Review – Tasty Thai

Apr 17, 2009 by Andrew Stone

Rating:

This resto is located in the former location of Bada Bean and I have noticed it being remodeled for the last month or so. Then, lo and behold I saw people having lunch in there on Wednesday and made a note to go back and try it.

So, tonight was the night. We hopped in the car and headed off to try Tasty Thai. It seems that a new Thai place opens every other day these days, but it is nice to see one open in my hood.

It is nice enough inside. The whole dining room is open to the kitchen and what was the old coffee counter. And 4 or five tables were occupied. The hostess came over and seated us, gathered a high chair for our little one and even brought him some of his own dishes (nice touch). We looked over the menu which has all the regular Thai items and a few things we had never seen before. There is also a special notation that everything is prepared freshly to order and they use no MSG.

I ordered the tamarind chicken (something new) and my SO ordered pad thai (something expected). We also ordered an appetizer of the angel shrimp, a stuffed shrimp that sounded divine. The server left and then promptly returned to tell us they had run out of the angel shrimp and suggested we try the fish cakes. We took him up on it.

First the appetizer arrived, taking a little longer than the typical Thai place. I expect they do make things fresh here because of this. (Most Thai places the food comes out so fast it has to be sitting on a hot plate.) Anyway, back to the fish cakes. They were wonderful. The sauce was VERY fresh and flavorful and full of crispy cucumbers and onions and the right amount of sweet and fish saucey.

Next our entrees arrived perfectly timed after we finished the appetizer and were given a few minutes to settle. They were very big and looked delicious. The tamarind chicken was crispy fried breasts, sliced and covered in the tamarind sauce. The chicken was tender and delicious and the sauce was good, but overly sweet. all seemed freshly prepared. The pad thai was also very good, very fresh and seemed to have the perfect balance of flavors without the sauce being overbearing. You could actually taste the ingredients in the pad thai. Again, though, it seemed a bit sweeter than it should be.

Overall I liked this place and being that it is a few blocks from me, I will be back when the Thai craving hits. I would go here before I head to other downtown Thai joints. Well, except for Channon Thai.