I sure wish I'd known about this place a long time ago.
It has the same owner as Exotic Flame; just a stone's throw away. Not only do I like Exotic Flame, I'm a regular there. In fact, I'm the Duchess of Exotic Flame LOL. (I still don't understand what that gets me, but, Oh Well.) Given that they have the same owner, one might think they'd be the same restaurant. But they're not. The atmosphere and menus are different indeed.
The atmosphere is very clean and modern. There is earthtone plank ceramic tile on the floor, lacquered wood lattice on the ceiling, and dark wood shadow-screens keeping direct sun out of the larger window. Like its sister restaurant, it is very clean, and is decorated in a simply inviting style. The tables are topped with either natural stone or a very good granite simulant. All tables were set with a plate and a folded cloth napkin, giving it a slightly elegant appearance. Since this was my first time there, I can't say if they setup this way for weekday lunch, but it was a nice touch for a Sunday afternoon.
Four of us decided to visit on a Sunday around 1:00PM. We were promptly seated and offered beverages. Initially I ordered Diet Coke, but when it arrived in a can, I sent it back and ordered Iced Tea. I'm glad I did, because it was absolutely delicious. Two people ordered Bobas: Mango and Taro, and the fourth just had water. I think the taro boba here is really good -- the best I've ever tasted.
We had a lot of food -- and took a lot of food home LOL -- so I'll do my best to describe it.
We started with Egg Rolls, Satay (both chicken and beef) and shrimp rolls. All three came with a sweet-hot dipping sauce. The Egg Rolls were stuffed with vegetables (cabbage, bean sprouts, julienne carrots, etc) and were fried golden brown. Though fried, they made an excellent appetizer / side dish, since they were all vegetable. The Satay was delish with a really nice peanut sauce. It had a side of pickled onions and cucumbers which disappeared quickly. The Shrimp rolls were interesting. They were more like shrimp packets. Little envelopes of wonton, wrapped around the shrimp like little shawls, then deep fried and left on a bamboo stick. We enjoyed these quite a bit -- the shrimp plump and cooked perfectly. It's so easy to over-cook shrimp. Evidently not here.
We also ordered something called Jerky Chicken, which I don't see on the take-out menu I took with me to remind me of what I ordered. It might be something you have to ask for. As the name implies, it's slightly dry and grilled chicken strips with a spicy and piquant soy-based dipping sauce. While I liked the chicken, the sauce really made the dish. It was so good, I could have tipped it up and sipped it by itself.
To me, Tom Ka Gai (Hot and sour soup with coconut milk, chicken, mushrooms, and more) is sort of a benchmark dish. If a Thai restaurant can make me happy just that, then they get the A+. OMG, their Tom Ka Gai was godly. It had just the right balance of acidity from the lemon grass, herbiness from the bitter lemon leaves, nutty sweetness from the coconut milk, earthiness from the mushrooms, and savory richness from the chicken. If you get nothing else, get the Tom Ka Gai.
For entrees, we had Thai Spicy Chicken (#39), a combination of Squid & Shrimp (#58) and Scallops & Shrimp (#59), and Kai Kua (#66). Though listed as an entree, we had #46 which is BBQ Pork & Chinese Broccoli... only we had it without the pork. So it was basically a Chinese Broccoli side dish. All of these dishes were fabulous and I recommend all of them. Our favorites were the Thai Spicy Chicken and the Chinese Broccoli. Though off the menu, try the Broccoli. It's godly. What I loved about the seafood combination was the way they did the squid to such tender perfection. Each cone was perfectly scored and opened out, to absorb the lovely and complex sauces they bathed in. What I liked about the Kai Kua was that it was similar to Pad Thai but the rice noodles were very wide.
For rices, we had the Pineapple Fried Rice (#80). It was the perfect foil to the hot and spicy dishes. Also we had small sides of Purple, Brown, and White Jasmine rice. Of the three, Purple is my favorite because of its rich nuttiness. But all three were prepared to perfect firmness and flavor.
Though stuffed, we couldn't resist the temptation to have dessert. We went for the coconut ice cream and the mango with sticky rice. The coconut ice cream surprised us with its almost sorbet texture. The mango was ripe to perfection. Yum yum!
Come here for an intimate special occasion... and leave the kids at home, please :-) read more