I'm not planning to go back through all my reviews of Thai places that I've given five stars, but after visiting May Kitchen, it seems like there just aren't any other Thai places that even deserve five stars any more. Unless they can match what May is doing, they're all playing for second place. And we have some AWESOME Thai food in this town, too. But these guys are just completely serious about every single aspect of their operation in ways that not too many other restaurants (let alone just Thai places) can match.
First: Make SURE you have a reservation.
Not that they lose reservations, that's not what I mean--just don't space on making them. They really do get that busy. You might be able to walk in and score a table on a weeknight, or in the off-season. But if it's the weekend and the weather is nice, yeah, you will only get a table if you reserve in advance. You won't even sit down early if you do have a reservation--they are just that packed. It's not even that small a place, either.
They curtain off the windows, and you walk in to a small host station foyer with heavy blackout curtains around it. Not a lot of room to wait, but it allows them to pack as many tables into the room as possible without making people feel crowded while they eat. The staff are nice, but they do seem to operate on the assumption that the fact that they have no tables available is something of a foregone conclusion. They're super friendly and nice about it, but don't feel like they're being condescending if they act like they're explaining the obvious when they say there's no place to put you. Evidently, out here on the island, that's just a given. I tried to get in here without reservations and didn't get close, then hurried back in with reservations, and immediately made plans to hurry back in again with family. It's so good.
Once you head through the blackout curtains, you enter a peaceful, relatively quiet (despite being quite packed) sanctuary of a dining room. Rich wood all over every wall and the bar. Tasteful little tables and sturdy little chairs; a few booths in the other room. The cutlery and plates have a nice vintage feel to them, and seem like they must be from Thailand. The wood appears to have been reclaimed from a building somewhere over there as well. There's a bit of tasteful art here and there, and a large historic black and white photo of the owner's father. You definitely get the sense of a genuine proud Thai heritage here, and certainly an intense pride in the quality of the establishment too.
The staff come bustling out quickly, and stay on point through the evening. Even the ones who clearly aren't Thai (most of them) know the menu cold--every dish, every pronunciation, every ingredient, every technique. And they can certainly answer questions quickly and helpfully.
Squid
The spicy tender squid appetizer is a small portion, served cold. This might momentarily disappoint lovers of American-style calamari, but it will quickly turn everyone right back around. Covered with fresh herbs, coarsely chopped red peppers, and swimming in a sour salty sweet sauce. The ringlets of squid are chewy without being too chewy, and the whole combination of flavors is amazing.
Green curry
Beautiful chunks of chicken and vegetables in an amazing house-made green curry sauce that was sweet but never got too sweet by any means. Believe me, I scooped out every drop, and it was never the least cloying. I've often had a bit more heat to green curries, even though they're usually the sweetest color in the curry rainbow. This one had a long strand of chewy white peppercorns in the sauce, giving it a bit of balance--I ate a mouthful of them, and they were more tart than peppery, since they had not been dried out to turn into grindable corns. Wonderful dish.
Red jasmine rice
Even the steamed rice here is rad.
Whole trout (special)
Pan-fried whole trout, served cleaned but otherwise intact. The server patiently explained how the rib bones were fully edible; they definitely added a rad crunch without seeming bony. They were cooked to the point of tenderness. She removed the spine upon serving though, along with the head and tail. Every bite of this was fantastic, and it came with enough papaya salad to have some with every bite of fish (she made a point of saying the dish is best when eaten that way). The next table didn't even touch their papaya salad, just ate the trout. I almost asked for their leftovers.
Fried plantains
Dessert. Crisply battered and fried plantains served with two scoops of very creamy (not icy) Thai coconut ice cream. So good. So, so, so good.
Creme brulee
Perfectly executed bowl of creme brulee with a porcelain-like top, tough but crunchy. Spicy, sweet, interesting crunchy accompaniments on the rest of the serving dish. Such a wonderful twist on a familiar dish.
Everything else on the menu sounded good, and everything else the servers carried to neighboring tables looked and sounded good. read more