Keeping it real

Do you ever eat at an "ethnic" restaurant and wonder if the food that you are eating really tastes like the food served in the dish's country of origin?

If you would like to know what food from Bangkok, Thailand, really tastes like, but you don't want to fly over an ocean to find out, then dine at Cafe 'n Me, 820 N. Sprigg St.

Jim Wongtawatnugool made a plate of vegetarian Pak Pik Pow at Cafe n' Me on Thursday, November 8, 2007, at the Thai restaurant in Cape Girardeau. (Kit Doyle)

"Our food really makes us unique. We didn't Americanize it. We have it as close to Thailand food as possible," said Cafe 'n Me owner and operator Abby Wong. Wong said she and her family strive to keep the Thai cuisine at their restaurant as fresh and close to the original as possible.

"I really don't like it when people decide to change the food. Instead, make it the real way and see if people really do like to eat that kind of food," Wong said.

Wong said that although the restaurant tries to stick with original ethnic dishes, it didn't start out with Asian foods. "We all used to work at Saffron's. My mom wanted to move somewhere else to make things more like coffee and sandwiches," Wong said.

Cafe n' Me's Chicken on a Bed, which is ground chicken on French bread, cooled while waiting to be served Thursday, November 8, 2007. (Kit Doyle)

After their cafe opened three years ago, customers started to request more Asian dishes.

The dishes are down-home Thai cooking. "Everything is my mom's recipes. She always cooked this stuff at home," Wong said. Everything at Cafe 'n Me is made fresh.

Wong said the family has always been close, which is what brought them to the United States. "My brother was here first. I think that my parents worried about him, so we all just moved here," Wong said.

Wong said she met her husband in Cape Girardeau. "I was working at Saffron's, and he went there to eat and he just kept coming back," she said.

Jim Wongtawatnugool prepared Cafe n' Me fried rice Thursday, November 8, 2007 at her Thai restaurant. (Kit Doyle)

Wong said her favorite part of owning a restaurant is the comfort of working with family. "When we get to work with family it's more comfortable. I can do whatever, and it's not too big so I can walk around and talk to people. I love to talk to people," she said.

Cafe 'n Me is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and reopens from 5 to 8 p.m. On Fridays the restaurant stays open until 9 p.m. On Saturdays, Cafe 'n Me opens at noon.