a little thai take out

we are not huge take-out people.  part of it is that i love the experience of eating out and the other part is that i hate the waste involved with getting take out.  of course there are exceptions, like pizza and i find it absolutely decadent to get indian take-out and eat it in front of the tv.  but with the assignment to go to ventiane for this round of thai-o-rama we made another exception.
and to be frank, vientiane has absolutely no ambiance for a dine-in experience.  unless you like to dine at bus stations, in which case this would be the perfect spot for you cuz you could get some tasty thai and not have to breath in diesel fumes.  there is a small selection of asian condiments that is fun to browse through while you are waiting for your food, so i think that's enough ambiance.
as far as the food goes, it really quite tasty.  we got fried spring rolls to start which were pretty average but the sweet, thin dipping sauce helped out.  for our mains we got yellow chicken curry that had lots of fresh veggies -- peppers, eggplant, green beans, basil -- but kind of scant on the chicken.  seth felt like the chicken was overcooked, but it was in a saucy curry so it wasn't really an issue.  the curry was creamy with a nice subtle burn.  we also got pad thai with 2 shrimp and scant chicken, but with lots of crunchy mung beans.  there was a good peanut flavor, and while it wasn't served with lime wedges (sorry dawn) i really enjoyed it.
they also have a really fun selection of canned asian beverages so we each got a can of thai iced tea and the cashier talked us into trying a can of jelly grass drink, which kind of tasted like tea w/ long pieces of jellied something.  not something i would try again.
we also got at jar of tom yum soup mix which reads: "remark: use fish, chicken or other meat also delicious."
i have heard rumor that there is something on the menu that is so spicy that it clears the entire shop as its being cooked.
after a summer break from thai food and blogging, vientiane was a great welcome back.  while they offer the average thai fare, vientiane does a good job at it.  its very convenient and we will definitely be going back for thai take-out.