Atlanta food and restaurant blog | The Blissful Glutton » Thai

Cheap Eats: Sawadee

blissfulglutton — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:35:00 +0000

There are two types of diners: Those who don’t mind brash service, long waits or odd locales as long as the food is good, and those who prefer a more polished dining experience to feel at ease. If you find yourself in the former group and also happen to love Thai cuisine, you’ve most likely braved the odd yet delicious Panita Thai Kitchen in Virginia-Highland. However, Panita isn’t as odd as you may think.

It’s not uncommon to find yourself standing in the doorway at Sawadee Restaurant (4920 Roswell Road, 404-303-1668) waiting for someone — anyone — to emerge from the dark end of the dining room. But the wait is a nice chance to gawk at the faded opulence of this quirky spot tucked away in the corner of the Fountain Oaks Shopping Center. Cindy, the owner/cook/server will inevitably burst out of the kitchen with a remarkably large presence for such a tiny lady. Cindy likes to chat and has the pleasant habit of lingering near your table as you eat. It was during one of these solo meals with my inadvertent dining companion that I discovered her surprising back-story. Cindy’s Thai name is Panita — the actual Panita after which her husband named his restaurant. Click here to read the rest…

KoKai Thai Bistro: Norcross

blissfulglutton — Sun, 24 May 2009 12:12:00 +0000

KoKai Thai Bistro is a perfect example of why I adore the tips readers send me. I’d seen this restaurant a while back when we drove up to check out the food court in the Hong Kong Supermarket. But I wasn’t enticed to return until I got a tip from a reader, Anne Wittle, claiming it reminded her of her time in Thailand. Anne wrote me the following after I asked her what dishes she recommended:

Everything we’ve had was good but their noodles are great. Where else in Atlanta do you find Yen Ta Fo or Boat Noodles? The Khao Pad Kai (fried rice with chicken) is great although it could use just a bit more tomato to be like my favorite vendor in NakornPathom. The pad ka pow kai (chicken with basil) and pad khing kai (ginger chicken) were just like my host Mom used to cook. All of the curries were spot on. The potak is perfect and I can’t wait to go back to try the Tum Yum and the Pad Thai.The owner is super nice and came out to chat with us about real Thai food. He says he can make other dishes too with a bit of notice. Also, there were a few things they had that were not on the menu so ask if there’s anything special that day – you never know what you’ll get.

Moon is a Thai food fanatic. His brother lives in Los Angeles and he always returns moaning about how Atlanta has no good Thai food. I always say Nan is a great spot, but it is on the pricey side. So, I am always looking for new spots to appease his cravings. Nothing ever does the trick. But our first visit to KoKai Thai Bistro had Moon exclaiming he’d finally found something to scratch his Thai itch.

The restaurant advertises that is serves authentic Thai street food. The space is very modern with loads of light and a cutesy counter designed to look like a fake street cart. There are abstract pictures of chickens and eggs everywhere–I assume “KoKai” must mean chicken in Thai.

Lighting fixtures and rafters

The “street cart” counter

The menu is all high-gloss pictures of basic Thai dishes–nothing out of the ordinary. We ordered a handful of dishes to test the waters. First up: drinks.

Rose tea: One thing that perplexes me about all of the Asian restaurants in Georgia is their tea selection. Tea is such an integral part of most Asian cultures. Yet, diners are normally given basic black tea. However, KoKai offers at least one premium tea selection: The rose tea. It’s served in these beautiful glass tea pots where you can watch the blooms expand and fill the middle chamber as it steeps. As lovely on the tongue as it was on the eyes.

Thai iced tea: Moon’s brother ordered this and I just had to take a photo. Pure sex in a glass.

Larb kai: Our first dish and our table’s favorite of the meal. Crumbled pieces of chicken mixed with red onion in a slightly spicy and tangy sauce with that underlying pungency Thai food is known for. You wrap the chicken in the little cabbage cups and eat it taco-style. Add a little chile paste or chopped chiles and you have a textural smack-down full of intense flavors.

Condiments: an assortment of blazing Thai accoutrements. The tiny green chiles are mixed with lime and fish sauce. The larger green chiles (in the back) are the spiciest.

Nua Toob: The restaurant calls this “beef jerky.” The meat was chewy, but super flavorful. And the tangy and smoky red sauce was perfect against the fat of the meat. We all loved it. There is also a pork version.

Pad Thai: Yes, this dish is incredibly ubiquitous and boring for some. But this is a litmus dish for me that I really love when it is done well. We chose shrimp and fried tofu. The noodles were lightly coated in sauce and chile powder. The sauce was thankfully not cloying, but there could have been a touch more sauce. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and the pillowy tofu was lightly crisped on the outside. A good dish, but not the best I have had. However, I would order it again.

Basil fried rice: We ordered this “Thai hot,” but it was pretty tame. No matter. It was gorgeous. The basil added a slight sweetness to the crisped rice and tender pieces of chicken. I mixed in a little of the pickled green chiles and it was perfect. It was gone in a flash.

Red red chicken curry: Moon loves his Thai curries. He said the flavor profile of this curry–which we ordered in lieu of the beef curry they were out of–was spot on. However, he said he would have liked it to be a bit thicker and more intensely spicy. I thought it was pretty good, but I am not a huge fan of Thai curries. I prefer denser types like Indian or Japanese.

Verdict: An incredibly cute and tasty Thai place that is definitely worth a visit. In the true spirit of street food, our orders came out in a flash. Our only complaint as a group was that they could have made things much spicier. But the condiments on the table remedied any lack of heat. We all agreed we’d return because we enjoyed our meal and there is still so much to explore.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION
Address: 5495 Jimmy Carter Boulevard. Norcross, 30093
Phone: 770-409-9219
Website

Asam House Thai and Malaysian Restaurant: Buford Highway

blissfulglutton — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:00:00 +0000

Nam tok

RESTAURANT REVIEW:

The New Yorker recently had an issue (in September) devoted to food where many notable writers–like David Sedaris–penned essays. I loved it and have actually read some of the pieces over and over again. One article was about a writer who went to Singapore to explore Malaysian food. Being the food dork that I am, I took notes on dishes the writer’s guide took him to try. The issue could not have come at a better time.

Asam House, a new Malaysian (and Thai) restaurant, opened in Pinetree Plaza a couple of months ago. After I wrote about Chicago Supermarket in September, Steve Drucker (a local grubber who discovered Tasty China well before anyone else was hip to it) replied to my post on a forum I frequent about a fact-finding side trip to Asam House.

With all my crazy travel, I didn’t make it to Asam House until last weekend after a fun day at the Annual Castleberry Loft Tour. Armed with my crudely written cheat sheet, I scanned the menu for dishes I had never had before–the menu is actually a mixture of Malaysian and Thai and they have a chef for each cuisine. We ordered 4 dishes (3 Malaysian and one Thai).

We started with the roti canai (pan-fried Indian-style pancake served with a chicken and potato curry). The pancake was heavenly–flaky and not too greasy. The curry had a thick layer of grease on top and the flavor was just kind of flat.

Next came the nam tok (grilled beef salad with onions, scallions, cilantro, and spicy lime juice), which was very flavorful and spicy. I liked the way the meat was kind of dry which allowed it to soak up more of the flavors from the sauce. I would order it again.

I was excited to try the char kway teow (stir-fried flat noodles with shrimp, bean sprouts, and egg in black soy sauce) because the guide from the article said it was a must-try dish while in Malaysia. It reminded me of beef chow fun without the added spice (or beef). It wasn’t bad, but it could have used more salt. I would order it again, but ask for it a bit spicy.

The aromatic chicken (stir-fried chicken with dried shrimp and chili paste) was my least favorite dish of the meal. The flavor tasted processed from the chili paste and it was too salty. I also found the use of maraschino cherries for garnish very weird. I only ate a couple of bites and left the rest for my date.

Verdict: The space is very new and clean. Service was friendly and helpful. The menu is huge and it definitely warrants further exploration. I think I will try more of the Thai options next time since I have heard many people say that the Thai chef seems to be the more talented of the two. Was it the best darn food I have ever eaten? No. But, they chefs seem competent and I enjoyed some of the dishes enough to go back.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION:

Address: 5285 Buford Highway, 30340 (Pinetree Plaza)

Phone: (770) 452-5100

Hours: Open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 pm. Closed on Tuesday.

Nan Fine Thai Dining: Midtown

blissfulglutton — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:13:00 +0000

RESTAURANT REVIEW:
When it comes to intown ethnic restaurants, our options are sadly limited due to high rents and our predisposition to the large concept restaurant that have overrun our metro area real estate. Thai food is one of the rare exceptions to the rule—we have almost too many Thai restaurants. I have to admit, I have been a bit bored with Thai cuisine and don’t eat it as much as I used to. I am not sure if it is the execution or my mother’s dependence on Thai takeout when I was growing up. Whatever the case, I find myself reaching for Korean, Vietnamese, or Japanese when I am craving something ethnic—anything but Thai food. However, my recent visits to Nan may have just changed that.

Owners Charlie and Nan Niyomkul have created a mini Thai empire. Their first restaurant, Tamarind, was a runaway success despite its awkward location and lack of parking (the restaurant has closed though and moved to Colony Square). Their second effort, Nan Thai Fine Dining, is in a much better location with valet parking and stunning design by Johnson Design Studio—the space is bright, airy, and chic during the day and glows gold at night. While the aim of Nan is more refined Thai fusion, the chef’s grasp on the elements of Thai cuisine is outstanding and the creativity pays off. When you enter the space, there is a display full of all the spices being used in the dishes. When I asked a question about a flavor in a dish that I could not place, my waitress retrieved the spices and presented them on a plate while giving descriptions of the flavors. She was also a bit of a performer and expertly tilted the tray holding my chilled beer glass to create the perfect pour. She was knowledgeable and exhibited a great deal of respect for each dish the chef prepared. She was the kind of waitress that you never know is there, but all the interactions are pleasurable and elegant. Probably the best service experience, outside of Restaurant Eugene, that I have had all year and that includes my experience at the Dining Room.

On one visit, I decided to go very basic and ordered the coconut soup and pad Thai. You may think my order is boring, but these dishes were the first two Thai dishes I had as a child and I have been trying to find versions that did that first experience justice. Nan’s soup was silky, spicy and it left your tongue tingling with the unmistakable bite of galanga. The shrimp inside the soup were very fresh and cooked to absolute perfection. The portion size was also spot on. My pad thai was probably the best version I have had in a very long time. A problem I find with many pad thai dishes around town, is that they are sickly sweet and the flavor of the tamarind is lost. The balance of flavors had me saying wow and the shrimp was so fresh and not overcooked as many other versions are.

Calamari is one of those dishes that is so ridiculously overexposed at every restaurant in the U.S. I found Nan’s to be crave-worthy. I could not stop eating the tender and crispy morsels bathed in a chili sauce with the right amount of sweetness and heat. The beef salad was not the most authentic version, but the meat melted in my mouth and the dipping sauce cut the fat of the beef quite well. The jasmine and forbidden rice cake that accompanied the dish was the only disappointment as it was a bit too chewy for my taste. The best dish had to be the whole red snapper bathed in roasted red curry sauce with sautéed spinach and flash-fried basil leaves. The fried nuggets of fish were perfectly fried and not greasy at all. The curry paired nicely with the crisp fish and the fried basil was a whimsical addition that I really enjoyed. The short rib with masaman curry was a bit unbalanced. While the ribs were very tender, I found the sauce to be a bit heavy on the seasoning and it overpowered the dish. Green curry with shrimp was well prepared and even better over the jasmine rice served in individual metal pots.

Verdict: While more expensive than many other Atlanta-area Thai restaurants, Nan is winner worth visiting again and again. The gracious staff makes you feel like royalty from the moment you walk into the door. The food is fabulous even if it veers a bit away from traditional Thai cuisine. If the prices are an issue, go for one of the curry or noodle dishes. It is on the fancier side and reservations are recommended.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION:
Address: 1350 Spring Street, 30309
Phone: (404) 870-9933
Website

L’Thai Restaurant: Tucker

blissfulglutton — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 02:57:00 +0000

RESTAURANT REVIEW:

I met my friend over here for lunch the other day. It is a nicely decorated space. The menu is quite expansive and features most Thai favorites. This is not your typical Thai place though. They aim to serve a mostly organic menu and also have quite an assortment of beer and wine. We got the larb with pork, spicy pad thai (pictured), tom kha soup and pad-see-ew with tofu. The broth in the soup was very nice. The chicken was also very moist and flavorful. I did not try the larb but it looked good. My friend commented that the cabbage leaves could have been cut wider though. She still seemed to like it and took the remainder home. The pad thai was good but not the best I have had. I got it spicy and I think that the spiciness competed with the taste of the tamarind. Just not a dish that stands up to heat. Good shrimp though. The pad-see-ew was good. Good tofu preparation and a balanced sauce. I wish there had been more noodles though. An overall good spot but too far for me to go to on a regular basis. I would go back to try some more dishes but I would have to be in the neighborhood.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION:

Address: 4880 Lawrenceville Hwy. (Hwy 29), Tucker, GA 30084

Phone: (770) 491-9948

Map

Website

Spoon: Atlanta

blissfulglutton — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 12:25:00 +0000

RESTAURANT REVIEW:

I finally got to spoon for lunch week and I hate to say it but i was pretty disappointed. I ordered the corn cakes, the tom yum soup, and the noodles with basil. The corn cakes were good although the sauce tasted like it came from a jar and was way too sweet. The soup had nice plump mushrooms and chicken in it. However, the broth was way too sweet for me and ruined the dish. I could not finish it. My noodles were nice and spicy but there were charred bits and a large pool of oil at the bottom. The spring rolls that came with the meal were bland and oily. they tasted like spring rolls with bland cabbage and pepper…weird. I was not super-impressed with the food. Would like to try the curry and one of their fish dishes but don’t think I will be rushing back to do so. I do have to say the service was tops and the space is very cool.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION:

Website: Spoon Atlanta

Thai Chili: Atlanta

blissfulglutton — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 03:11:00 +0000

I don’t mean to sound like a jerk but I have kind of been over Thai food. As a kid, my mom would feed us Annie’s Thai Castle on a regular basis (I liked the Rama Chicken the best). It just got old and quality was hard to find. I guess I also got side-tracked when discovering Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino cuisine. Thai just seemed mundane after a while. I was reading an online discussion about Thai in Atlanta the other day and someone had named Thai chili as one of their favorites in Atlanta. I used to go there a lot when I was a student at Emory and had never been impressed. I decided to go back and see what the score was. I walked in and it was more elegant than I remembered. The place was buzzing with the lunch crowds and press clippings littered the wall. I ordered a spicy Pad Thai (there are standard items that are indicators of quality for me with certain cuisines) and the basil rolls. I got my food quickly and was instantly smack-dab in traffic. My stomach was growling so I cracked open the basil rolls. I opened the plain styrofoam container and found 6 perfect looking pieces basil roll looking up at me. It looked like tightly rolled sushi. The sauce was too salty but the texture and flavor were great. I started in on my Pad Thai right when I got home. It was pretty good. The shrimp wasn’t overly frozen tasting and the heat level was just as I had requested. I am sure it would have been better straight out of the wok. They also gave me a little coconut chicken soup which was not overly sweet or salty (symptoms of most places’ version) but an enjoyable broth peppered with pieces of juicy chicken. I can honestly say it was good Thai for $14 lunch. I will definitely return.