Mother Tew’s Exquisite Thai Cuisine

Drama surrounded Garden Grove’s Thai Nakorn almost from the beginning: Shortly after the 1980s-vintage Thai restaurant relocated from Buena Park in the mid-2000s, it burned down, forcing the owner to open a new location in Stanton while it rebuilt the Garden Grove space. The two Nakorns operated for decades until the Garden Grove location announced a pivot in 2023: It would become Mother Tew’s Exquisite Thai Cuisine and “add an exquisite classical twist to our fusion cooking.”

Thanks to some intriguing social media posts, Mother Tew’s became the first Thai restaurant we ever visited just for dessert. We showed up to try this insanely beautiful Mango Sticky Rice plate, which combined multiple textures of orange mango (fresh, frozen, and bursting boba) with purple rice and white coconut ice cream on a single plate. While it was clear that the core of the plate had been pre-assembled and frozen for quick finishing and service, the unique presentation was memorably cool.