I swear I could see the sign from Highway 512. It called to me, like a beacon through a dense fog.

Biergarten.

Welcome to Oktoberfest at the Puyallup Fair.

I didn’t imbibe – hey, I’m on company time – but managed to dig into a bratwurst ($7) from Mount Angel Sausage Company. My first impression was that it just seemed heavy for such a food. And it was mighty tasty. It had spices but didn’t knock you over the head with them.

And I needed something to wash it down with, so I went to the Root Beer Garden. (Cute name, eh?) For $3.50, I got a souvenir stein full of the tasty stuff.

Speaking of stuff, I’m stuffed after all of this.

Let’s be honest: Most people come for the beer. After 7 p.m., Oktoberfest at the Puyallup Fair becomes a 21-and-over event. Even in mid-afternoon, the liquid ambrosia flowed freely.

That’s what attracted Mike Budd. He just got off work in Sumner and made a beeline for the fairgrounds.

“Hey, I like beer,” he said. “And this is a pretty cool place to have a few.”

Indeed it was. German music filled the room, prompting several people to dance. A woman swayed on a swing attached to the rafters. And food booths served up sizzling sausages.

“There’s something about an Oktoberfest celebration,” Tacoma’s Keith Henderson, “that makes me just want to come and have a good time.”

Really, is there any doubt what drew these two to Scandinavian Days at the Puyallup Fair?

One’s name is Skjaldvor Guo. The other is from Sigrid Straatveit. They’re both from Olympia.

“We’re Scandinavian, so we just had to come!” Guo said.

The two, both from Finnish and Norwegian heritage, spent about three hours at the celebration. Inside the hall at the fairgrounds, hundreds of people lined up for Swedish meatballs and lingonberry sauce. They roamed through booths that offered T-shirts, hats, arts and crafts and clocks for sale. Exhibits described the Scandinavian history of the region.

Jamie Shilley brought her 11-month-old daughter, Violet, to the celebration. The 33-year-old Tacoma woman is part of a mothers’ group that organizes day trips.

She was waiting for the Viking meal – a plate crammed with meatballs, potatoes and vegetables. She also spent some time at Oktoberfest, just across the street.

“I’m really looking forward to the food,” she said. “And I’ve already looked at some of the booths. There’s just a lot of neat stuff here.”

OK, I’ll admit I’ve never been to the Nordic countries. A trip to Amsterdam – a mere 387 miles from Copenhagen – is as close as I’ve received. But I got the feel of Scandinavia: Words were written with with plenty of Js and Vs and Os with lines through them, and bunch of similarly designed but differently colored flags surrounded me. (Didn’t see any guys sporting a golden helmet with horns, though.)

And if this is how they eat in northern Europe, then they’ve got it good.

I started with the Swedish meatball plate with lingonberry preserves ($5). Some folks put sauce on meatballs that’s so thick it’s like glue, but this stuff was just right.

I finished with some Scandinavian pancakes ($4) – two crepe-style pancakes filled with strawberry preserves and whipped cream and topped with powdered sugar. As Southern belles like to exclaim, “Good Lawd.” This was pure deliciousness on a plate (even if they could’ve used a bit more strawberry).

And because they’re just called Scandinavian pancakes, you can use your imagination about what country they’re from. I pretended I was eating Icelandic dessert.

Zelma Zalit has been driving from Federal Way the past eight years to attend the Greek Festival at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Tacoma.

“I’m here for the cheeses, the pastries, all of it,” the retiree said. “It’s just all so good.”

She also enjoys the celebration of other cultures, she said as she ate a gyro and listened to Greek music.

“It’s the ambiance of a different culture,” she said. “That’s what keeps e coming back.”

Meanwhile, patrolling the booths of the tent like a seasoned beat cop was none other than Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor.

“The gyros were very good, the souvlakis was wonderfully marinated and had just the right amount of oregano, and the calamari was excellent,” he said. “And that doesn’t begin to talk about the pastries.”

Give him credit: Dude knows his Greek food.

There are two places to grab a bite at Tacoma’s Greek Festival: Inside the church itself, where you can purchase by the plate, or outside under a large tent, where the food comes a la carte.

I opted for outside.

First stop was the table selling gyros ($5). I got mine without tomatoes (just don’t like them that much). The meat was tender but not overly greasy. The sauce was tangy but not salty. And the whole thing was gone in about three minutes.

The Greek fries were tasty and a good deal for $3. They’re Greek instead of French fries because, as the guy serving them told me, “they’ve got Greek seasoning on ‘em.” Oregano? I dunno; I ain’t the food critic. But one topping I did recognize was feta cheese. I never thought it would go well with French, err, Greek fries, but I was pleasantly surprised.

And I finished things off with baklava ($2). My biggest complaint about the stuff is that usually it falls apart into about a thousand crumbs after the first bite. This stuff, though, kept together but still managed to be flaky. I was tempted to purchase an entire tray of 12 pieces for $12, but my editors wouldn’t be to happy if I tried to expense my gym membership.

Editor's note: Here is today's dining report. Drop-In Dining is a report about a new or new-to-us restaurant published in the TNT's Friday GO section. Reporters drop in unannounced and sample the food, on the TNT’s dime, then report to you what the scene and food was like. Have a suggestion for a drop-in dining feature? E-mail us at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com.

Thai Mekong
Where: 10224 196th St. Court E., No. 307, Graham; 253-847-3853; Thaimekong.com
Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays
Price range: $-$$ (entrees under $3o)

By Craig Hill
craig.hill@thenewstribune.com

The scene: While the décor in some Thai restaurants can be gaudy, Mekong Thai’s style is subtle but still feels authentic. Most of the accoutrements are carved from wood, including several small elephants. The bamboo blinds on the windows keep with the theme.

A large plasma television hanging above the counter at the east end of the restaurant displays pictures from Thailand. The only thing that didn’t seem to fit the Thai décor was the quiet saxophone music playing in the background. The restaurant is kid-friendly with paper covers over the white tablecloths.

Type of food: As its name implies, Mekong Thai serves a wide variety of Thai food. In other words if you like noodles, rice, curries, coconut milk and spicy food you’ll be in heaven. And if you have peanut allergies, stay in the parking lot. Mekong Thai’s selections range from pan-fried rice noodle dishes, to curries to barbecued chicken, pork, short ribs and salmon.

Menu highlights: The menu is stocked with more than 50 traditional Thai food favorites, not including the daily specials. The dozen appetizers on the menu include such choices as calamari ($7.95), fried prawns ($7.95) and spring rolls ($6.95). The drink menu is an exotic adventure, including Thai ice tea ($2.95), a selection of bubble teas and coconut juice ($3.95) served in a coconut. The dessert menu has only four options, none of which you’ll find at Denny’s: Mango with sweet rice ($5.95), fried yams ($4.95), a coconut pastry called Khanom Krok ($6.95) and friend bananas ($5.95).

People in the kitchen: Somsack and Santisouk Vannalath opened Mekong Thai in July 2007.
“We just recognized the need for a Thai restaurant in the area,” said Santisouk, who goes by Vicki.
Santisouk, from Laos, and Somsack, from Thailand, have made the restaurant a family affair. Santisouk’s aunt, Somphone, is one of the cooks and Santisouk’s sister and nephew also help at the restaurant.

Dishes sampled: Our group of four took a wide sample from the menu. We started with a strawberry bubble tea, coconut juice, a Thai iced tea and appetizers. Our appetizer sampler plate ($9.95) included skewered chicken marinated in coconut milk, fried calamari rings and spring rolls. The plate came with chili-garlic, peanut and pineapple dipping sauces.
For entrees, we ordered Duck Curry ($12.99) and Avocados Prawns ($11.99) from the daily specials menu. The bowl of curry was so large we took enough home for a second meal. We also tried the All Village Combo ($15.95) and Mango Delight ($8.95) from the regular menu.

The combo was a sample from each of the barbecued meats with pineapple and chili-garlic sauces and sides of rice and steamed vegetables. The Mango Delight was tagged with “A must try!” notation on the menu and the sautéed mango, vegetables and chicken topped with basil did not disappoint. While we ordered the Delight with chicken, it’s also available with tofu ($7.95), shrimp ($9.95) or salmon ($10.95).

At this point, we were all stuffed, but we splurged on dessert anyway, sharing orders of fried bananas with coconut ice cream and Khanom Krok. The bananas were wrapped in coconut batter and the Khanom Krok tasted like mini-coconut pancakes with a creamy filling.
Service: Our waitress was relaxed despite a full house that seemed to keep her quite busy. We took quite awhile to peruse the menu, and she gave us plenty of time and didn’t rush us.

Most unexpected moment: Our 2½ hours at Mekong Thai felt like a mini tropical vacation thanks in part to my drink being served in a hollowed-out coconut. The only thing missing was the little umbrella.

Wild card: My wife, who once spent a week on a luxury cruise and ordered the same thing for dinner every night, actually stepped out of her comfort zone. She tried the Khanom Krok and offered this insight: “It’s good. It tastes just like I’d expect my suntan lotion to taste.” For the record, that’s supposed to be a compliment.

Pictured here: Vicki Vannalath (left), owner of Thai Mekong Restaurant in Graham, with her cooks Somphone Thammavongsa and Pensri Lucas (right) who prepared Sea of Basil. Peter Haley / The News Tribune