Midwest Buddhist Meditation Center

Went to the food fair. Had some amazing authentic Thai food today. Cheap eats, but for a good cause. I gave my extra $ 1-​$ 2 change just because this was just an amazing family atmosphere with great food to eat and buy (to bring home). And some ingredients (5lbs of fresh red Thai chilies anyone?)
It’s easy to feel generous surrounded by such happy people and great food made with amazing ingredients.
Green papaya salad never tasted so good.

Genuine Thai food, prepared by Thais, for Thais. What we get in the local Thai restaurants … is too seldom, real Thai food.
Eat it there. Take it home. Do both!

The Sunday outdoor food market here is a wonderful experience! You’ll find all manner of authentic Thai cuisine prepared before your eyes. Everyone is quite friendly and upbeat, and they have covered tables ready for your basking and eating pleasure. Kids were playing and blowing bubbles, older folks were grinning. The sun was shining, and enticing smells filled the air. Just a great time!
It was fun to buy an assortment of goodies for everyone to try. Spices, especially hot ones abound here so be warned! This ain’t for the timid of palate.
The one thing that prevents me from wanting to make a beeline back is the fact that I don’t eat beef or pork, and it was difficult to find dishes to fit that particular bill. The ones I did find were of the sweet variety and, though few, were incredible. Understanding that beef & pork are authentic Thai staples, I enjoyed the food I could eat, and watched happily as the folks I was with went to town. The jerky was an especially huge hit with my meat-​loving pals.

This is a small outdoor market/​food area driven by the local Thai community biweekly during spring, summer and early fall.
There are vendors selling food ingredients like chili pastes, dried chili powders, fresh vegetables, curries, etc.
They have different food vendors as well that offer really authentic homemade food. We’ve tried some spicy beef soup that was really good. Had a simple, yet very flavorful basil chicken dish (Pad Krapow). Then there was the papaya salad… though very delicious (was sweet/​sour/​salty/​umami all at the same time), I was a bit too adventurous and unknowingly agreed to getting it served «traditionally» which means they take quarter-​sized small brined crabs and crack them and the juices into the salad. The crab’s brininess gave it nice flavor, but it was a bit off-​putting to see them laying in my bowl like dead dismembered spiders and crunch into them as I ate… eeek! So yes, things are pretty authentic here…
If you’re searching for an authentic thai ingredient or looking for a culinary adventure outside of your local Thai takeout, stop by here… You may want to check their schedule or call before you make the trip out.

I look forward to their food fairs every year since I found out about it. It’s a very interesting experience. I admit that it’s a bit awkward too. My husband & I don’t really know what we’re doing. ha ha
The challenge we face is that neither of us are well informed about traditional Thai cuisine. I pretty much stick to a few standard dishes that are definitely not served here. The other challenge is that a lot of the vendors don’t speak English, or at least not very well. I get the impression that some of the ingredients or dish names don’t have an easy English interpretation. The vendors are more than happy to tell you what they have to offer in the best way they can. Unfortunately, I don’t know what they’re describing to me. There are signs at each vendor table, but almost everything is only in Thai script.
Some of the food varies weekly as well, but there are a lot of repeats. There are a couple of dishes that we really like. We ordered a noodle soup with pork. It’s always very comforting to eat. We also really like a fried rice dish with chili peppers, pork, green onion, cilantro and lime. Oh so good! We tried Khao Kha Mu (yep…looked that up, thankful for pictures!) for the 1^st time. It’s a pork dish with rice and a boiled egg.
In the past, we have tried the beef jerky. It’s really expensive ($ 10). This year, it was a little dry but we’ve enjoyed it before. One of the vendors was cooking a lot of custom orders. It looked like people had been waiting a while. I’m not sure what one of the dishes was, but the other one I saw was Pad Thai. It was fun to watch them cook, but we didn’t get a chance to order. I think this is one of those booths that you need to get your order in ASAP. We probably stood there for about 10 minutes. I’m not even sure if they were taking more orders at that point.
Last Sunday, there seemed to be a lot of fish offerings. Neither of us are big fish fans and not brave enough to try any of it. The fried banana seems to be a staple, which is very good.
I really hope we can go back this summer to be a little more adventurous and less intimidated. We really enjoy it!

So– this is not a restaurant. This is a bi-​monthly outside food gathering that supports the local temple. So if you are in the mood for authentic Thai food and supporting the local community, this is where you go.
Things to Remember:
–Parking: Don’t be afraid to park on the lawn.
–Most things are not in english or even have a sign. Don’t be afraid to try everything and anything.
–The best thing is usually a bowl of Thai soup and noodles.
–Most dishes/​plates are around $ 5.00– obviously it is Cash only.
They always sell some vegetables too!

went back on 6-​10-​2012 and got the Pad Ka-​Prao (holy basil stir fry) and it rocked. This is not the Americanized version you get at an American Thai Restaurant. I will be back

So, I emailed the temple about some questions and the Abbot of MBMC wrote me back.
” Thank you so much for visiting our temple Sunday market and hope you will bring your friends with you this coming Sunday. I would like to answer your questions that our Sunday market is for raising fund for the temple and most of food stalls are Our Thai members and restaurant owners who volunteers their time to prepare food and serve as well. Most of the proceed are donated to the temple. Your tokens are your donation to the temple. By the way, those pencils were just give away for going back to school. We try to make our Sunday market to be place for summer gathering for everyone who may enjoy Thai food for the good cost. Our up coming event will be on Oct. 2 for Sunday market and Oct. 16 is going to be special Loy Kratong in the afternoon from 1 pm — 6 pm
with food market and some performance by children. We are great appreciate of your interest and feed back. We are welcome suggestions and about MEE KROP I will ask my members for you.“
And to my suprise he got a member to make me Mee Krob!!! And for three bucks. I am sooooo thankful and elated.
They have an election coming up, and we were invited to join the Thai American Association.
This time I got to try the satay… yummmm. Also, had the beef and pork jerky (from different vendors, I prefer the pork that comes in the styrofoam), thai cookies/​candy, thai iced coffee, chicken curry puffs, and lettuce filled with lime, toasted coconut, ginger and dried shrimp (reminded me of bite size delight from PS Bangkok in Chicago).

I enjoy coming here, only been twice but I guess that makes me a regular :)
The folks here are friendly and welcoming. I feel it’s a good cause, helping raise money for the temple etc.
It’s always nice to get a glimpse into another culture, especially when the vehicle of sharing is authentic food.
With that said, I really have enjoyed a few items here, the Thai Iced Tea, Thai Coffee, assorted pastries, sausages, cold rice dishes, fried plantains etc…
I learned the hard way to stay away from anything that involves grinding fresh chilies in a molter and pastel, I tried to eat a cold noodle dish that was served this way, ouch, seriously the hottest thing I ever tried to eat, no fun, my mouth was swollen after a few bites.
Strangely, I have found the food here to be really mild in the spice factor other then the above hell plate of noodles.
I wish there were more hot temp. «stir-​fry» items here, or hot «grilled» items, I guess it is too hard to set something like that up at a stand?
But anyways, go check it out and have a nice afternoon, there are a few Asian bakeries in the area worth checking out while on that side of town too.

Just got back from trying this for the first time. I have to type this out before falling into a food coma.
It was great food. I will take others’ word that it’s authentic Thai food — never having been there. Indeed nothing was much like anything I’ve seen in American Thai restaurants.
I have traveled a bit in China (which shares some culinary similarities in areas), and I was definitely reminded a bit of the street food scene there.
I went with one other person, and enjoyed myself thoroughly. But, I think if you go in a larger group you could try more things before getting to the point of bursting! I loved everything I tried, but there were many other booths I would have loved to sample from.
I’ll just have to go back.
Don’t worry about being unfamiliar with the food. The vendors are pretty helpful about explaining things. And many offer samples. Be adventurous!
It’s a dining experience that I don’t think can be had anywhere else in the area.

You will not find anything else like this in this area. AUTHENTIC LOCAL THAI FOOD in Michigan. I left Thailand as a child and coming to this place is like visiting my homeland. There are plates that you WILL NEVER see anywhere in the restaurants. EVEN BETTER, you can visit the local Wat, which puts the food fair on, and learn about Thai Buddhism. Without this place, my children would not know half of their heritage, so I am very grateful that the Wat holds these food fests.
Be careful of the spice, this is spicy like your tongue has never known!
And it’s not fancy by any means, but the authenticity will overwhelm you!

2011 Schedule released:
5/​22, 6/​5, 6/​19, 7/​24, 8/​7, 8/​21, 9/​4, 9/​18, 10/​2, ¹⁰⁄₂₃
I haven’t been, so this is more of a note to myself to get to one…

We attended the Food Fair today and enjoyed it very much. I commented that it was as though we had walked into someone’s family reunion and were invited to enjoy it with them.
The atmosphere was also calming in an odd way — there were several young children and lots of activity was happening and yet we both felt very relaxed. We felt this was because we didn’t understand the languages around us. So we could feel a part of it, yet let it also wash over us without having to work at anything. Very pleasant.
We shared satay (which will be the only correctly named dish you will see me put up here) with a wonderful peanut sauce, a delightfully marinated chicken over rice dish with a very nice vinegary/​spice sauce that I am now particularly fond of, a bowl of fish curry (most of which came home) and noodle soup that was just wonderful.
We enjoyed this experience and look forward to returning next year. Hopefully, I will learn proper pronunciation of «thank you» or «Korp kun ka» (thank you Brian A.) by then.
As a side note, we parked just across the street and had no problem at all getting in or out.

We purchased a whole Deep fried Thai style fish for $ 7 which we brought home. I placed it in aluminum foil, covered it with Jalapenos & Fresh Garlic & «steamed» on the BBQ grill. Served together with Big fat juicy clams purchased from Kim Nhung & some stir fried Kang Kong. Fantastic…
If you do get to visit this monthly Thai lunch, food market, try out the whole fish at $ 7 how can you go wrong?