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From the outside, the Foodsmart supermarket at University Av. and Dale St. in St. Paul may not look like anything out of the ordinary, but the little cafe and deli hidden inside offers a treasure trove of Thai and Hmong dishes seldom found elsewhere in the Twin Cities.
Most local Thai restaurants cater to a non-Asian clientele and offer a version of Thai cuisine adapted to American tastes. Foodsmart caters to a mostly Hmong clientele, and offers both traditional Hmong cuisine and Thai specialties at bargain prices.
Foodsmart actually offers three dining options: a menu with mostly Thai dishes cooked to order, a mostly-Hmong buffet served from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily; and a deli counter with a limited selection of prepared dishes ranging from Hmong sausage and grilled chicken to Thai curries.
The two cuisines are very different, but there is some overlap; Hmong dishes tend to be very simple and mildly seasoned, while Thai dishes can be quite spicy and complex.
The menu includes color photographs of many of the dishes, with their names in Hmong (and sometimes Thai), and explanations in English. The names themselves are tantalizingly exotic: nqauj xyaw qhiav may look like a typographical error, but it's actually rice with ginger, green...