A reasonably good Thai restaurant with a wide variety of dishes. The place was completely empty, but then I noticed a rush of people coming in to pick up take-out. This establishment seems to do a big take-out and delivery business, but I think that is a bit of shame because it is quite nicely appointed, with massive portraits of Thai officials, and Thai artwork and it just has an overall very kitschy Thai restaurant vibe going on, one which I found quite fun. I ordered a bowl of Tom Yum, a spicy, sour soup with chilis, lemon grass, gangalal (thai ginger) and many other aromatic spices. It was tasty and the serving size was quite large for a starter. The soup probably goes best with shrimp (but I went with tofu, as I am on a vegetarian streak right now). This place serves the soup more on the hardy side, with lots of veggies/tofu/meat compared to most places, where the broth is the star. I think I prefer it when it's a bit lighter and brothier, but I suspect most people will appreciate the massive amount of goodies in this style of soup preparation. I also ordered the pad see ew, a wide rice noodle dish with dark soy sauce, egg and (typically Chinese broccoli). While the sauce had good flavor, I think I made a mistake by ordering this one with veggies, because it rendered too much liquid. This dish is typically darker, more caramelized and less runny. I have a feeling it goes better with chicken, beef or tofu than all those veggies, as dryer items would allow the noodles to get a better char from the hot wok. Unfortunately, they use regular broccoli rather than Chinese broccoli as well.
As a note, I really like that this place gives you the option to order small and large sized starters. Solo diners can order a small portion for under $4. No longer do you have to shamefully stuff yourself silly with a large order of fried yumminess before you get to your real meal. I'm not judging if you do ... but it's nice to add some variety to the start of your meal without hurting your wallet or waistline. read more