets dark and you have to bear the winding roads.

Monsoons Thai & Exotic Food is a tiny (four or five tables) Americanized version of a Thai restaurant located in a pole barn. There are tons of family photos, Thai chotskies, and license plates adorning the metal walls and wooden beams. A giant TV blaring the local news dominates the cluttered dining space and gives the impression that you’re dining in someone’s crowded family room. This restaurant is a fixture in the community frequented by locals and full of charm in its own peculiar way.
My husband and I were directed to Monsoons by a local who claimed that when the restaurant closed due to roof damage in recent hail storms the community banded together to raise money for repairs so that they could once again get their Thai cravings satisfied. I make a point to seek out restaurants frequented by locals when traveling and a sweet story is always encouraging, but in this particular instance such a glowing recommendation was more than a bit deceiving.
I have never actually been to Thailand and I’m certain that I have enjoyed any number of less than authentic Asian meals claiming to be one particular ethnic cuisine or the other, but Monsoons is an entity unto itself. The menu is composed of a greasy binder filled with less than appetizing photos and many dishes that are really just American style Chinese food. There’s also little indication of what ingredients are contained in each dish and we were given the impression that despite what you may order the meal you receive will be whatever the owner puts together for you.
That was certainly the case with our order because although I was reassured that all items I requested were vegetarian and fish sauce free the noodles with cabbage (just cabbage no other vegetables) tasted strongly of fish. My husband ordered the same entrée I requested, but with chicken added and his dish actually contained more veggies, but was topped with some sort of thick spicy sauce with an unpleasant aftertaste. The only portion of our meal that was enjoyable at all was the crazy spicy, yet flavorful, Ralph’s sauce that accompanied our spring rolls. The spring rolls themselves were ridiculous portions composed of rough chopped romaine lettuce, a disk of cucumber, and ¼ of a tomato ripping through the rice paper roll. It was an odd experience in general and none of the menu items were similar to any of the tasty, complex flavors, and spicy curries I would associate with Thai food. If I were to judge this restaurant based solely on the food and service provided as I typically do I would definitely give Monsoons a 2 or perhaps a 1, but honestly if I ever found myself in Butler, TN I’d probably go there again. There just isn’t anything else open in the off season and it’s something of an interesting experience just to be in this restaurant.

Thai Food. the best Thai food, bar none, I have ever had. It is a little hole in the wall. The owner makes the food right after you order, from scratch! down to grading the carrots for the egg rolls. Mel (the owner) is from Thailand, been here for 29yrs. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it. The Pad Thai was fabulous!