Jun. 23rd, 2011 12:42 pm
New church on the block
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muckefuckEarlier this week, I discovered a St Louis native among the recent hires. We actually managed to talk for ten minutes before introducing the "What high school did you go to?" question (and then only ironically and for the benefit of another coworker). Those of you real oldtimers will know that the question for Chicagoans used to be "What's your parish?", at least for South Siders. My Famous Author Friend maintains that the modern equivalent is, "What's your Thai restaurant?"
When people asked me that, I hedged between Thai Spice and Everyday Thai. I would really like it to be Thai Spice because it has so much character. But part of what lends it this character also gives it incendiary spicing and annoying delays. And since Thai food is generally the solution to feeling lazy on a weeknight, we more often ended up at Everyday Thai, which has the advantage of safety and nearness. But the mediocre nature of the food and overall lack of ambiance or friendliness kept it from ever becoming a favourite with us; rather than switch loyalties, we just stopped getting Thai food more than once in a great while.
That may now change, since Everyday Thai is now Cilantro. I went there with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monshu last night expecting SS,DD and came away pleasantly surprised. We ordered the "ginger sweet tea" and "shrimp in a blanket" because I hadn't seen either before. The first won me over with its strong ginger flavour and moderate sweetness (they use "brown sugar"--perhaps jaggery--which adds depth and warmth) and the second with the inclusion of a fresh mint leaf in each roll and the crispiness of the shrimp tails.
Everything else--spring rolls, meatballs, crying tiger--was good but not great. But everything was house-made and tasted fresh. As a bonus, the dipping sauces were the lightest I've had at a Thai place. The sweet sauce for the shrimp, for instance, was almost clear, yet it didn't taste watery, just pleasantly ungloppy. We'll be back to try out some of the other slightly unusual dishes on the menu, such as basil salmon and pork ribs.
When people asked me that, I hedged between Thai Spice and Everyday Thai. I would really like it to be Thai Spice because it has so much character. But part of what lends it this character also gives it incendiary spicing and annoying delays. And since Thai food is generally the solution to feeling lazy on a weeknight, we more often ended up at Everyday Thai, which has the advantage of safety and nearness. But the mediocre nature of the food and overall lack of ambiance or friendliness kept it from ever becoming a favourite with us; rather than switch loyalties, we just stopped getting Thai food more than once in a great while.
That may now change, since Everyday Thai is now Cilantro. I went there with
monshu last night expecting SS,DD and came away pleasantly surprised. We ordered the "ginger sweet tea" and "shrimp in a blanket" because I hadn't seen either before. The first won me over with its strong ginger flavour and moderate sweetness (they use "brown sugar"--perhaps jaggery--which adds depth and warmth) and the second with the inclusion of a fresh mint leaf in each roll and the crispiness of the shrimp tails.Everything else--spring rolls, meatballs, crying tiger--was good but not great. But everything was house-made and tasted fresh. As a bonus, the dipping sauces were the lightest I've had at a Thai place. The sweet sauce for the shrimp, for instance, was almost clear, yet it didn't taste watery, just pleasantly ungloppy. We'll be back to try out some of the other slightly unusual dishes on the menu, such as basil salmon and pork ribs.
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