Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Pad Thai: Lively, Tasty, and Full of Options

As the rain beat down on the rather dimly lit Raritan Avenue, nothing looked more inviting than the bright lights and glowing faces inside Pad Thai, the authentic Thai cuisine.
Anxious to eat,  my friends and I went into the restaurant. I had heard a lot about their expansive menu from people in town, and they did not disappoint me. As soon as we stepped inside, a waitress seated us and gave us menus. Opening it, I was surprised at the pages of choices and what looked like over 150 possibilities, ranging from $5.95 to $18.95. In the first few pages they also provided an extremely helpful guide explaining how hot each level of spiciness was (to see the menu, visit their website at http://www.pad-thai.com/).
As a vegetarian, it's often hard to find good variety and healthy choices when I eat out. 
Although about 75 percent of the meals had meat, there were meat-free options  from Thai noodles and rice dishes to and curries; I couldn't wait to start eating. 
Once we placed our orders, we enjoyed looking around the restaurant at the Thai artwork and at other people's food being carried past our table. The aromas and steaming plates made us even hungrier. The atmosphere was one of content and happy stomachs, not to mention excitement to taste the spices lingering in the air.
Our dishes arrived quickly, only about 15 minutes later. Anna ordered the Pad Kee Moa Puck, I ordered the Pad Puck Ruam Mit Nam Daeng, and my friend Carolyn ordered the tradition Pad Thai. Unfortunately, when our dishes arrived at the table, mine did not quite fit the description I read on the menu. As I sat in my chair, puzzling at the rather unexpected plate in front of me, our waitress walked by and, noticing the wrong dish, apologized kindly for the mistake.
When we all had the right foods, we could finally enjoy how it tasted. The spicy vegetables and basil chili sauce of the Pad Kee Moa Puck were full of flavors and spices that made my mouth water. The thick rice noodles in the dish had the perfect texture and blended well with the vegetables. The tofu, some fried and some steamed, soaked up the sauce and flavors of all the other components of the dish. I'm warning you, though: they're not lying when they say medium is spicy! When my friend tried it, her eyes immediately began water, and she had to chug two glasses of water. And that's just medium!
The Pad Puck Ruam Mit Nam Daeng, a vegetable dish with wine chili sauce and tofu, was also a fascinating and delicious mix of textures and tang. Although I didn't try the Pad Thai, because it had meat, it did look and smell simply scrumptious as I watched my friend devour the entire plate and exclaim "Man, this is delicious!"
Satisfied and satiated, I was sorry to leave the lively and fragrant restaurant, my mouth still savoring the flavors I had eaten. I left just thinking about the next time I could come back and eat more: a sign of a meal well cooked!

Rating: out of ★★★★★ (✫=1/2)
Food: ★★★★✫
Service: ★★★★
Atmosphere: ★★★★
Vegetarian variety: ★★★★✫

Pad Thai:
217 Raritan Avenue
Highland Park, NJ 08904

(732)247-9636



23 comments:

  1. How interesting. If I liked Thai food I would certainly eat here.

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  2. Yes, I agree with Jeff. I'm not a big fan of Thai food but the place sounded like it was charming enough and has good service. If any of my friends ask me if I know any good Thai places, I'll send them of in Pad Thais' direction.

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  3. Jeff and Emma are not Thai food fans? Too bad--you guys are missing out!! I really love Thai food but I'm intimated about making it at home...needs lots of ingredients that are kind of hard to find, like fresh lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves. I need a good Asian food store near me at the shore!

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  4. Hey, I like the addition of the rating system and esp. the part about spice...looks like you finally found a place where they won't automatically give you the "white girl" treatment!!

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  5. I also really like the new rating system. It makes the entire write up that much more credible. : ) Are you going to try and do all sorts of different food genres? At the end (like as your last post for the class) it would be interesting to do some sort of compare and contrast thing. <3

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  6. I'm in the same boat as Jeff and Emma, not much of a Thai food person. But interesting article. It definitely encourages me to want to visit this restaurant.

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  7. I just realized something. I should show this blog to my parents. They love Thai food. They would definitely enjoy the restaurant.

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  8. Oh and nice job with the rating system!

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  9. Jeff: I'm curious; have you ever had Thai food? And absolutely tell your parents!! I believe that there is another Thai restaurant called the Four Seasons that at least used to be owned by the same people.. yummy food!

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  10. Emma: by food genres do you mean different types of food? I hope to go to all the restaurants in HP... on my list are (specifically) the Japanese place, at least one of the Chinese food restaurants, the Greek restaurant, and perhaps the Turkish restaurant.. it depends on various factors, but at the end I'd like to do a big gather-up=the=info type thing.

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  11. Siobhan: that was actually the only time I did NOT receive the "white girl" treatment.. other times I have had very different experiences, but I've enjoyed the food every time.

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  12. I'm glad people are liking the rating system... do you think I should maybe give a description of what 10s would be? I'm not sure...
    I'm sorry youre missing out on the Thai food, but I definitely encourage you to visit Pad Thai anyway!

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  13. I also am not a big Thai food lover.. =/

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  14. I actually didn't used to like it, either.. who knows, maybe one day you'll try it again and love it!

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  15. Robin, I think a rating system description would be great. Maybe you could use a 5 or 4-star system: lots of critics use that and it's simpler than 10 descriptions for each category.

    You guys are missing out on Thai food!

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  16. Thanks for the suggestion.. I will start by just switching it to 1-5, then I will come up with descriptions.

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  17. Just thinking about Thai food makes me want to put on my snow boots (it's snowing right now) and run over to the Thai restaurant that you reviewed! I've eaten there for many many years and the food is ALWAYS delicious. Try any dish with peanut sause - what more does one need in life?!
    Robin is right about the spicyness of the food: medium is real spicy there!
    Feeling under the weather? Call them up and they'll have Lemongrass Soup ready in no time for you to pick up. The price is right too!

    Pad Thai is the place to go when you want to beat the Blues - provided, of course, you like Thai food. But it's never too late to try: go with a friend who knows about Thai food and chances are you'll be a convert!
    Poldi Binder

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  18. This is really making me miss my Thai restaurant that closed!! (sob) Wish Pad Thai would open a restaurant in Long Branch.

    Poldi, you are so lucky to have such a variety of ethnic restaurants in HP...that's one thing the shore really doesn't have enough of. We have lots of Italian and seafood, of varying qualities. Our Chinese and Indian nearby are pretty good, but they're take-out places.

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  19. You have an Indian restaurant!?!? That is the one thing HP really just.. needs. I love it more than any other food, though Thai is pretty high up there too.

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  20. YAY! I have the last comment....ok
    I have never had Thai food so I don't even know what it smells like...but thanks to this article I am very curious to try their spicy food. It made me feel like the restaurant had a very cozy feeling.... Ill have to visit this place someday....Very interesting use of the star sysytem too....I ♥ it....lol

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  21. 1. you should definitely try Thai at some point in your life.
    I used to hate it, and then last year I tried it again and fell in love... maybe you will have those feelings too :P
    2. It was really cozy.. though in the past i have had trouble ordering spicy dishes (and getting chop sticks!! urgh), that time in particular was very pleasant.

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  22. Hmm, okay....but you see my good friend.... having thai at some point in your life is like having meat at some point in your life....you just have to eat it...LOL....im jokin....I will actually visit this place asap...

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  23. :) I am very glad you enjoyed the Thai food you tried in D.C.!

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