the best of the thai-o-rama best

so if you have been following my blog or this thai-o-rama project than you know there was a lot of not great thai food eaten in the last year.  all a long you may have been thinking, "i don't care about hearing about bad thai food, just tell me where the good stuff is."  so this is where the pay off of eating all that not great thai food happens.  i can, with authority, tell you where you should spend your money on thai eats, and where you should not.
all of the bloggers are all using the same categories below to rate the restaurants:

Best pad thai: i actually don't order pad thai that frequently.  i thinks its kind of a wimpy thai dish, like ordering california rolls at sushi.  but sometimes i do crave it and reading back over my reviews it seems that vientiane had a great rendition.

Best curry: curry is the opposite of pad thai for me, i like to order it every time i go for thai, and i especially love to get it with duck.  the green tofu curry at chiang-mai two was excellent, though one needs to be aware of their heat rating. sabieng thai also had a good panaeng tofu curry.  with these two endorsements i think it may actually be tofu i like to order in my curry

Best spring rolls:  i think that spring rolls across the board are pretty mediocre so i can't recommend any places rolls over another.  but since seth's go-to thai appetizer is crab rangoon i will tell you that hands down the best version of this is at chiang-mai two.  you can actually taste crab in this version.

Best soup: we only ordered soup at 2 or 3 spots so i am gonna decline to comment here.

Best atmosphere: boda is the only interesting restaurant space of any of the restaurants we dined at.  but remember, if you like bus stations, vientiane is the place for you.

Best overall: i'm gonna do a top 3, in no special order -- pom's thai taste, chiang-mai two, and boda.  i'm not totally on the boda band wagon, and i didn't like everything we ordered.  but with some much of exactly the same thai food, its fun and exciting to dine on something different.  honestly i would put it in the top category alone for the dessert of sticky rice, coconut milk and mango.  it was a total surprise that chiang-mai two was so good.  it has a very traditional menu but everything we ordered was the best version we had in 13 restaurants.  pom's thai taste is a great stand by with a huge menu and is super approachable for those new to thai food.  i also think that veranda thai and sabieng thai do a good job.

Best prices: i think this really should be best value for the money.  again i think chiang-mai two had excellent food and reasonable prices.  vientiane also had very good food at pretty much dirt cheap prices.

Best "I never expected to like it" dish:  i have mixed feelings about crab rangoon and i usually just allow seth to order it.  so i guess my 'never expected to like it dish' was the crab rangoon at chiang-mai two.
Place I would never go back to (my own catagory): so while there was a lot of mediorce thai, most places were not horrible, just nothing special.  i think that if they are your neighborhood thai restaurant than you can get a decent americanized-thai meal there.  the one restaurant that i would never recommend anyone is viet bangkok cuisine.  i actually gave this place a okay review when we dined there but it was only our second restaurant and i was not yet jaded by just okay food.  and, in fact, this place's food is not okay.  i can still taste that weird plasticy taste that flavored our curry.

last thai supper

so last night for our last thai supper (round 13 of thai-o-rama) we all met up at sengchai thai (803 forest ave).  we were the only table in the restaurant (really glad i made reservations) so we got a lot of attention from our server.  at first she was endearing and quirky but by the end of the dinner it was a little much for me.  i was out to dine and conversate with friends and our server frankly dominated the conversation at times (i will be interested to hear how everyone else felt about her).  with all this said she was quite attentive, she gave us all separate checks which i always think is above and beyond what a server really needs to do, and she gave us a free appetizer of curry puffs, which were tasty.
seth and i ordered crab rangoon (surprise) which the server said was great but was only your average crab rangoon that don't taste like crab but are somehow satisfying in their fried creaminess.  we also got the tom kha gai which was quite flavorful with a strong scent of lemongrass and, of course, coconut milk, but was a little watery in texture.
for our entrees we got the spicy basil with tofu and the pineapple curry with duck, both ordered 2 out of 5 spiciness.  the spicy basil was spicy w/ lots of nice fluffy pillows of fried tofu and a nice basil flavor.  the pineapple curry was a red curry w/ loads of pineapple, red and green bell peppers, carrots and duck.  i thought the flavor was fine, not the worst curry i have ever had but far from the best and it wasn't spicy at all. there also wasn't really that much duck in it, but i liked the duck that was there.
finally, my thai iced tea, which i sucked down in about 5 minutes flat, so it clearly wasn't that bad, was not as strong as i typically like them.
so as you can tell, this was yet another mediocre thai meal.  if you are in the area and you are really craving thai, by all means stop into sangchai thai and you will get a predictable meal of thai standards.  but by no means go out of your way to dine at this restaurant. 
coming soon, find out which thai restaurants you should go out of your way to dine at when i do my wrap up of all things thai in portland.

no name thai restaurant

guest blog post by seth eli goldstein:
Well, this is embarrassing.  Jenner asked me if I would guest blog for this round of Pad Thai-o-rama.  Sure I would, and so I headed down to the Thai food restaurant located in the food court at Monument Square.   The embarrassing thing is I can't remember this place's name.

                The food court is a nice clean space and there is excellent people watching when all the suits downtown are released for their one hour recess.   The restaurant, whose name I cannot remember, is really a counter place.  The cool thing is that you can watch your food cooked to order before your eyes.  My Pad Thai went straight from the wok to my Styrofoam container and was piping hot.   It was a large portion and I felt like I got a pretty good value for the price.  I would have tried a couple of appetizers as well but I was all by my lonesome and although I am in the Guinness Book of World Records for most crab Rangoon eaten in a single meal I just went with the Pad Thai. 

                I thought that the spice was pretty mild, particularly as I requested a spice factor 2 out of 3.  Perhaps a tad bland as well, but still passable Pad Thai with wide noodles served with scallions and mung beans.  Sometimes pad Thai can be a bit on the sweet side.  The Pad Thai, from the restaurant whose name shall remain a mystery, was not too sweet, and that was nice.  If you need a quick and affordable Thai fix for lunch (I'm pretty sure this is a lunch only joint) that will leave you with leftovers for dinner, hit this place up.  It won't knock your proverbial socks off but it does the trick.

this was a guest posting brought to you by seth for the 12th round of thai-o-rama. the unknown name of this restaurnt is siam orchid and it is located at the one city center food court.

tamales for thai

for this round of thai-o-rama it was off to chiang mai-two at 52 washington ave.  while we were pretty sad to see loco pollo close down, it was fun to see what the new proprietors had done with the space.  it really felt very different from its previous incarnation as a tamale shop.  i thought it was tastefully decorated with a merciful lack of south east asian kitsch. 
there was only one other table the tuesday we went in but the young man who was cooking and serving all the food seemed a bit overwhelmed.  in any event he waited on us quickly, was very friendly, and all of our food came out fast.
for appetizers we ordered the crab rangoon and the thai dumplings.  if you have been following these posts, you know that seth loves crab rangoon.  i feel pretty ambivalent toward them -- i enjoy the creaminess of the filling contrasted with the crunchiness of the wrapper, but i never, ever feel like they taste like crab.  these crab rangoon actually tasted like crab and i could even see real pieces of crab in the filling.  served with a clear, sweet plum sauce and yum.  the thai dumplings, filled with minced pork and shrimp and topped with fried shallots, were two bitefuls and again a fabulous version of a standard thai appetizer.
the entrees are ordered by star for how spicy you want them on a one to three star scale. i asked the waiter if one star meant not spicy at all and he answered "i can make it not spicy if you want."  so really it should be a zero to three star scale.  we ordered the spicy duck as 2 stars and the green tofu curry as 1 star. 
the spicy duck was served in a creamy red sauces with lots of bamboo shoots, snow peas, green bell peppers, and basil.  the duck was suppose to be crispy and it was, a little, but it wasn't exactly what we expected.  and it was a bit of a small serving of duck.  but on a whole, it was delicious and spicy!  2 stars definitely gave it a great kick that made my nose run and my lips burn.
the green tofu curry was full of tofu, yellow summer squash, zucchini, green beans, bell peppers and basil.  the curry itself was creamy and flavorful and 1 star was a great level of spiciness for this dish. 
somewhere in the midst of this burning goodness i had an epiphany.  this is what is missing from so much thai food. thai restaurateurs have watered down their cuisine so much to make it palatable to americans that it has lost most of its flavor. thai food is suppose to be spicy. its from a country that is hot and the spice is there to make you sweat and cool you down.  unfortunately, the next morning seth paid for our spicy dinner, if you know what i mean.
the waiter, it ends up, is the owner and he was really excited to talk to us about the restaurant, local thai food, and even this blogging project.  he gave us some coupons for 25% of an entire meal (but which are only good for less than a month) and tried to give me like 10 take out menus, i think to hand out to friends.  i'm not gonna give you a menu but i do recommend that you check out chiang mai-two.  i have accepted, after 10 or 11 thai restaurant reviews, that there is really very little variation in the vast majority of menus.  so instead of judging on originality, i judge on quality.  i thought this place was great when it came to taste and quality.  in all honesty i think its gonna be our new go-to thai restaurant.

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.

saneg thai house

so for round 9, it was off to saneg thai house.   they have two locations, strangely close to one another.  the original is on congress street, in the shadow of maine medical and the other is literally around the corner on st. john street.
seth and i had been urged some time ago to try this place out by our friends, mark and kate.  they had warned us that it could be hit or miss but we decided to try it out anyway.  this was way back before i was an expert on the thai restaurant scene in portland and in general we were very pleased.  the food was good and the service was ... um, entertaining.  
the old thai woman working the front of the house, who ends up to be the sister of the owner, seemed to not have the stamina to walk all the way over to our table so took our order from across the room.  at some point she warmed up quite a bit and decided to tell us in great detail about her mammogram and pap smear.  now this is something i'm pretty used to because once you tell people that you are a nurse practitioner they want to tell you all about their health.  but i didn't tell her i was a nurse practitioner.  it was also quite interesting to watch the numerous people coming in for take out, almost all ordering pad thai, and asking for no radishes.  they were repeatedly told, there are no radishes in the pad thai, but in fact the menu does say their are radishes in the pad thai.
but that was last time.  this time i also felt the food was good, though pretty standard.  at this point i have surrendered myself to average thai food.  the service was also not nearly as entertaining this time around.
for appetizers we got the basic pu pu platter, which was -- you guessed it -- standard, but still tastey with its fried chicken wing, and chicken satay and crispy cups of some sort of ground meat and lots of sweet dipping sauces.  
for entrees we got pad thai (no radishes please) and a duck red curry.  i was pretty pleased with the pad thai.  it was peanuty and light and citrusy (lack of citrus can be a big complaint of my fellow bloggers).  there was plenty of chicken and i think a few shrimp and it really satisfied that rare craving i get for pad thai.
the duck curry was also very good.  it was a rather mild creamy red curry with lots of big chunks of crispy, fatty duck.  there were so many vegetables they were practically spilling out of the bowl.  i especially liked the cherry tomatoes and the grapes, which when hot sort of burst open in your mouth (yeah i know, "that's what she said").  i don't imagine that grapes are especially authentic in thai cuisine, but i really did enjoy them.
in relation to all the standard thai in this town, i think its up towards top of the list.  but as my friend mark said, we may just be hitting it on the right night.  its also quite a deal with the pad thai costing like $6 or $7.  so at this price point and the two good meals we have had so far, i would visit saneg thai house again.

also on veranda street

a few fridays ago, seth and i went to veranda thai for the 8th round of thai-o-rama.  we have wanted to try this place since our mechanics, across the street at portland motor sales, told us it was good.  (note: if you need a great honest mechanic, you should go to these guys).  its a tiny little place and we grabbed one of the last open tables to watch a parade of to go orders come in and out of the door.
  we quickly ordered a couple thai iced teas and our food.  this was a few weeks ago and i'm tired and can't find the menu on veranda's website so i'm gonna have to summarize the meal a little.  for appetizers i'm sure we ordered spring rolls.  i can't remember them, so i guess they were just okay (unlike the fried spring rolls at the new pho hanoi in south portland that are just awesome).
for our main courses we got a fried fish in a  brown basil sauce and the classic thai beef salad.
the fish was really good with a rich brown sauce, lots of fresh basil, onions, and i can't remember what else.  the beef salad was quite good as well. seth and i both agreed that it really needed a little more lime but the beef was more tender then in the same salad at pom's thai taste.
as i said before, the restaurant is tiny so the kitchen is tucked around the corner, really only feet from the dining room.  its kind of cool to be able to hear the cooks working in the kitchen, but with that you have to take that your meal may be a little smokey and your clothes may continue to smell like thai food long after you are done eating.
overall i found veranda thai to be pretty good and i would eat here again.

Sabieng Thai

this is round 7 of the GREAT thai-o-rama and this time we went to sabieng!  located on forest ave. just off congress, it is in a nice space with a huge front window, very high ceilings, and exposed duct work.  i did appreciate that the required thai kitsch was quite pared down.  it seemed like someone had put a little thought into the decor versus just putting the most tacky things possible on the walls.  but i know you don't really care that much about the decor.  you want to know how the food was.
appetizer = chive pancakes.  yummy.  a little gummy in that way that rice pancake-type-things can be but it  filled with fresh chives and garlic and complemented nicely with a ginger dipping sauce.
mains = panaeng tofu curry and lemon grass chicken, both served with brown rice and both ordered medium spicy.  yum to both.
the tofu was like little pillows of soft goodness soaking up the richness of the perfectly spicy, not too sweet, curry.  it was full of fresh crisp green beans and basil and sprinkled with kefir lime zest.
the lemon grass chicken was unfortunately not so lemon grassy but still really good.  a nice rich brown sauce with lots of chicken and green beans and bamboo shoots and basil.  again it was spicy enough to give you a nice burn without detracting from the overall flavor.
we were the only table in the restaurant so we got pretty great service.  the cook himself came out of the kitchen and asked us how everything was.  he seemed very pleased that we were so pleased.  we thought we were really gonna see some action when a fire truck pulled up right outside the restaurant but the owner told us that the fire truck comes almost daily as the building across the street houses a lot of older folks.
on our way out, we saw blueberry files coming in with m.  i hope there take out was as good as our dine in.

a very thai experience

round 6 (i'm losing track) of thai-o-rama and we went to boda!
the inside of boda is really interesting with concrete walls and rough wood tables and chairs.  the windows in the front are amazing for people watching.  a couple delicious cocktails got us going.  seth had a basil tom collins and i had a mildly fruity alcoholic arnold palmer.
started with the larp het, at northeastern-style spicy mushroom salad of grilled assorted mushroom mixed with chili, shallots, soy sauce, lime juice, mint, long-leaf coriander, and roasted rice powder.  this was a little disappointing because it was overwhelmingly salty from way too much fish sauce.  there were a couple of bites where the grilled mushroom and herb flavors shone through and they were really great.  but the majority was difficult to enjoy.  and while i like a little crunchy, i didn't like the texture of the roasted rice powder.
for appetizers we got the northern-style sausages and a grilled squid special.  the sausages themselves were very gingery, which i loved, and were served with pickled ginger and relish.  i can't really remember the relish but seth and i both LOVED these sausages.  to be honest, i don't meet many sausages i don't like.
the squid was just okay.  it, like everything else that landed on our table, was presented beautifully.  the small squid bodies sliced horizontally and served with spicy chili, garlic lime dipping sauce.  by itself, the squid had hint of smoke, but was otherwise flavorless.  the dipping sauce was really good, but it was all you tasted with each bite of squid.  i love sauces, but i think they should complement the flavors of the main dish, not overpower it.
we shared one entree of braised pork hocks, simmered in a rich dark stock made with chinese five spice, served with jasmine steamed rice, hardboiled egg, tofu, asian mustard green pickles, and spicy & sour chili sauce.   the menu said it is one of the most popular street foods in thailand.  it was pretty amazing.  it was kind of deconstructed and both together and standing alone, each component was great.  the asian mustard green pickles were ridiculously good and my only complaint was that there wasn't more of them on the plate.
we usually don't get dessert but i was feeling decadent so i got a decaf espresso and we shared an amazing dessert of sticky rice, coconut milk and mango.  again it was deconstructed and we had to unwrap the sticky rice from the banana leaf and pour the coconut milk over the rice.  the mango was perfectly ripe and buttery.  its the thing i would be most excited to go back to boda to eat.
all in all, this was a pretty good meal.  first off, i have never seen any of these things on a menu at any other thai restaurant, so they get points for showing me something different.  second, even though there were a couple of items that i didn't really care for, the things i did like were really great.
i would go back just for the cocktails, dessert, and people watching.

finally some good thai taste

round four and our assignment was pom's thai taste. between the congress street location and the cottage road location in south portland, seth and i have been to pom's a least half a dozen times and its my feeling that its some of the best thai food in portland.
this past wednesday, after the bizarre snow cleared to a beautiful evening, we walked downtown to sample pom's again. it was about 6:30 and the restaurant was quite full. there were a few empty tables but they were still waiting to be bussed. as we waited by the door i could see there were two servers working the floor without a busser or hostess, and they were hustling. initially i was quite put off because one of the servers walked right by us on her way to bring a table food and didn't even acknowledge us. i was a waitress for years, and i in no way expected her to drop what she was doing to seat us, but i felt like she should have at least said 'i'll be right with you.' but within another minute she was seating us and apologizing for the wait and the rest of our service was great.
ordering at pom's can be a little intimidating as you are presented with three separate menus -- one of sushi, one for noodles, and one for thai. we knew we were going for thai, so that made things easy for us. and once you get into the thai menu its super descriptive and helpful. i've been eating thai for years but i didn't really know how choo chee varied from other curries until i read the descriptions of the many thai sauces.
i managed to steer seth away from the appetizer sampler and instead we started with the thai crab cakes and the deep fried pork dumplings. this was our second time ordering the crab cakes and they were delicious again. the cakes themselves are a mixture of maine crab meat and ground chicken and don't have the delicate texture i expect from crab cakes, but are quite toothsome (remember kevin's definition of toothsome on top chef?). though the menu mentions some pineapple sauce and ginger salad dressing, both times we have gotten these, they are served with this yummy pink creamy sauce and a sweet and sour sauce. i'm curious about the other sauces, but the two we got are great accompaniments.
the pork dumplings were kind of a disappointment. you can choose between steamed or deep fried, but i really wanted them pan fried. i love the way pan frying crisps up some of the skin but leaves other parts soft. deep frying the dumpling just made them tough. and both the filling and the ginger dipping sauce were bland.
for our entrees we got the yum nuer salad and the spicy crispy duck. we had ordered the duck before and it was amazing the first time so i was really excited to try it again. but i felt like we were sort of going out of our comfort zone ordering the salad as i usually order some sort of curry. when the salad arrived at the table i realized we had ordered it the first time we ate at pom's, along with the spicy crispy duck, so we were basically repeating a previous meal. it was great the first time and it was great again!
the yum nuer is salad of thinly slice of charcoal-broiled beef mixed with lemon grass, red pepper, red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, and scallions, tossed in spicy sour lime juice dressing on a bed of lettuce. it certainly is yum (sorry i couldn't help myself)! the beef itself was a bit overdone for my taste and pretty tough, but the fresh veggies with cilantro and mint and the spicy dressing totally made up for it. i would absolutely order it a third time.
the spicy crispy duck was all that i remembered it to be: half a crispy roasted duck topped with mushrooms, onions, red and green onions, and basil leaves in a spicy chili-garlic sauce. we had a dish very similar to this at viet bangkok and oh my god how pom's version blows that one out of the water. this is the way you serve crispy duck! the crispy crackling skin coated with sticky spicy and slightly sweet sauce ... i'm drooling just writing about it.
i love that pom's features local maine crab and shrimp on their menu. but i'm totally puzzeled as to why they have new zealand mussels. is there something i don't know about these mussels? is it just a species of mussels? are they really so amazing as to forgo local mussels in favor of importing them all the way from new zealand?
one thing i feel compelled to address is price as it was one of the things i bagged on sala thai for. in reality the price points at pom's and sala are pretty much the same, but i don't mind spending the extra money at pom's because the food is better. it doesn't even really strike me as pricey because the quality of the food is so great.
so this was yet another great meal at pom's and it reinforced my belief that this is one of the best thai restaurants in portland.

don't judge a book by its cover

so for round 2 of pad thai-o-rama it was off to viet bangkok cuisine at 249 saint john street.  this restaurant is very close to my home and i have gone by it many times on my way to enjoy a delicious vietnamese sandwich at kim's souvenir shop, but that's a discussion for another time.  anyway, based on the exterior, i have never thought it a restaurant i wanted to try.  in fact, i planned never to try it.  so when we got out assignment for the second round, i was far from enthused.  but i did my duty as food blogger and took on my assignment, albeit with a slightly closed mind.
i was surprisingly pleased once we walked into viet bangkok.  its a small clean restaurant with all the requisite kitschy south east asian decor.  there were no customers when we first walked in and we were greeted with a friendly hello by a woman i guessed is the owner.  just after we sat down, another table of three came in, but that was it for customers while we were there.  which led me to the realization that this food blogging challenge is not just fun, but we are helping to stimulate our local economy and hopefully getting some readers to also eat out.
viet bangkok's menu, you may guess from their name, is not strictly thai, but vietnamese and seemingly chinese too.  seth got very excited when he saw the long list of fruity tropical cocktails.  alas, they didn't have pineapple juice, so could not make nearly 1/3 of their cocktails.  we both settled for a singha, served iced cold.
per usual, i had to convince seth that neither one of us needed to start our meal with a heaping plate of fried food by ordering the sample appetizer plate.  but i did let him pick out our starter, and, per usual, he chose the crab rangoon.  i'm not a huge fan of crab rangoon for multiple reasons, most importantly because i don't think they ever taste like crab.  this version was really no crabbier than any other that i have eaten, but they were pretty tasty.  the fried wanton was crisp around the edges but sort of soft in the center and the cream cheese filling was flavorful without being overly sweet (another complaint of mine about rangoon).  the sweet and sour sauce was also especially good with the sweetness nicely balanced with salty fish sauce.
for our main courses we ordered the spicy duck from the house specials and the chu chee curry with shirmp from the thai curry section.  viet bangkok offers the choice of white or brown jasmine rice.  i know brown rice must not be traditional in thailand but i think its nuttiness goes so perfectly with the sweet and spicy sauces of thai cuisine.
the spicy duck description stated it was a dish of boneless roasted duck specially prepared with eggplants, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, carrots, and scallions in a chili basil sauce.  no where did it mention that the duck with be small pieces of tempura battered meat, which was a little disappointing.  i love duck and i eat enough of it to know that if cooked properly, its skin will be plenty crispy and no tempura batter will be necessary.  the thick coating of batter detracted from that fabulous ducky flavor.  but even with the protein of this dish falling short, it was quite yum.  the chili basil sauce was fragrant and flavorful and the huge portion was overflowing with tons of perfectly cooked veggies.
the chu chee curry with shrimp came out about 5 minutes after the crispy duck, so i am glad we were sharing both and one of us didn't get left waiting while the other ate.  this was the biggest serving of curry i have ever seen.  food writing is full of hyperbole, but this is not one, the serving was huge.  in truth, there was a whole lot of curry, and sort of a normal amount of everything else.  this entire dish had 6 giant prawns, which tasted as though they were cooked separately with lemon grass on a grill.  they were huge and tasty.  on my initial bite, i was overwhelmed by a flavor i couldn't place, but which would best be described as tasting of plastic.  interestingly, after a few more bites this flavor didn't bother me so much, and i really enjoyed the dish. 
even though there were some weird elements in both our main courses and seth couldn't get his drink on because of the lack of pineapple juice, i enjoyed our meal at viet bangkok.  as our assignment is to try all the thai restaurants in portland, we stuck to their thai selections for this meal.  but i'm intrigued and i will defiantly be heading back to try out some of their vietnamese and chinese dishes.  it was also a really great value and we had enough leftover to both have large lunches the next day.  so take my advice and don't judge this restaurant by exterior.  you may get some surprises in your dishes, but overall i think it will be enjoyable.

sala thai

on tuesday night seth and i ventured to outer washington for a little thai food at sala thai. the restaurant is cute and kitschy with plants and decor hanging from the ceiling. as it was a tuesday night, sala thai was pretty quiet.

we started out with thai iced teas for both of us, seth wanted a cup of tom khar gai, and i ordered the pan fried pork dumplings. the thai iced tea hit the spot and the menu even suggested the iced tea as a good way to cut the heat of the food, if you didn't want a beer.
the broth of the tom khar gai was very tasty and fragrant of lemon grass and coconut. but the only ingredients in the soup had were chicken and scallions, which was a letdown because we were hoping for some vegetables. to be fair, when rechecking the menu, it clearly states "chicken soup with coconut milk, lemon juice and chopped scallions" so i guess we can only blame ourselves.

the pan fried pork dumplings were by far the highlight of the meal. they were stuffed with a mild pork filling, pan fried to a beautiful crisp, and topped with little bits of fried garlic. i tried to scoop up as many bits of garlic onto my dumpling before dipping it into a slightly sweet tamarind sauce.

for our main course we ordered seafood rad pik off the specials menu and yellow curry with chicken from the curry offerings. The seafood rad pik consisted of lightly battered shrimp, scallops, and squid, sautéed with mixed vegetables and a special sauce, all served over a bed of iceberg lettuce with cucumbers and tomatoes around the edge of the plate. the special sauce was fruity and reminded me a lot of duck sauce and i can't remember if there were any vegetables in the dish other than the cucumbers and tomatoes. at $14.99 it was one of the most expensive items on the menu and it was a very big serving. i thought the bed of lettuce was kind of strange and even though we ordered it as hot and spicy it was quite mild. with all this said it was still good. while i was getting pretty full, seth polished off every bit of seafood. he left a few cucumbers though.

the yellow curry with chicken had pineapple, green peppers, summer squash and basil leaves and was creamy, aromatic, and slightly sweet with a very nice heat. which was a surprise because it was listed as a mild curry. so the seafood rad pik was more mild than we expected and this was more spicy than we expected. i would have preferred that both dishes has the heat of the curry. i really love thai curries and this was a good curry. it had all the things i look for in a curry, like the creamy sauce playing off the acidity of the pineapple.

our service was at times slow for how empty the restaurant was, but out waitress was friendly and kept our waters full. all in all i think sala thai was good, but standard. all the food was flavorful, but other than the dumplings, nothing stood out. and while sala thai was relatively inexpensive, i thought it was pretty pricey for thai (again, to be fair we did order one of the most expensive items on the menu). it's also quite far from our apartment in the west end. if it was excellent thai, i would make the trip across town to eat here, but there are plenty of comparable thai restaurants closer to my home.

recent food musings

pot roasted rosemary lamb with fingerling potatoes
this is what i made for new year's eve dinner and it was amazing. so super easy and so succulent, tender, and flavorful. the gravy was the most luscious i have ever had.

goat cheese, pesto, and sun dried tomato terrine
i first ate this totally delicious combination in giant form at a weeding in the berkshires. realizing that i could easily replicate it, i googled it and found this recipe. its a true standby appetizer that everyone loves. i made it for both thanksgiving and christmas eve this year.

maine shrimp season
seth has a goal of cooking with maine shrimp as frequently as possible. so far he has made shrimp quesadillas, shrimp cocktail, and shrimp curry. the shrimp curry is a variation on a thai chicken curry he has been making for years. i asked him to add less water so it would be more saucy. he threw the shrimp in at the absolute last moment so they wouldn't over cook.

duck fat
i read somewhere reports of soggy fries at duck fat. i am happy to report that my last two visits have resulted in delicious crispy fries.
favorite dipping sauce: truffled ketchup

asian home cooking

as i have mentioned before, seth really loves asian food, and i am a pretty big fan myself. so we have been cooking up some yummy asian food at home. seth recently made this awesome thai curry he has been making for years and i tried a new recipe for pork meatballs from this new cook book we got call food lovers vietnamese, a culinary journey of discovery. both recipes follow.

red or green chicken curry:
heat 1 oz oil and 2-3 tbsp red or green curry paste for one minute
add 3/4-1 lb cubed chicken until brown
add 1 cup coconut milk and 2 cup water, bring to boil, simmer 15 minutes
add veggies (tomatoes, snow peas, shitakis, etc.) cook 5 minutes
add 1 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tsp brown sugar, 2 tsp grated lime rind, 1/2 cup basil
toss well and season with salt and pepper to your liking
serve with basmati rice

this past time seth made this dish he used maine shrimp in addition to chicken. the shrimp worked beautifully. any protien really would. my only complaint about this amazingly flavorful meal is that the curry is never as thick as the ones you get in thai restaurants. in looking at the recipe it may be because you add so much water. cutting back on the water a little may help to thicken it. we also always use low fat coconut milk which probably changes the consistency a little. i'm sure we have tried to thicken it with corn starch before, but i can't remember how it turned out.

vietnamese pork meatballs (nem nuong):
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1lb coarsely ground pork
1 head tender lettuce, leaves separated
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 small cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced into half-rounds
12 or more fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp vegetable oil
pepper

put fish sauce and sugar in a bowl and whisk until sugar is completely dissolved. stir in shallot and garlic, and season with pepper to taste. add ground pork and mix together thoroughly. cover and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.
pinch off about 1 tbsp pork mixture and shape into small meatballs.
arrange lettuce leaves, carrots, cucumber, and mint leaves in individual piles on a large platter.
heat oil in a nonstick skillet, then add meatballs and cook, rolling them around, for 5 minutes, or until golden all over.
to eat, put meatball in center of lettuce leaf with carrot cucumber and mint leaf. wrap up and dip in your favorite sauce.

i served the meatballs with a super simple peanut sauce made by mixing equal parts water, hoisin sauce, and peanut butter. i also make a quick nuoc cham by mixing fish sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, garlic, and thai chilies. both sauces were also from food lovers vietnamese.

the meatballs were delicious. the sugar sort of caramelized all over the outside so even though they were quite savory they had this delicate sweetness to them. we ate them as dinner but they would also be a great appetizer.

thai buffet is a-okay!

i should preface this post with the fact that seth and i love thai buffet. seth in fact loves any food of asian origin. imagine his dismay when i spent 10 days in hong kong enjoying as much asian food as can be fit into that time period, without him. we had this thai buffet that we loved and frequented often when we were living in new haven, ct. when we came to find our portland apartment in august and we spotted the opening soon sign in the window of Thai Chef Buffet (511 congress street), i saw a light come on in seth's eyes.
so this past thursday we visited thai chef buffet for the second time since it opened on october 9th. for $8.95 you get quite a selection of both meat and vegetarian options. its actually divided into meat island and veggie island. in addition they have a salad bar, a small selection of sushi rolls, and an italian option. in my opinion, there is no reason to waste your time on a salad bar when there are so many tasty treats to try and i would never eat italian ANYTHING at a thai buffet. some of the especially good dishes are the chicken basil, thai summer rolls, crab rangoon, and curry puffs.
try to get a window seat because there is some great people watching on congress street. the first time we went there was also some interesting employee watching, but this time the inside of the restaurant was a little tamer. for a buffet, the service is very good and friendly. our waters were refilled frequently, if not obsessively.
they have a full menu as well, which i haven't tried. but if i learned anything from our favorite thai buffet in new haven, its that the buffet rocks but the regular menu is not great. if you try the regular menu and think otherwise, let me know!