Daisy Mint

I've been hearing about Daisy Mint in Pasadena from several sources. Located on that stretch of Colorado between Michael's Art Store and Zankou Chicken, it is easy to whiz by. Well, except now there's an explanation for the lines out front, and all those accolades.

Daisy Mint is a small space, with maybe twelve tables plus the community table. And, it was hopping tonight! Power is still out to many area residents due to the hurricane-force wind storms, and customers were picking up their to-go orders to eat by candlelight, romantically-inclined or not. (As usual, my imagination filled in the blanks as each order was carried out the door.)

After starting with the Garden Grilled salad, here you see my main dish: Spicy Catfish with shallots, green apple, cashews and cilantro with the awesome spicy lime dressing. Because I lingered over the grilled veggie appetizer, the catfish filets totally soaked up that spicy lime dressing and zinger-ooed my tastebuds. WOW!! The shredded apple give a wonderful textural change to the dish while allowing my mouth to recover from the flavor explosion. (You may recall I featured the Saladang Apple Salad in a September 2009 post. These Thai places sure know how to work a Granny Smith!)

Expansion is on the horizon, with a second location of Daisy Mint opening in January. They are taking over a space on Lake, although I'm not sure where. I'll look for you in that line, too!

Click here to go to Daisy Mint's Web site.