Been at the Thai place in Bloomfield (Liberty & Pearl) this weekend. For starter, we had the special spring roll (around $4), which is the filled, thin, transparent rice paper. The filling was completely tasteless, with tons of iceberg lettuce (Thai???) and bit of dry rice noodles. You had to fish for some bits of Italian (!!!) basil. The sauce was tamarind, straight out of a bottle. Nothing of the appetizer tasted Thai or far-eastern. We ordered two main dishes: the pad thai and cashew vegetables. The pad thai was not successful. It wasn't presented nicely, and tasted like a bad omelette, so although we were hungry, we left it on the plate. A good pad thai can be a treat. Big disappointment. The cashew vegetables were OK, but not more than this. Some stir-fried vegetables and cashews in brown sauce. Not disgusting, but then again, nothing to write home about. But this wasn't really a Thai dish. It could have served at any other mom-and-pop style Chinese restaurant across the US. The dishes cost $8-$10. Seems expensive for what you get. The restaurant charges $1.50 per capita for jasmine tea. We were disappointed as we were served hot water with a tea bag. In short: this looks like the kind of place that started by an Asian family in short of cash. The thing is, being of Thai or Vietnamese origin (or Lebanese or Italian, for that matter) doesn't automatically turn you into a chef or even a great cook. The folks in the kitchen are doing a less than mediocre job. With all honesty, I pay more attention to details and ingredients when I prepare Asian (or any other) dishes. I am not going there again. Garmi. P.S. They didn't even ask us why we didn't touch the pad thai. I guess they don't really care.
Pittsburgh, PA
The Thai place in Bloomfield
Just so happens I was there tonight, and had a great meal as did my dining companions. The green curry is terrific, as is the barbeque chicken. Personally, I enjoy the pad thai as well as the spring rolls and tamarind sauce, which might be straight out of a bottle, but not one that's in my kitchen. BTW, the pad thai is $6.95 and the cashew vegetables dish is about $7.95, as is the curry (with chicken or vegetables -- beef or shrimp is another dollar or so more). Our jasmine tea came in a small pot with free refills. Just my .02 -- ymmv, Amy Garmi G. wrote: > Been at the Thai place in Bloomfield (Liberty & Pearl) this weekend. > > For starter, we had the special spring roll (around $4), which is the > filled, thin, transparent rice paper. The filling was completely tasteless, > with tons of iceberg lettuce (Thai???) and bit of dry rice noodles. You had > to fish for some bits of Italian (!!!) basil. The sauce was tamarind, > straight out of a bottle. Nothing of the appetizer tasted Thai or > far-eastern. > > We ordered two main dishes: the pad thai and cashew vegetables. The pad thai > was not successful. It wasn't presented nicely, and tasted like a bad > omelette, so although we were hungry, we left it on the plate. A good pad > thai can be a treat. Big disappointment. > > The cashew vegetables were OK, but not more than this. Some stir-fried > vegetables and cashews in brown sauce. Not disgusting, but then again, > nothing to write home about. But this wasn't really a Thai dish. It could > have served at any other mom-and-pop style Chinese restaurant across the US. > > The dishes cost $8-$10. Seems expensive for what you get. > > The restaurant charges $1.50 per capita for jasmine tea. > We were disappointed as we were served hot water with a tea bag. > > In short: this looks like the kind of place that started by an Asian family > in short of cash. The thing is, being of Thai or Vietnamese origin (or > Lebanese or Italian, for that matter) doesn't automatically turn you into a > chef or even a great cook. The folks in the kitchen are doing a less than > mediocre job. With all honesty, I pay more attention to details and > ingredients when I prepare Asian (or any other) dishes. > > I am not going there again. > > Garmi. > > P.S. They didn't even ask us why we didn't touch the pad thai. I guess they > don't really care.