King's Market- Antioch, TN

To quote Tek from Real World Hawaii- I'm a baller on a budget. I appreciate good, cheap eats and don't mind going a little out of my way to find them. King's Market is a small-ish Asian grocery store in Antioch that also has a cafe inside that serves Laotion and Thai food. We were a little confused when we entered the store and didn't immediately see the cafe. We wandered around to the side of the store and spotted a little cafe that has been built back into the wall. It's a small space with only about 8-10 tables. The waitress/hostess quickly greeted us and seated us. She was extremely friendly despite the fact that she was experiencing mild contractions- a fact she casually mentioned while giving us our menus and taking our drink order. We took a few minutes to peruse the double-sided menu of appetizers and entrees. All of the dishes have a short descrption that comes in handy when ordering something out of the pad thai comfort zone. My dining companion was a vegetarian and the waitress assured us that any of the dishes could be made with tofu instead of the specified meat. He went with the Khao Op Saparod, fried rice with pineapple, raisins, and nuts. He gave it high marks and seemed to enjoy it. I thought the tofu was rubbery.

My turn! I always order summer rolls and these had an added bonus. Little strips of pink pork! I don't eat pork so this was not so cool in my book.

Thankfully, the entree was redeeming. I chose the Lad Nah with seafood, a dish of wide noodles with brown gravy, chinese broccoli, fried egg, shrimp, and squid. It was definitely tasty and for the price, $6.95, it was a hell of a deal. I had more than enough to take to work then next day.

I give this place two enthusiastic thumbs up. Most Thai restaurants price their entrees in the 8-15 range. King's Market is cheaper by a few dollars and has a large portion size. That fact alone could win my heart but there is more. This place is also super cool because it's a one-stop shop. You can sit down for a quick meal, do some grocery shopping, and buy a snazzy gold necklace (yeah, they have a jewelry store in there too!). The grocery selection is impressive and I left with some tofu and durian chips. If you don't know about the power of the durian then I suggest you read this .