• Support
  • Advertise
  • Locations
  • Contact
Monday, March 20, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTERS
Dana Point Times
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Ocean Institute Jazz Festival Fundraiser
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Ocean Institute Jazz Festival Fundraiser
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
No Result
View All Result
Dana Point Times
No Result
View All Result

Del Prado Business Spotlight: Thai This

by Dana Point Times
April 2, 2015 7:14PM
in DP LIVING, DP Living Headlines
Del Prado Business Spotlight: Thai This

Thai This owners, Chef Jib Roungchun and wife Noi Tanomkret, serve up dishes that are traditional Thai with a twist. Photo: Brian Park

0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Thai with a twist: chef’s sharp humor, family tradition make for unique dining experience

Thai This owners, Chef Jib Roungchun and wife Noi Tanomkret, serve up dishes that are traditional Thai with a twist. Photo: Brian Park
Thai This owners, Chef Jib Roungchun and wife Noi Tanomkret, serve up dishes that are traditional Thai with a twist. Photo: Brian Park

By the city of Dana Point, special to the Dana Point Times

“Clean this. Cut that. Smash this,” Jib Roungchun recalls his mother saying in their native tongue as she directed his movement through the kitchen. “You are going to eat this. You are going to learn,” she said.

So instead of going out, the young Roungchun got to work, dutifully completing her traditional Thai dishes. He paid close attention to detail—attention to her vegetable selection, to the way she cleaned meat and produce and, possibly the most important element, to her chosen assortment of spices.

Today, those flavors of Bangkok are infused with more from Hong Kong, the Philippines and Chef Jib’s home of 35 years, California, where, alongside wife Noi Tanomkret, he has created some of south Orange County’s favorite—and most cleverly named—dishes.

Guests at Thai This find customary Thai dishes with a twist, along with a heavy dose of Roungchun’s sense of humor. On the menu items like Burning Lips, Oinking Around and Piggy Pork—accompanied by the daring question “Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?—make up the Go Hog Wild, or pork, selections.

Roungchun immigrated to the United States in 1980 after more than a decade traveling the Pacific. From the small village 50 miles north of Bangkok where he was educated in his family’s recipes, Jib moved to Thailand’s capital. He took with him a wealth of knowledge, passed down from generations of women who had personally cooked for Thailand’s royalty. After a decade in Bangkok, Roungchun spent four years in both Hong Kong and the Philippines. He perfected his skills and tried recipes out on friends.

“Whatever I missed back in Thailand I recreated it,” he said. “I don’t know how and I don’t know why, but I learned how to cook … I am not too bad.”

When he came to the states, Roungchun worked his way from the bottom to the top. He held different food industry jobs before landing a position at Royal Thai Cuisine in Newport Beach. Over the course of eight years, Roungchun rose in the restaurant’s ranks from busboy to manager before he embarked on his own culinary venture. His first restaurant opened its doors to San Clemente in 1990. Roungchun followed with a Mission Viejo location in 1991, Dana Point in 1992 and seven other locations thereafter.

Two award-winning eateries remain—Thai This in Dana Point and Thai Juan On in San Juan Capistrano—both of which have garnered local reader’s choice “Best of” titles for international eats.

For an introduction to some of Chef Jib’s chosen flavors, peruse the “Appathaizer” menu and bid Sgt. Pepper “Ahoy” with the Yellow Submarine—shrimp delicately wrapped in a crispy pasta shell and served with a sweet and sour sauce. Then take a step back to the Bangkok of “yesteryear” with Nue Tuen, or Jib’s Yesterday named soup, a spiced, slow-cooked beef soup with lettuce and tomato. Sample Jib’s flavorful red and yellow curries, like the Red Devil—beef stewed in coconut milk with potato, onion and peanuts—and don’t forget the Alcoholiday menu’s innovative selection of cocktails.

Thai This
24501 Del Prado Avenue
949.240.7944

Share this:

  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
Tags: Dana PointDel PradoDel Prado Business SpotlightOrange CountyThai This
ShareTweetPin

Dana Point Times

Related Posts

RJ's Cafe

Best of Dana Point: Family Atmosphere Surrounds ‘Best Breakfast’ Experience at RJ’s Café

March 20, 2023
Dana Wharf Whale Report: As Gray Whales Continue Northbound Migration, Fin Whales Populate the Coast

Dana Wharf Whale Report: As Gray Whales Continue Northbound Migration, Fin Whales Populate the Coast

March 18, 2023
Best of Dana Point: Best New Restaurant Giana Bakery + Provisions Captures Magic of Food Service Industry

Best of Dana Point: Best New Restaurant Giana Bakery + Provisions Captures Magic of Food Service Industry

March 18, 2023
CUSD Expected to Finalize School Reopening Plan After OCBE Vote

CUSD Asks for Public Input on Search for New Superintendent

March 17, 2023
Next Post
At the Movies: Many Stories Result in ‘Wild Tales’

At the Movies: Many Stories Result in 'Wild Tales'

Discussion about this post

No Result
View All Result

DP Times Daily
Get important news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

Subscriptions
Don’t get the DP Times delivered to your home? Subscribe today.

Advertising
Get new customers and drive traffic to your business. Advertise with us.

Support Local Journalism
For less than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee a month, become an “Insider” member and continue to get “Local News You Can Use” from the only independently owned, dedicated local news organization in South Orange County.

Contribute today.

Picket Fence Media is a proud member of the SoCal Media Network.

  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Dana Point Times
  • San Clemente Times
  • The Capistrano Dispatch
  • DP Chamber Directory

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Ocean Institute Jazz Festival Fundraiser
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.