Glenn C.
Yelp
I went to this tasty Thai spot that has been open for a while a good while ago as per most of my recent reviews. The prices might be a tad higher than some of the other Thai spots but they do some very worthy elevations of general Thai food and also offer some dishes which are not found in other places outside of having to go to Elmhurst or something with the location partially contributing to the prices (see Nomad Tea Parlour next door for a similar much worse example.) They also occasionally have some very unique rotating dishes and the portion sizes are generally big enough that it's worth it as well. We went here around happy hour and I had a Passion Fruit Bellini which is a rather uncommon cocktail for me as I generally don't like Prosecco which I believe was $13 and was pretty tasty with a artful presentation with a flower in it. The service was friendly.
As they were out of the Krapow (Kaphrao) Peking Duck that day, we started with something that I don't think is on the current menu which is one of my personal favorites; the Nam Khao/Spicy Herbal Crispy Rice & Pork Sausage Salad listed as a Laotian salad with chili, roasted peanuts, shallots, scallion, cilantro, and ginger which was around $20 or so (I honestly don't remember the price.) The dish is Laotian in origin and is primarily found at northeastern Thai/Isan spots (which is easy to tell from the Laotian sour sausage/sai krok Isan in there) and I was very happy to find it here and introduce it to some of the people who had never had it before. The dish was presented deconstructed which was a fun touch and we mixed in everything. The dish had crunch, sourness, spiciness, and some freshness as expected and was a good take. There's a few other Isan spots with better versions but for a non Isan spot, this was a very good variant and I hope it comes back on the menu.
We otherwise ordered a bunch of main dishes. The most expensive but excellent was the Braised Beef Cheek Massaman for $36 with potato gratin, crispy shallot, and braised shallot. Many places make their massaman curry a bit too sweet but this was a good exception with a balanced mix of sweetness and curry flavor. The beef was cooked wonderfully with the fat being rendered properly and the potato was a better spin compared to the usual boiled potatoes found in this curry. The price might have been a tad high but this was an excellent interpretation of this dish.
Most reasonably priced and closest to a dish found in other more generic Thai spots was the Pad Kee Mao/Drunken Noodles, which is available with a variety of toppings as per the other noodles, but we got it with chicken for $21 with chili, peppercorn, sweet pepper, egg, and basil. The noodles were cooked better than most other places with a very nice wok hei and the bits of chicken were tender. The holy basil was also fried nicely. This was also very tasty though the portion wasn't the hugest.
The Black Pepper Ribeye for $29 was simply stir-fried with black pepper, scallion, young peppercorn, and onion. It reminded me of something you would find in a good Chinese place with the steak being roughly cut into thin tender pieces. The sauce already there added a good bit of flavor already but I think the flavor would work even nicer if it was paired with nam jim jeaw. It was good.
My least favorite, though more because of personal preference rather than flavor, was the Moo Palo for $26 or 6 hour braised pork belly, tofu, and soft-boiled egg in five spice broth. Though I do like five spice (especially with duck soup,) I've never been the biggest fan of this Chinese-Thai dish as it's usually pretty one note. That being said, the pork belly was cooked nicely and the tofu pockets were a fun unique touch so they did elevate this.
Not much to complain about for this place if you ignore the price point which is honestly Justified based on the flavors and unique creations. I would definitely go back here and try more dishes.