"You're not a princess I'm not prince charming
Speak with…read moreyour tongue, use body language
And pull your skin like wrapping paper round my heart"
(Graham Parker)
The last time I stepped into this building was a few years ago when it was occupied by the Lemongrass Asian Grill.
Today was my birthday, so my dinner spot of choice meant a return here to experience a meal at the newish Charming Thai Restaurant. And we left a few hours later agreeing that this place is fantastic.
Soon after we were seated, we met Jessica, who was our principal server. She was an absolute delight with a fantastic personality. She started off with some complimentary noodles and sweet duck sauce.
The menu is extensive, with most of the traditional Thai favorites, so think Pad Thai, Drunken Noodle, Fried Rices, Lo Meins, and Pad See-Ew. Other groupings include Chef Specials, Classic Entrees, Curries, and a full slate of appetizers, salads, soups, Pho, and Ramens. When you go through their menu, the various combinations of entrée and protein choices are in the 200 range. So pretty much anyone can eat their favorite Asian food here.
We started off with a cup of Wonton Soup (with 6 big wontons) and a cup of Tom Kha Soup with two big shrimp at $5.99 each. The Tom Kha had a mild coconut taste, but I don't mean that in a negative way. I order this a lot, and some places really load up on the coconut flavor so much that the soup resembles a strong thick ice cream topping. Their soup was thinner than some but had enough flavor that it was fantastic. Oh, and those two plump shrimps in my bowl were perfect.
We split an $8 order of six pork pot stickers, and they were cooked beautifully without a hint of grease and stuffed with a nice ground pork filling.
For our main meal we split a $15.99 order of Chicken Pad Thai. We ordered it mild, but since I like spice, I asked for some extra zip on the side and Jessica brought out a cute little twin dish of Sriracha sauce and Sichuan pepper powder to ramp up the firepower.
We loved the Pad Thai, it had plenty of chicken, the noodles were well cooked, and most of all it was sauced perfectly. Not too dry, not too wet, but just perfect.
As we were paying our bill, the fact that it was my birthday came up, and Jessica made us promise not to leave yet because she wanted to give me something.
That turned out to be a complimentary dish of sweet coconut rice with sliced mango.
The portions were so generous that some of the Tom Kha and Pad Thai are now in our refrigerator for tomorrow.
Thank you, Jessica, and JJ who tag-teamed us tonight, and here's a special shout-out to Lucy who made the magic happen in the kitchen.
The food, the service, the value, and the atmosphere were all exceptional.
If you like Thai food as much as we do, head on out to Route 4 and treat yourself to a charming dinner experience at Charming Thai.