Thai Restaurants – Page 6

Our Pandemic Rotation – Et Voila, the Original Sab E Lee, and Sushi Tadokoro

You know things are pretty bad with this pandemic when I can actually do a "rotation" post……and since it's now March 160th…..well, that is long enough to have one I guess, sigh…..

Anyway, here goes:

Et Voila!:

Though I think the Missus is kinda burning out on the takeout Cocktails from Et Voila; I think the main reason might be the menu. It was already kinda slim pickins' to begin with and once this was no longer available….

We tried the Ravioli Aux Champingnons, Tarte Aux Champignons, the Coq au Vin, which I didn't care for….

Until we just kinda finally settled on the Charcuterie and Baguette.

We are sorely tempted to just order some baguette…..but that might be pushing our luck a bit, don't you think?

Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116

The Original Sab E Lee:

**** This location of TOSEL is now Zab Linda.

The Missus is really missing Her fix from Thai Papaya which is still closed. So, we've been making due with TOSEL; which of course doesn't have several of Her favorites (Som Tom Khai Kem/Spicy Thousand Year Old Eggs). Still, for some strange reason She was craving Pad Thai….which doesn't happen every often…..must be the Pandemic.

Anyway, I got Her Pad Thai, Duck Larb, and Issan Sausage.

So, I got the Duck Larb at heat level three…..check out all those chilies….a level three….

Still, the Missus got Her "fix".

And the young lady working is one of the folks from Thai Papaya…..it was nice seeing her. I asked about when they'd be reopening and was told that she hadn't heard anything about that. Bummer….

The Original Sab E Lee
6925 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Sushi Tadokoro:

After doing takeout from Tadokoro on almost a weekly basis, we've been trying to show some restraint…..it's now every other week.

And while Tadokoro now has outdoor seating on the patio…..

We're not quite ready to take that step yet.

So we'll just keeping on doing the takeout thing.

It's getting to the point that some of folks are starting to recognize my voice on the phone.

This is a nice treat for the Missus and I. And with the way things are going, we do need to have those moments.

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Take care!

Takeout from J&T Thai Street Food

July 6, 2020 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Thai Restaurants

You know; I was wondering if you, our dear readers would have had enough of all these "take-out" posts….then of course came today's announcement (not that I was surprised)….well, at least you can have outdoor dining this time around. So, I just decided to go ahead with this one.

On my takeout visit to Da Kine's, J&T Thai Street Food came back into view. It had been over seven years since my post. So, a few days later, before heading home to check on Frankie, I went and did the online ordering thing.

I drove on over; things were divided up nicely, I got into line, my order was ready….I had paid online so it was really quick.

Not quite sure what I really wanted to order; I went with the BBQ Pork on Rice ($8.75)….and man; they weren't kidding about the "rice" part.

Not a fan of the sweet chili sauce. Overall, a very generous portion for $8.75. The pork was rather unevenly cooked; some pieces weren't marinated very well. It was typical soy-sugar-fish sauce type marinade; not overly sweet, and a bit on the chewy side. I actually had this for two meals and the rice lasted for yet another meal. Can't complain about the amount of food.

I had always thought that the best item I'd had from J&T as the chicken wings. So, on another afternoon, I decided to order the chicken wings ($5.50). Not sure what else to get; I really didn't feel like ordering anything too big, I recalled seeing the fried tofu appetizer in Ccathy's post from back in 2015. So, I decided to order that ($5.50) as well.

Again, picking up my order was a breeze and the young lady working was simply wonderful…..offering up spicy vinegar and chili paste.

I guess is an appropriate meal for Fryday Friday, right?

The chicken wings were solid, just as on my previous visits. It was still fairly crisp, moist, good seasoning….but even better when alternating dips into the vinegar or chili paste.

The Fried Tofu was just plain tasteless….a bit weirdly dry and cardboardish in texture….it didn't hold up real well on the 10-15 minute drive home. No amount of sauce could help this out. The cilantro was browning as well.

So, I guess it's still just the chicken wings from J&T. I really like the folks working here; so if you have any recommendations on dishes to try (not the Khao Man Gai/Duck Noodle Soup/Curries/Fried Tofu), let me know…..

J&T Thai Street Food
5259 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Takeout Hours
Sunday 11am – 830pm
Mon – Sat 11am – 945pm

Hope everyone is holding up well. Take care!

Takeout from Koon Thai

June 17, 2020 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

Koon Thai was a pretty easy pick since it's in the same strip mall as Nijiya. At the time of my takeout visits (Mid-End May), they were actually open at 1030, so I could quickly pop in, place my order with the very pleasant young man working, shop at Nijiya, head back to Koon Thai, grab my order and go.

Sadly, on both visits, Koon Thai was out of my favorite dish, the Khao Karr Moo. But hey, this just gave me a chance to try out some other dishes….I just hoped it wasn't as bad as Khao Nar Ped I had there a while back.

On my first visit; I went with the Pad Cha Pork Wing. What's a "pork wing" you ask? No, it's not a from a new breed of flying pig. It's actually the fibula from a rear shank of said swine. It really kinda looks like a rib, it ain't cheap at $16.50 either. And when I opened things up; it didn't look like much.

But once I plated it….well, there was enough for the Missus to have when She got home from work in the evening.

Medium heat gave this a decent spice; I was worried about this version of pad cha (basically translated as "stir fry" if I recall) being over sweet but it wasn't. The basil added some nice anise-vegetal-peppery tones, there was a mild salty-sweet component, good savory touches….the green peppercorns added a nice bit of variety in terms of "spice" if you will and was probably the Missus's favorite item in the dish….other than the pork which was prepared nicely…. think of a pork rib in texture with a really nice porky finish.

I was pleasantly surprised.

The following weekend; I decided on the Kha Na Moo Krob ($13).

Whereas this was not on the level of the version at Soi 30th, the gailan undercooked, quite bitter, and too hard and the sauce a bit too salty; the pork belly was nicely done….a bit crisp on the exterior, giving way to a nice soft and mildly creamy interior. At medium heat, it was way too mild for me and like I mentioned earlier was a bit on the salty side….though not terrible.

Again the portion size was quite generous as there were leftovers for the Missus.

I'm looking forward to Khao Karr Moo once they have it back in stock….probably again on one of my future trips to Nijiya; or maybe the Missus will want me to order the "Pork Wings"….or heck; maybe both?

Koon Thai Kitchen
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 514-8111
Currently open daily 11am – 9pm

Covid-19 Takeout – EE Nami (Revisited) and The Original Sab E Lee

May 28, 2020 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

EE Nami (Revisited):

Well, in my previous post on EE Nami, I did mention my desire to revisit to try out the Pork Filet Tonkatsu. And of course, I try to be a man of my word….honestly, the Pork Loin Tonkatsu was easily the best I'd had in San Diego, so I'd make up any excuse to return to try the filet version.

Which, like my previous take-out tonkatsu from EE Nami, this was still crisp when I got home to consume it.

The pork filet is a lot thicker, meatier, and tender….though I think of it as being a bit "mushy-moist" than the pork loin version, which is more toothsome and has a nice chewy "fat cap".

So, you can pick your poison based on your preferences…..both were quite good, though I prefer the pork loin.

Current, Covid-19 Takeout Hours are Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 2pm and 5pm – 8pm.

EE Nami
4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
858-246-6903

The Original Sab E Lee:

**** TOSEL is now Zab Linda

Usually, when the weather starts warming up, the Missus starts craving take-out from Thai Papaya. Unfortunately, Thai Papaya is currently closed….with signs saying that The Original Sab E Lee is currently open seven days a week.

So, I decided to head on over to place a take-out order. Sadly, no Som Tom Khai Kem…….no salted egg at TOSEL. On the very nice side of things; the young man working often works at Thai Papaya and was so happy to see me that he made me a Thai Iced Tea without asking and I was obligated to take it. Really nice gesture.

I got the Issan Sausage, which was as expected, the duck larb was very nice once chilled, we got the regular papaya salad…heat level 5, which was spicier than we recalled…..must be getting soft in our old age. While we missed the layer of savory flavor the salted egg usually brings to the papaya salad, it was decent….not perfect, but ok.

The Missus loved the little dry shrimp in the papaya salad….and I pretty much enjoyed the cabbage and the sauce.

Nice lunch, but we can't wait until Thai Papaya opens back up.

Current Covid-19 Hours are 11am – 330pm and 5pm – 930 pm Monday to Friday and 11am – 930pm Saturday and Sunday.

The Original Sab E Lee
6925 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 650-6868

Clearing Out (the) Memory Card, the It’s Warming Up Edition. Revisits to Thai Papaya and Et Voila

February 27, 2020 mmm-yoso Cocktails, French Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

I know it's getting warm when the Missus starts requesting certain places……and it's been warming up the last few days.

Thai Papaya:

**** Thai Papaya has closed

So, it goes like this. I get a text from the Missus, "can you pick up Thai on your way home tonight." It can only mean one place and She doesn't even have to tell me what to order. It's the Som Tom Khai Kem (papaya salad with salted egg), Duck Larb, and Issan Sausage.

As it always is and has been.

Thai Papaya by Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Et Voila!:

Another favorite of the Missus is Happy Hour at Et Voila! So, with things warming up and both of us getting a home a bit earlier than usual we headed over.

And got our usual.

Sadly, that Huckleberry Bourbon, which used to be a HH favorite and used to be $7, is now $11, and tasted watered down….looking nothing like what it used to back in 2018.

Everything else seemed a bit different and we didn't enjoy it as much as we used to.

The Beignets de Champignons was nicely fried, but very salty.

And the Raviolis de Champignons way too sweet.

After not enjoying that Huckleberry Bourbon (my good FOY "YummyYummy" had warned me that the drink seemed a bit watered down over her last couple of visits), I ordered the Tequila Mockingbird, which I enjoyed; especially since it wasn't too sweet and there was a nice bit of savory heat from the Habanero Bitters.

It was quite telling as we walked to our car….the Missus told me, "I think we're done with Et Voila for a while".

Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116

Ka Prao Thai Cuisine (Mission Valley)

February 17, 2020 Cathy Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, a blog 'o food, is being written by Cathy today; Kirk is enjoying the three day weekend with His Missus.

There are many malls in the Mission Valley area, the one which now is anchored by Living Spaces (used to be a K-Mart) has a series of restaurants opposite their frontage, sharing the same parking lot. Ka Prao Thai Cuisine has been here since June 2015.

The menu behind the cash register, as well as a few wall posters and a chalkboard out front have menu items. Most are pretty standard.
The wok Stir fry ($11) of pork with mixed vegetables was wonderful! Cabbage, mushrooms, carrot, green beans, Chinese and American broccoli, garlic and house made soy sauce was a wonderful combination. The four piece chicken wing appetizer ($6.50) was tasty (they're marinated in fresh garlic, fish sauce, lemongrass and cilantro) but this photographed serving was a few seconds over-fried. Still moist and meaty, flavorful.Fried tofu ($6.50 six pieces), served with a sweet and sour sauce. It's always good.
The papaya salad ($10) is great. Green papaya, tomato, carrot shreds, green beans, large cooked shrimp and peanuts mixed with a spicy lime dressing-great, great flavors; so fresh.
The Ka Prao Kai Dao (namesake) ($11.50) was another great meal. Minced pork, sautéed with basil and garlic chili sauce, topped with a fried egg and served with jasmine rice. Wonderful! This is a photo of one of the wall menus. (I was here with cc and we shared).
Grilled Lemongrass Chicken ($14). It's marinated overnight in lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, turmeric, curry powder, coconut milk, soy sauce. Grilled then served with sticky rice and a side salad (with a ginger soy dressing). This is a meal so enjoyable-the multitude of flavors are not overwhelming but complimentary; distinct. Plus, sticky rice. Can't talk about Thai food without curry. This one is a peanut curry…pretty much a yellow curry with peanuts added. Carrot, potato and onion with chicken ($11)-nicely flavored.
Also must try Larb ($11) when seen on a menu. This version is made with minced pork, mint, lemongrass, onion, chili, roasted rice, cilantro and lime juice. A great version.

Heat level choices here are 1-10. Two is almost 'too safe', but allows enjoyment of all of the flavors.

Ka Prao Thai Cuisine 8590 Rio San Diego Drive, Suite 105 San Diego 92108 Open: Mon-Fri:10:30-3, 4:30-9 Sat-Sun 11-9 Website

Tumeric Thai Kitchen

January 27, 2020 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

A few months back I was at my favorite watering hole chatting about…..well, food of course, when I was told of a place that made "good papaya salad and pad see ew". I thought I'd definitely know or know of the place being referenced, but was quite surprised when the name "Tumeric Thai" was mentioned. And even a bit more surprised when I was told the restaurant was located on Mount Soledad! Of course I immediately did a search when I got home….and was fascinated enough to head on over the first chance I got.

I drove out and up Mount Soledad….from where PB becomes La Jolla. And right before the gated community of Windemere La Jolla is a small strip mall.

And there you'll find a discreet sign that says Tumeric Thai Kitchen. I walked down the hallway and noticed a restaurant dining room to my right and a nice, bright al fresco area, where a group of Thai folks were having a good old time.

I was told to sit wherever I wanted to….I didn't want to take up too much space so I chose the corner two-top….which remained my table on all three visits.

When it came time to order; I decided on just getting the Pad See Ew with Beef ($13). I'll often order Pad See Ew when trying to see how a kitchen stir-fries. There are few ingredients, you have to know how to use them judiciously; it's easy to over-cook and you still want that "breath of the wok" to add the smokiness and caramelization.

This was an interesting mixed bag. The stir fry was done well; the noodles still firm, with some "wok hay" going on. I didn't care for the fact that the noodles all seemed to chopped/torn into little pieces. Good soy and sugar balance….strangely, this was spicy……I ordered Pad See Ew not Pad Kee Mao.

The gailan was nicely cooked, not too raw, not soft and mushy.

The slices of beef were rather large and ponderous and were pretty tough.

The service was friendly and the of course it warranted another visit. This time I ordered the "good" papaya salad (spicy) and the Thai Beef Jerky ($8), which was my favorite of the two dishes.

Decent toothsomeness, perhaps a bit on the salty side, but that's kind of to be expected. Not a fan of that sauce; too much lime, not spicy enough. Still, not bad…I've had worse.

The Papaya Salad ($9) was definitely "Ameri-Thai".

While nice and crisp, this lacked spice, was too sour, lacking in savory tones, and was just kinda wimpy as a whole. The tomatoes lacked ripeness, the green beans too hard and raw. Just kind of weak overall.

But you know me…..I decided to visit one more time. so I headed back to Tumeric Thai.

And being quite hungry, ordered two items……

Starting with the Chicken Wings ($7), which were some fairly hefty wings.

Served hot and moist; though for some reason, kind of mild in flavor….there's some garlic and what I believe is lemongrass. Initially fairly crisp, the wings got soft fairly quickly and are a bit on the greasy side….so if you get these, eat them right away. Not a fan of the afore mentioned chili lime sauce; nor the overly sweet chili sauce.

I also ordered the Crying Tiger ($15) medium……what arrived was a bit beyond that.

Not sure if it was done intentionally, but all none of pieces were sliced all the way through….so you'd pick up a piece and end up with two other pieces attached. The meat lacked a good char and there was a bit of meat scum as well. It was also really salty; lacking in any sweetness…..the meat also had a slight metallic taste that I'm not fond of. I'd have appreciated a really nice jaew to help cut through the saltiness, but it was that chili-lime sauce that I'm not a fan of. I'm used to having this dish being a bit on the chewy side so that didn't bother me at all.

That sticky rice was done perfectly….too bad the Crying Tiger wasn't to my taste.

So, what to say about Tumeric Thai? It's not overly Americanized, though it seems that your mileage may vary. It's not a bad option if you're visiting the Mount Soledad Veteran's Memorial. I was told that this is the only real restaurant on Mount Soledad. Prices are reasonable, the folks working were quite nice.

Turmeric Thai Kitchen
6435 Caminito Blythefield
La Jolla, CA 92037
Hours:
Tues – Fri 11am – 2pm, 4pm – 9pm
Sat 12pm – 9pm
Sun 4pm – 9pm
Closed on Monday

Circling Back to Sab E Lee (Santee)

January 5, 2020 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

**** This location of Sab E Lee has closed

We’ve just torn the last page out of the 2019 calendar….it’s 2020. 2020……man, can you believe that if we’re still posting in May of this year; it will make 15 years? Sheesh….. I was recently wool gathering and looking at some older posts and I realize that there are tons of places that I haven’t revisited in years.

Some of them used to be favorites of ours…….Sab E Lee was one of them right from they opened in 2008. Over the years, they’ve opened a location in PQ, moved the original shop to a larger location down the street, and opened another, more Thai comfort food based restaurant in the old location. And of course, there’s the Sab E Lee location in Santee, which I used to call SEL2. The original owner of TOSEL sold the place to the cooks and opened up a location in Santee back in 2009. The food wasn’t truly Issan like TOSEL, but some of the dishes were quite good. I looked at my post from 2012 and realized I hadn’t been back there in over 7 years! Also, the Missus has been wanting Salted Fish Fried Rice; something that TOSEL and Thai Papaya took off their menu a few years back. Looking at the online menu for the place; I noticed that they still had it on the menu…..in Santee! I hoped.

So, this past weekend, I made the drive out to Santee to see what was going on at that location of SEL.

The place looks pretty much the same as I recalled…..though for some reason, it just seemed much darker inside.

Two really nice young ladies were working…so friendly. And yes, there it was….the salted fish fried rice on he menu. When I ordered it; the nice young lady made sure to let me know that they use fermented fish….not “fresh” fish, which made me laugh…..I’m guessing perhaps there have been some folks surprised when they actually caught a whiff of that fried rice?

Anyway; it was the first dish to arrive.

Nicely stir-fried; some wok hay going on….not as much salted fish as I recalled…the dish was not very pungent. Enjoyed the texture and this wasn’t overly salty. Most of went home for the Missus who said it was “kind of bland”……She’d expected something much more pungent. Still, not bad.

I also ordered the Duck Larb…..and was shocked when it arrived at the table hot.

The temperature really dulled the sharp flavors and the dish tasted better after spending some time in the fridge. At heat level 7, this was quite wimpy……..just not enough heat…..the duck was pretty gamey though. This was just mediocre, not made with any real finesse.

I also ordered the Khai Jeaw; a classic Thai street food dish. Basically eggs with ground pork and fish sauce.

The eggs were pretty well done; nice and fluffy, savory, and while not quite as good as what I’d had here in the past; this was my favorite dish. This did better with Nam Pla Prik – the savory fish sauce with chilies than the Sriracha that was served with the dish. Still, I missed the version they used to make here.

For your reference….from back in 2009, when SEL2 really tried stepping up their game.

I understand the economics of things….the prices here are very reasonable and I’m fairly certain that concessions have to be made for the area. This did seem like a totally different restaurant than the version of Sab E Lee I ate at in 2012. And I can’t help but wonder what Kobey; the former owner of SEL would think if he shared this meal with me.

Sab E Lee
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071

Star Anise Thai Cuisine

November 5, 2019 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

One of the first places I checked out in the Renaissance Towne Center; other than Chicago Fire Grill (not counting Pho UTC several years back) was Star Anise Thai.

Tucked in the corner of the strip mall, the interior of the place is much larger than it looks from the outside. There's even an outdoor eating area; though I've never seen anyone dining out there….in fact, during my lunch visits, I'd never seen more than two tables of customers.

Service on all my visits was quite nice; not overly friendly, but gracious and somewhat efficient.

Now, if you've been reading for a while….you'd know I got quite excited upon seeing one of my favorite dishes on the lunch menu.

The Khao Kha Moo! Unfortunately, I was told they were out of that dish on this day….so I had to come up with something to eat. I thought the Spicy Pad Kee Mao (Drunken noodles) looked interesting; so I ordered that.

It was recommended that I get the dish with beef; which was on the chewy side, but not bad. I liked that this was indeed spicy, which I enjoyed. I'd have appreciated more Thai Basil and a bit more sweetness as this was more salty than anything else. The noodles were unevenly coated and were also a bit on the mushy/over cooked side. Still, this wasn't too bad.

I decided to return a couple of weeks later to finally get that Khao Kha Moo, which I as again told they were out off. I then tried to order the Khao Moo Dang….the young man then told me in a frustrated tone, "sorry, we don't serve those dishes anymore"! Geez, why didn't they just tell me in the first place? He did tell me that they have everything else on the lunch menu…..

So, again I had to quckly order something off the menu….I really wasn't feeling like the typical pick your prep; pick your protein stir fry kinda thing. So, I ordered the Nam Tok, which is something I enjoy so much, I make a version at home.

I had also ordered a side of sticky rice, which was very good. Nutty, sticky, perhaps a bit too hot to be eaten by hand, but not bad at all. The meat, while being a bit over-cooked, was adequately tender, especially for Nam Tok. There was a good amount of rice powder which added a nice roasted nuttiness to the dish. The folks in the kitchen went real heavy with the lime juice and shorted me in terms of savory-saltiness and sweetness. Also missing was spice as it wasn't spicy at all. It was also very "watery".

Like the previous lunch; this wasn't bad, just kinda mediocre. I'd had enough for a while and gave the place a rest….which ended up being months.

But, during this past hot October I returned…and since they had all the other dishes on the lunch special menu, decided on he Khao Man Gai. Which, unfortunately, they were out of; sigh……

Again, needing to order something off the menu; I just went ahead and picked the Duck Salad; which I was told was "spicy", it wasn't.

There was a decent amount of nicely done, if a bit bland duck breast in the salad. There was a ton of greens; I did enjoy the mint, but the vinaigrette was also really bland and not quite up to the task. The tomatoes were under-ripe and I think some cucumber might have been a nice addition to the salad. In addition, some of spring mix at the bottom of the plate was starting to brown. Still, this was a fairly substantial salad and temps were hitting the 90's outside, so a salad was the perfect thing.

Of course, trying to get something from that lunch special menu was now attaining comedic heights.

A few weeks later, I decided to give Star Anise another try; this time, I had back-up dishes (the Spicy Fried Rice had looked pretty good), just in case. But of course, this time they did have the Khao Man Gai.

The typical lunch salad and curry potato won tons were run of the mill. The broth provided was super salty and I basically just had one spoonful.

The chicken was cut very thinly, was moist and tender, but very mild in flavor. This is where the sauce comes in. I'm used to a ginger forward sauce. This one hardly had any ginger flavor and tasted mostly like soy sauce; it was too salty and over-powered the chicken. The fish sauce was also way too much for the chicken as well. To me; the sauce provided should have a good amount of ginger, for that nice cleansing zip; with a bit of acidity-sourness, and some garlicky-saltiness.

So, while Star Anise wasn't as bad as say; Di Chan or my last visit to Siam Nara, I still put it in the Ameri-Thai category.

So, perhaps folks out there can make some recommendations, now that I've given up on ordering from that lunch specials menu!

Star Anise Thai Cuisine
8935 Towne Centre Drive
San Diego, CA 92122
Hours
Mon – Thurs 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 930pm
Friday      11am – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm
Saturday    1130 am – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm
Sunday      1130am – 3pm, 5pm – 930pm

Thai Thai (Santee)

June 18, 2019 Cathy Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Well, you're back reading mmm-yoso!!! and looking for another food post. Today, it will be Thai. Cathy is writing while Kirk is busy at work.

For 16 years, this location was a Japanese-Thai restaurant named Oiishi, which I only posted a total of three times despite it being a regular stop (since it is very close to home). The Japanese owners decided to retire and the Thai owners of the popular Fallbrook and Vista based Thai Thai restaurants purchased this Santee location, which opened in May.

The interior has been 'upgraded'. The area pictured here -to the right- had been the 12 seat sushi bar for Oiishi and now there is a bit more seating.

There is a Monday-Friday Lunch Menu featuring 14 choices with prices based on the protein ordered ($8.95 vegetarian/tofu, $9.95 mock chicken or mock duck, $10.95 chicken, pork or beef, $11.95 shrimp, calamari or duck, $12.95 for combo of shrimp, chicken, pork and beef and $13.95 for seafood combo of shrimp, calamari, scallop, mussel and fish). #L13. Lunch Special of yellow curry with tofu ($8.95). Wow. This was great. The lunch specials come with a vegetable soup, vegetable egg roll, fried wonton, rice and cucumber salad. The curry- smooth, coconut based, potato, onion and carrot with the tofu. Very nice, mild curry. We asked for a lower heat level (2/10) to be able to taste the ingredients. Wonderful, fresh- everything. The cucumber salad is available as an appetizer for $5.95 and is quite large. We shared this with a dinner meal one evening.
#15. Pork Larb ($10.95) A trio of condiments are brought out, with the chili powder pointed out as what works best with the larb…so you can make each bite as spicy as you wish. The rice powder, mint, cilantro, red and green onion, lime juice and a touch of dried chili made this good enough to eat on its own with a sliced pieces of cabbage before I ventured further with the tabletop condiments.
#13. Nam Khao Tod ($10.95) Crispy Rice Salad, as it's described on the menu, is something we look for at every Thai restaurant, since each version is a bit differently prepared despite the use of the same ingredients (the same way we look for egg foo young at Chinese places). The sour pork sausage was chopped into small chunks and plentiful, mixed in with the crispy rice. It had a good flavor with a touch of sour. The red onion slices, Thai chili, cilantro, mint, fresh ginger, cashews and lime juice were a wonderful, bright blend of freshness.
#56. Pad Prik-Khing with chicken ($10.95) is made with sautéed green beans, red and green bell peppers, kaffir lime leaves and curry paste, served with rice. This was really good and each ingredient was distinct with fresh flavor.

There are 12 choices on the soup menu at Thai Thai and we are slowly exploring. #82, Yen Ta Fo ($11.95) was a Friday choice. Clear broth with a vinegar base (it's pleasant, not strong) fish balls, squid, fungus, fried tofu and, as your vegetable, morning glory. Served with the wide Thai noodle, which stays firm throughout the meal, this is a new favorite.