Tony C.
Yelp
This is going to be the most scathing review (of my fellow eaters) ever. If you're weak-blooded or weak-hearted, stop now.
Dawn M: you're a vegetarian. You know what Bourdain say about vegetarians? Thai cuisine IS fish sauce and lime juice. It's not their problem you can't handle fish sauce. Don't insult an entire nation's cuisine.
Matt W: I see pad thai and pad See ew in your review. In 19 reviews, pad Thai/See ew is mentioned 8 times. As sheep, you have no right reviewing this restaurant. Stand outside Spoon and watch me eat.
Jess S: do you also get sashimi delivered? Get out of the house, log off of yelp, try eating "out". ditto to T.C.
Sarah B: why would you order "other" Asian food @ Spoon "THAI". Have you also ordered escargot at Sabatino?
Rick V: Panang curry isn't suppose to be burning spicy. Contrary to common belief, "spicier" doesn't make it Thai-er, or even Thai at all.
Mike C: you just reviewed a can of Coke at a Thai restaurant. Being a "misguided" pad thai sheep is worse than simply being sheep.
Kim K: apparently you can't tell the difference between a grill and a microwave. You also don't bother to understand what you're actually eating.
Arnie: I forgive you, cuz Erik M had barely finished the Spoon Thai translated menu when you ate here, otherwise..
Onwards to the food:
unlike Sticky Rice/Rosded/Dharma, Spoon isn't too concerned with budget. They've reached this great compromise of serving gringoes/gaijin/gwai-lo egg rolls in order to allow people interested in actually eating Thai food to order their kung chae naam plaa. The system obviously works well because there are now tons of people ordering pad thai/chicken curry for take-away and delivery.
One will notice ordering similar items from TAC/Sticky/Spoon yields higher prices at Spoon. This is not simply self serving. Spoon doesn't skip on ingredients and they don't take short cuts. That Issan sausage is just about perfectly fermented and a wide variety of greens (on choy, bitter mellon, etc.), none of which are considered cheap, are offered. Other interesting Thai items such gouramy fish, fresh thai basil as well as "bitter beans" can also be found on the reasonably priced Thai menu.
The in-house laminated Thai translated menus are from early '05. Thai menu has doubled and updated in Mid '06 by Erik M. Find it, study it & sleep with it before going to ST. Find full '06 translation below (as it is NOT on silapaahaan.com):
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=7364&highlight=2006+spoon
PS: start off with salads and apps (beer food). get the house made fish cake, order some sticky rice, roll said rice into small ball, eat it with your hands along with generous portions of laap, naam tok, etc. interject with mild soups, progress into curries (i like all the jungle curries utilizing thai eggplants), then finish off with pungent stir fried veggie (water spinach) and perhaps a stronger soup. A menu of 8+ plates eaten all family style is truly the best way to sample what Spoon Thai can offer.
If you only talk about pad thai and vegetarian profferings at Thai joints, you might as well not bother at all. ..