Time for Thai

Ever since I moved in to her house, not quite a year ago, my roommate  has been pestering me to go to Mai Thai. I'm a big fan of Thai food, so you would think I would easily cave to the pressure to eat it.  Except that every time J invited me to go to Mai Thai with her, I always had other plans.  So, when she finally told me, three weeks in advance, that she and her girlfriends were going to Mai Thai, and she hoped I would join them, I put stars on my calendar and blocked out any other potential activities.  Really really glad that I did.


Mai Thai is a tiny place.  I love the atmosphere and the decor and really just everything about it.  There were six of us at dinner on the night in question, and rather than be obnoxious and lean across the table to take pictures of the meals of people I barely know, I settled for snapping mine and L's meals.  Let it be known that I studied the menu for almost the entire day leading up to dinner.  When we finally got seated and placed our orders, L & I split an order of spring rolls.  I think we both really wanted the Mai Thai Rolls, but unfortunately, they have shrimp, so they were a no go.  At any rate, the spring rolls were tasty. They were crispy and flavorful, and really just light enough that we weren't full, but weren't starving either.

Just perfect for two.  With sweet & sour sauce on the side.  That sauce had a nice kick to it.

Then it was time for dinner.  L stuck with the same flavors of our appetizer, and ordered the sweet and sour with chicken.  It had pineapple, bell peppers, cucumbers, baby corns, and all kinds of delicious veggies.  The larger portion of the sweet and sour sauce had an even better kick to it, to really take the flavor up a notch.

Sweet & Sour with Chicken.  

Earlier in the day, I had settled on the drunken noodles.  Noodles, chicken, and tons of veggies?  Consider this Thai Primavera.  The spice level was perfect.  And, the best part was that I couldn't finish this, so I had plenty of leftovers.  I promise they were equally good the next day, if not a little spicier.  (Apologies for the poor photo quality....it was really dark in the restaurant and I didn't want my flash lighting the place up).

Drunken Noodles with Beef

While I may not have been able to finish my dinner, I'm a firm believer that there is always room for dessert.  Especially when that dessert is tempura cheesecake.  My love of cheesecake is well documented, but when you fry it so that it has a crispy and warm exterior and a cold and firm interior, I'm sold.  In the (paraphrased) words of Lorelai Gilmore, "If it were possible to make love to a [dessert], this would be it."

Tempura Cheesecake

L also got dessert, even though she didn't finish her dinner either.  She got the tempura ice cream.  Very similar to the cheesecake, except that it was vanilla ice cream inside.  Yum.

Tempura Ice Cream

Would I go to Mai Thai again?  Absolutely.  Would I try something else on the menu? Probably.  I did try some of J's Panang Curry, and it was awesome, even if I did get a big piece of tofu in the bite I tried.  I had such a hard time settling on the drunken noodles, because everything looked so good, that it wouldn't be difficult to change up my order.  Definitely head to Mai Thai soon.  And don't be fooled by its location or exterior.  It's like a totally different world inside - one with delicious smells and flavors.

Final Rating

You can find Mai Thai on the web.