Derek W.
Yelp
I hadn't visited Panvimarn in 6 years, so when my group at work decided to go here for a lunch outing, I knew we'd be in for a good meal, unlike the last place we went to where Murphy's Law was pestering us from multiple angles.
The day before, we had decided on our entrees and placed our orders while making a reservation for noon the next day. On a previous visit, most of my then groupmates selected the BBQ Chicken and Ribs Lunch Special, and I couldn't forget the number of times I kept hearing a server say, "BBQ Chicken and Lips" instead. Other than the Salmon Teriyaki n Pineapple Fried Rice, which I tried back then, that was the only other lunch special that piqued my interest, so it was a no-brainer to go with that. Plus, I wanted to see if I'd hear the word "lips" again lol.
To my surprise, I was the only one in my group who ordered that while nearly half the others went with the Pad See-Ew, which is under the Oodles of Noodles part of the menu. This may have caused some bad timing on when the dishes came out, even with a reservation, however. Let me explain.
I mentioned earlier we had our reservation at noon. We arrived over 5 minutes early, but the first dishes didn't come out until a quarter after noon. These first dishes were mostly the Pad See-Ew, but my BBQ Chicken and Ribs were nowhere to be found. As a matter of fact, *all* the noodle dishes came out first, but none of the non-noodle dishes arrived until about 10 minutes later. This caused a little discomfort because my groupmates who ordered the noodle dishes were waiting until the rest of us got our dishes before commencing the feast.
Once I got my BBQ Chicken and Ribs, which didn't come with a mention of "lips", the others got their dishes as well, and we started to feast! I probably had the largest plate since it contained two different kinds of meat, a mound of steamed jasmine rice, and a nice helping of fresh mixed spring salad. I didn't realize until later that evening I could have subbed the jasmine rice for natural brown rice, which I would have preferred. Whoops, but the jasmine rice was still good, absorbing the excess sauces like a sponge.
I'm glad I got my meal last because both of the meats were pretty tender and juicy. Even the ribs were fall off the bone tender, and I appreciated that, though gnawing through bone after bone was such an ordeal that by the time some groupmates finished their main courses, I was only halfway done with mine!
With how much I enjoyed the BBQ Chicken and Ribs, I understood why it was such a popular choice on my first visit, especially since it was much less expensive back then compared to now. It also came with two sauces, one kind of like an orange duck sauce, and the other a much spicier sauce with hints of spicy peppers that pack a real punch! I'm guessing they were serrano peppers, but I didn't bother to ask.
Some groupmates asked for takeout boxes, but I managed to finish my plate without a problem. Shortly after, our first dessert arrived. We shared the Cookies & Cream Gelato Cake, with a cherry on top of each slice. The thinner part of the cake was easy to cut, but when I tried to cut the thicker part with my spoon, it proved to be immensely difficult! I wish we had knives to help with this, but all we were given were spoons. The cake was pretty good, but not as sweet or flavorful as an Oreo milkshake, which I'd inhale in a heartbeat.
We also got to try the Mango Sticky Rice, a seasonal dessert. I could have cared less for sticky rice having already had rice in my main course, but the mango was quite good, though it was not the perfect ripeness. Either it was on the verge of being overripe, or it was just a smidge short of ripe. It was good to try, but I wouldn't order it again. I suppose it comes down to acquired taste here.
Service was alright, but nothing out of the ordinary. They were punctual at removing used plates on our tables, but I can't be certain they appreciated our patronage that much. Maybe they were tired from going up and down the stairs so much (we were on the second floor). Also, I wish they were better on timing of when the dishes came out. 10 minutes isn't too bad, but when you consider it was between 15 and 25 minutes past our reservation when we had already placed our orders beforehand, that's a different story. We were there for over an hour, so definitely don't expect a short lunch break here.
Overall, still a solid place for Thai, and I'd definitely be looking forward to trying a noodle dish on a future visit. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their dishes, but one of them who ordered a Pad See-Ew mentioned he tasted some egg shells in his dish. Hopefully that was just a one-off, which I'm willing to say it was considering how delicious their food has been of all the times I've dined there.