Where everything on the menu is good

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Wondee's can vary the heat of its dishes, but don't ask for "extremely spicy."

We've been going to Wondee's in Hackensack for years, but we haven't made a dent in its extensive Thai menu. We always seem to order our favorite dishes, but recently we've started to explore the many wonderful listings on the regular and vegetarian menus.


In the past, a typical meal for me, my son and my wife would be dumplings, soup, salad and steamed whole fish with chili peppers.


On Saturday night, however, we went shrimp crazy.


For the first time, we ordered Pad Suki-Yaki with shrimp ($9.95) from the section of the menu called stir-fry noodles, and Keang Panang -- large shrimp with Panang curry and coconut milk ($14.95) -- which we found under Thai curry.


The fine, bean-thread noodles in the former were red, and the dish included preserved bean curd, greens and crunchy vegetables. The large shrimp were served in an oval platter, swimming in a generous puddle of Panang curry, which I ate with a large spoon.


On our previous visit, we had a special of soft-shell crabs in this spicy curry sauce, only one of the many curries at Wondee's Fine Thai Food & Noodles. And we tried Salted Fish Fried Rice ($9.95), which was moist and full of tender seafood.


My wife and I also had our favorite soup, Thome Yum Koong, shrimp and mushroom soup with lime and chili paste ($3.75 for small). 


A word about the shrimp at Wondee's. They invariably are fresh-tasting and tender, some of the best I've had.  


My son ordered Geu Nam (won-ton soup, $3.75) and Karnom Jib (steamed shrimp and pork dumplings, $5.95), and we all shared a Yum Rod Pedt ($8.95), a mock-duck salad listed under the vegetarian menu that is made with iceberg lettuce, crispy tofu and fruit.




Wondee's Fine Thai Food & Noodles, 296 Main St., Hackensack; 
201-883-1700. Free parking in rear, BYO.