Bann Thai

I keep regular office hours when I’m working from home, but often I’ll find time to slip out for lunch… 😉 one of the many benefits to working from home and working for yourself is being able to take two hour lunches.  Not that it took me two hours, but y’know… I could have, if I wanted.  Of course, then I don’t get paid… haha. 

I met up with a friend; Thai coffee and Thai iced tea.  Yum!

I heart the mee krob at Sripraphai, so when I saw it on the menu of a place much closer to me, I quickly ordered it.  Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as good – a little over sticky, over sauced, over sweet, and a tangled mess on the plate.  Not horrible, but not wonderful, either.  I’d pass next time.

One of the specials of the day was soft shell crab salad.  I think it’s a bit past season for soft shell crab, but I haven’t had soft shell crab much this year, so I thought I’d give it a shot.  As our waitress served the dish, about half the vinaigrette spilled onto the floor.  Lucky for me, because the vinaigrette turned out to be super duper spicy – not mentioned in the item description – but otherwise, the soft shell crab was fried properly, and the crunchy, pretty veggies topping it were a nice complement to everything, even with the slightly kickin’ dressing.  I enjoyed this. 

I always have to get satay the first time I eat in a southeast Asian restaurant that offers it, it is just a habit of mine.  When a place only offers chicken, that’s usually a red flag to me, but I ordered it anyway.  As expected, white meat on skewers came, with a mild peanut sauce for dipping.  This was alright, but white meat doesn’t belong on skewers!  My opinion anyway 😉

One more appetizer: duck salad.  I really like the duck salad at my local Thai place (there’s a place even closer to me), and was curious how this would play out.  I didn’t like the duck in this dish too much – it was a bit overcooked – but eaten with everything altogether, another tasty option. 

My lunch buddy ordered some sort of glass noodles with a wide array of veggies that seemed out of place – broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower.  The dish was a bit boring, in my opinion, but as it was eaten rather quickly, I imagine it tasted fine. 

Sigh.  My fears that had been growing since I’d sat down in the place came to reality when my pad thai was put in front of me.  First: green beans?  Really, guys?  The whole thing tasted like ketchup.  Overly sweet, a bit gloppy, and the noodles a bit too sticky (meaning, sticking together too much)… I was a little disappointed, but at the end of the day, I understood why things had to be the way they were. 

Yvo says: The location says it all: it’s on Austin Street and enjoys a fair amount of business/traffic from the locals and the people who work in the area.  The taste of everything caters to a non-Asian palate.  Which isn’t to say it’s bad, just that it’s not what I personally want in my Thai food.  I could see going here again for their cheap lunch specials, or if I am in the immediate area, but just a short distance away (and much closer to my apartment) is Thai Pot, which, in my opinion, is much better tasting and around the same price. 
recommended if you like Thai food on the sweet side