Sunday night I had the best food delivery experience I have ever had.
Ever.
After hemming and hawing over whether or not to splurge and order delivery, as I always do, I decided to bite the bullet and just do it. It was late and cold and I was hungry and just got paid and pad Thai just sounded really. Really. Good.
THIRTEEN MINUTES after placing my order - 13 MINUTES - my food arrived. Really, really good pad Thai arrived. Thirteen minutes later. At 10:55pm. I placed my order at 10:42pm.
That's thirteen minutes.
The estimated time of delivery had been given as between 11:46pm and 12:06a. (The restaurant closes at 12a.)
For reference, I live 1.4 miles away by car.
The delivery person was cool, called me when right outside. I couldn't believe it. Oh did I mention this was 13 minutes after placing my order? I didn't even have time to mull over my binge eater's guilt of having ordered delivery.
For a second as I climbed back up my stairs, I wondered if hmm, maybe the reason it showed up so fast was that I was getting some end-of-the-night leftovers. Perhaps the forgotten pad Thai order of a customer from earlier in the evening, or a not-quite-full container of papaya salad...now I feel like an ass for even having questioned this.
The food was SO GOOD
SO AMAZINGLY GOOD
AND PLENTY
AND HOT
PIPING HOT.
And FRESH.
- Pad Thai: how have I not known about this pad Thai, I think I'd had it once before but shit. This is excellent pad Thai. Tamarindy, brown, peanutty, perfectly charred and al dente rice noodles, sweet carrot strips, perfect amount of spice (I think I did mild plus?), and the right sweetness. None of that orangey sugary crap that so many restaurants pull these days with their pad Thai (think Cozy Noodles in Wrigleyville these days...). And the rice noodles are classic, medium-thin rice noodles. True pad Thai noodles.
- Papaya salad: hell yeah. Crunchy but also tender. Spicy but also tangy, with the right amount of vinegar. Again, not too sugary. Nice green beans and tomatoes. And peanuts. Yeah!!
- crab rangoon: so fresh!! And so plentiful and cheap for the amount. These are what I tried first and what completely squashed my brief fears of end-of-the-night quality!! Cute little crispy things, perfect bite-sized morsels of fresh wonton and cream cheese goodness. I still really miss the sweet, creamy, melty, doughy numbers at the now-defunct Family House Chinese restaurant on Argyle, but this is what I prefer now.
- pad makhua (eggplant): wow. Damn. Never tried this before, but it was excellent. I asked for no side of rice and they obliged. I hate wasting food. This dish was gingery, garlicky, with plenty of fresh, crisp vegetables. And speaking of vegetables, I ordered a $3 side of steamed veggies, which was perfect for supplementing this dish. I added them in and they mixed well with the remaining sauce, and it made for the perfect lunch the next day.
Pho's you have a new customer for life!!!! Thank you for being awesome. read more