0 vous suit
Suburban Thai
I have Lard Nar gravy running through my veins.
- 266
- 332
11 lieux
-
L'avis 5 étoiles de Elizabeth I am giving them the extra star! Saturday night we went to dinner here, and they seem to have adjusted to fluctuating busyness in the dining room. It was, as I said, a Saturday and Valentine's weekend to boot. Our service was reasonably prompt, our meals came out exactly as ordered, and there was no frustrating delay for beverage refills or the check. On top of the improvement in service on weekends, we were pleasantly surprised to see little extras. For example, since it was Valentine's weekend, the waitress brought a plate with sliced strawberries and chocolate sauce dripped into heart-shapes with our check. Since I had feared we might have to wait ages to get the check because three or four tables had suddenly been filled around us, having it appear quickly and with a surprise dessert was lovely. Also, the food is still delicious. Of course. -
L'avis 4 étoiles de Elizabeth Thai Thai gets a lot of things right. --Plenty of fresh steamed broccoli in my rama tofu. --They don't skimp on the sauce. I had plenty of thick, luxurious peanut sauce all over my dinner. Mmmm. --They stay on top of refills without being all up in your business the whole time you're eating. --The mango and sticky rice has cold, fresh mango and actually hot sticky rice. I don't know WTF is wrong with places that serve you cold rice or a warm mango. Well, they are probably lazy, but seriously. Who wants a hot mango? High five to Thai Thai for not being lazy. --Parking is easy. --Lunch specials! --No wait for a table smack in the middle of dinner. There were a few areas with room for improvement, though, --Some of the menu descriptions are vague. Sometimes one dish will be described in almost the same way as another dish that Thai food junkies know should never taste anything like that first dish. Saying that a sauce is "tasty" does not actually tell me what it tastes like or what I should expect on the "vegetables." --A couple of the servers could improve their English. Most of them have no problem understanding what the non-Thai customers are saying--it's just one or two of them. I asked for more ice water, and I was brought ice tea. I grabbed it and drank it without looking before I realized it was not ice water. I figured, eh, whatever, it's probably like two bucks. They actually didn't charge me for it, so I can't complain much, but I can see this becoming very frustrating for somebody with a large takeout order. --The music in the dining room is very...unusual. I think it's an XM Radio station called, "Sh!t Nobody Wants To Hear." On my visit, I got to hear a muzak version of the Christopher Cross hit "Arthur's Theme" and the Kenny G version of "Careless Whisper." Then there was a piano-only version of a Lady Gaga song--not the Glee duet version of "Poker Face," but something a lot like it, sans vocals. If I am in this part of Northbrook with a jones for Thai food again, I'll be back...but maybe with ear plugs. -
L'avis 3 étoiles de Elizabeth This is a decent Thai restaurant. The service ranges from a little above average to a little below average, the food is a little too salty, and they tend to overcook tofu a little, but there's a lot of variety on the menu and the staff is always on top of refills. They make the pad si eaw with bean sauce rather than a sweet soy sauce, so if this the style you prefer, you should try this dish here. The dishes that feature sweet chili sauce are also pretty good--they balance the heat of the chilis with the sweetness of the sauce very well. Unfortunately, they don't have a desert menu, but they do give you a Thai fortune cookie with the check. If this was in Chicago or even Des Plaines, I probably would pass it over, but since it's the only Thai food around here and they do a decent job, I've been here a few times and will probably be back again. If you come from out of town, do note that the parking spaces out front are diagonal, and it's BYOB here. -
L'avis 4 étoiles de Elizabeth After trying Little Bangkok both dining in and for carryout, I can definitely say they offer fast service. It may be so fast because the place is usually pretty empty, which is a shame. While my husband said his satay chicken was just so-so, I love the way they make rama noodles here. The edges of the noodles are just a little crispy, while the centers are thick and soft. The pad woon sen is also served as a generous portion with plenty of fresh-tasting veggies. I've never had trouble parking here, and the menu is pretty comprehensive. If you like spicy food, make a note to tell the server when you order--once I ordered a spicy dish here and it only had a little kick. Like many local Thai restaurants, the more "authentic" specials featuring duck or fish cost more than most other menu items. -
L'avis 4 étoiles de Elizabeth Wow, I'm impressed. Tonight I ordered carry-out from Thai Square, and I forgot to ask for no egg. My fault, not theirs. When I am at home eating my food, they call me up to tell me they forgot to hold the egg. "No, that's OK," I said. "I forgot to ask you to do it; it isn't your fault. I'll just eat around it." Then they insisted that they should have remembered that I ask for it that way--which they actually did, albeit after I already had the food. I was amazed when they offered to make me a new one! I thanked them but said that was OK, they didn't have to do that. The woman on the phone promised to remember for me next time, if I forget. Seriously. I have been/am a regular at several restaurants. Never has the staff at any other establishment called me up and offered to make me a new dish because they didn't correct me when I ordered my own food wrong. That is some insane dedication, right there. This place also has so many regulars that I can't imagine how they remember us all, down to our dietary preferences. Just...wow. -
L'avis 4 étoiles de Elizabeth Things I like about this place: --I have never experienced bad service here. --They can make vegan pad thai! It even tastes good! --The staff knows the menu. --The food always arrives at the table hot and full of fresh ingredients. --My sister's shrimp dishes are always loaded with large, succulent examples of the species. --Lunch specials! I believe they are $8 and include soup and appetizer in addition to the entree. --Easy parking! Things I do not like, or that might be cons rather than pros: --It is in Crystal Lake rather than on my street. --The fact that it is seldom very busy, which in and of itself is a good thing, means that one loud table makes the whole place echo. GAH. --The daily specials can get kind of pricey. Since they are usually things like duck, prawns, or whole fish entrees, I never order them, but somebody going to a Thai restaurant specifically to get a curry-roasted duck breast may raise an eyebrow over the $14 price tag. The rest of the menu, however, seems priced very reasonably. --The extra charge to add seafood for some dishes is not printed on the menu but written on a sticker. On one or two menus, the stickers are peeling off, so make sure you check before ordering if you're dining on a budget. Overall, I like this place. I have been here many times with family members who live in the area over the past couple of years, and I will continue to visit. -
L'avis 3 étoiles de Elizabeth I've been here a few times, almost always with a small group (3+ people), and I have had good service each time. The bathrooms are very clean, and the prices are reasonable, especially the lunch specials. With generous portions on the main menu, you can eat until you're full and go home with some leftovers for lunch the next day. Compared to other Thai restaurants, this is not a very vegetarian-friendly place. The vegetarian items they do offer are tasty, though, and there's plenty to choose from. I'd say the food is pretty good, but not great in the way my meals are at Alt Thai in Arlington Heights. A big plus for me is that you can get lunch here on Mondays, when many other restaurants in this part of Park Ridge are closed. If you're in the area and looking for lunch, spare yourself the work of looking in doorways and windows for "open" signs and just head here. -
L'avis 3 étoiles de Elizabeth This place is very hit or miss. Sometimes the service is great, other times it's pretty bad and you can't expect everyone's meals to arrive at the same time, or even close to it. The scallion pancakes/chive dumplings are excellent, and this is what keeps me coming back. Many Thai restaurants don't serve them, or only have them as a special one day a week. Siam's House has them every day! Also, their spicy sauces are actually spicy. I have been here with a few people who like their food to make them sweat, and they didn't leave disappointed. I've never eaten a bad-tasting meal here, but I have eaten cold ones because of waiting for the other food to arrive. My advice: cruise past and see how busy it is inside before committing to a meal here. If it's packed and there's only one server, you will probably be screwed and you should go elsewhere. If there aren't many people in the dining room or more than one server is working, grab a table and gorge on moist, delicious scallion pancakes until you wonder if you'll have room for the sweet, tempting pad si ew. I'll only eat here now when the place is dead, but I won't give it up because of those scallion pancakes. Sometimes I think I would do bad, bad things for them. -
L'avis 2 étoiles de Elizabeth Happy Elephant suffers from split personality disorder. It is the Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde of strip mall Thai restaurants. The first time I came here, the food was excellent. My order was right, everything was cooked properly, and my pad woon sen was delicious and flavorful. The second time I came here, they forgot the tofu in my pad si ew, the carrots were practically raw and the broccoli was burned, and they apparently felt that "hold the egg" also meant "hold the sauce." So disappointing! The first time I came here, they gave me a free elephant sticker with my order. The second time I came here, they almost forgot to give me my receipt and change. The first time I came here, the staff was super friendly and answered the phone right away. The second time I came here, it rang about seven or eight times before anybody answered. The guy who gave me my food on arrival was friendly but seemed totally freaked out by the full dining room (maybe he should switch to decaf). This is the only restaurant besides Hard Rock Cafe/Rainforest Cafe I have seen that has its own line of t-shirts. The logo is pretty adorable, and I love the colors. Having swag is a nice plus. Having tables so close together that nobody can get through the small dining room during the lunch rush is not. I think most customers would rather have a little R&D put into the dining room before (admittedly completely awesome) elephant logo stuff. Parking can also be very iffy. Once I was here and got a spot right away. On another occasion, I had to decide if I wanted to wait for somebody else to leave or park in a bagel shop's parking lot and walk over here. I also saw a heron in the parking lot on the first visit, but no such luck on the second visit, when the only wildlife I spotted was the invasive Parkus illegalus. Also note that there is a minimum charge for delivery. Maybe the difference is the time of day. My dinner visit was the 4-star visit, and my lunch visit was my 1.5 star visit (extra half star for friendliness and at least getting the mango and sticky rice right). I intend to look into the matter some more and report back with my findings. In the meantime, I'd say skip Happy Elephant for lunch and try it for dinner instead. -
L'avis 1 étoile de Elizabeth Ok, I am dropping this to one star because either they aren't open anymore, or they made a major change to their hours without noting it on the sign or web site. They don't seem to be open anytime I drop by, and nobody answers the phone. The front window is boarded, also. NOTE: do not believe the quick tips in the iPhone app saying to go next door for Thai food! That's just a shameless plug from the business owner. They don't serve Thai food at the Slavic grocery store, trust me. -
L'avis 3 étoiles de Elizabeth The food here is pretty solid. The sauce in the pad thai, for example, is clearly made with real tamarind. While they skimp a little on the non-noodle portions of this dish (I could hardly taste any peanut!), the sauce is what makes this one, and it was bright and flavorful. If you order the lard nar, the noodles in it are made fresh in-house, not frozen and reheated. I know because on my visit, I saw them making them! The menu is also pretty comprehensive, containing chinese-influenced dishes like drunken noodles as well as vietnamese-influenced dishes in addition the traditional thai standards. The waitstaff is also knowledgeable about the menu and can answer questions about what sauces contain fish products, what can be made without peanuts, etc. Why not 5 stars, then? This place is seriously weird. For starters, they aren't open on the weekends. I don't mean they aren't open for lunch on the weekends--I mean they are completely closed on Saturday and Sunday. They have takeout lunch specials, which is nice, but they are different from the regular lunch specials and the dinner specials (which are not specified on the sign as being valid for takeout, but since they are printed in the takeout menu, I assume they are). Combined with the coupon specials you can get on the web site (some of which are dine-in only, while others are ok for carry-out and delivery), there are a ton of different specials to remember. This can make ordering over the phone really confusing. They would do well to have one set of specials for lunch and one for dinner, or just one set of specials overall. I am also confused about the availability of menu items. I wanted the mango and sweet rice dessert, but they said they didn't have mango at this time of year (and the menu did not indicate that you couldn't get this item). Yet, they were making a jackfruit smoothie for somebody while I was there. If I am not wrong, in Florida both jackfruit and mango have the same growing season. I would also guess the demand for mango is higher than for jackfruit. Strange. Finally, they don't list their delivery area anywhere, and when I called to place an order, the person on the phone said they do not deliver to my area. He said the delivery area is for the town of Mount Prospect...but the restaurant is literally across the street from Des Plaines. If you walk out the door and cross the road, you are in Des Plaines. Most of Mount Prospect is farther away from this restaurant than where I live, but for some reason, they will not deliver here. It makes me wonder if they really would deliver to the part of Mount Prospect that is over by unincorporated Prospect Heights. This is a shining example of why I think restaurants should always list their delivery areas on takeout materials/web sites. Anyhow, parking here is easy, they don't have booze, and service is speedy. I can see them picking up an extra star from me very easily if future visits/attempts to get delivery go better...or if their mussaman curry is as tasty as it looks.
