Tag: papaya salad

Food Review: Fantastic Thai at Thai Esane in Nashville

I am 99% sure this is the best Thai restaurant I have ever eaten at. Located in the Gulch in downtown Nashville, it is modern and full of options for both drinks and food. Here’s the breakdown:

ATMOSTPHERE

While the outside of this restaurant looks like nothing fancy, especially for the Gulch area, the inside is very nice, modern, and clean. (As were the bathrooms, which is important to me.)

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THE MENU

Drinks:


The drink menu had many unique cocktails, reasonably priced, as well as craft beers and wines.

We decided on the Long Island Thai Tea (Freshly brewed Thai iced tea, Vodka, Rum, Gin, Tequila, Tripe Sec, sweet & sour mix, topped with Sprite.  It was delicious! The Thai iced tea had more of a chai taste than iced tea I am used to. It didn’t taste overly alcoholic, even with all that was included. I would definitely get this drink again.
We also got the Thai Tonic (Gin, Thai basil, cucumber, lime juice, and tonic water.)  This was a kicked up Gin & Tonic, with so many more flavors. You can really taste the Thai basil and cucumber. It was refreshing and delicious.

Food:

You can see the full menu here: menu.

While there are so many options to choose from, from 16 appetizers, to rice entrees, to pan fried dishes, to noodle soups, to house specials, my favorite part of the menu was each item had a picture! I love that.

       

THE FOOD

Papaya Salad (Esane Style) $6.95
Description: Carrots, papaya, tomatoes, lime juice, fish sauce, shrimp paste, tamarind sauce.

For those of you who read this blog, you know I have been bound and determined to try a papaya salad that I like. However, the two I have tried before were sooo spicy, they were inedible.
FINALLY! This papaya salad was not spicy and it was pretty good! I loved the crunch of the fresh veggies. The sauce they used was not overbearing, but had enough flavor that the salad was enjoyable.
My only complaint was there was too much fish sauce. A few bites in, that flavor (which I can only describe as foot funk) became overwhelming and I had to put down the fork.
Drew finished it off and enjoyed it tremendously, however.

Paneang Curry, $10.95
Description: Broccoli and carrots in thick creamy curry sauce.
With choice of chicken, beef, pork, or tofu. Seafood is an extra cost.

Oh Lawd! This was so good. This was the perfect paneang sauce, so creamy and peanut-y. I couldn’t get enough of this. I got it with chicken, which was perfectly tender. I loved the broccoli in it as well, which I don’t see very often. This dish was PERFECT.

Masaman Curry, $10.95
Description: Potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and onions.
Comes with choice of chicken, beef, pork, or tofu. Seafood costs more.

Another home run! This masaman was very delicious, being the quintessential masaman curry I love. The potatoes and carrots both soaked up the creamy sauce so well that they were a softer texture, but full of flavor. I really enjoyed that!
We got tofu in this one was it was cooked perfectly. I hate just a boiled tofu. I prefer a seared one with some outside texture. They seared our tofu bites just how I like them!

OVERALL

Well, I’m going to have to come here whenever I visit Nashville, even though there are so many other great restaurants I have on my list. But when that Thai food craving hits, this place more than hit the spot. It was absolutely delicious and certainly not expensive for all we got.
I will continue to get the paneang curry, as it was the best I’d ever had, but may try something new besides the masaman and the papaya salad, because I’m sure I’m missing out on plenty of other delicious items.

Food Review: Taste of Thai in Fayetteville

Northwest Arkansas has such great food variety, including multiple Thai food restaurants from which to choose. I have now tried three Thai food restaurants around the Fayetteville area, and this one is definitely my favorite. Here’s the breakdown:

The Environment

Located in the downtown Fayetteville square, Taste of Thai (the original) is in a great location. We happened to be in the area right after Christmas, so all of the square’s Christmas lights were still bright and shining.

We arrived around 7:30 on a Friday night and did not have to wait for a table for four. The interior is a bit on the small side, and we were seated at a table in the middle of the restaurants, surrounded by other tables.

The Menu

The menu is huge! I believe you can find something fitted for even the pickiest of people here. Our friends that came along mentioned that this place is known for their amazing curries, so this is where we focused the majority of our attention.
*There is also a page solely dedicated to vegetarian dishes, which is pretty nifty.

          

              

The Food

Fried Spring Rolls. $6.95
Description: Thai style spring rolls stuffed with clear noodles, mixed vegetables and deep fried. Served with sweet sauce and ground peanuts.

   


Our table split the fried spring rolls appetizer. There was nothing special here. The rolls were stuffed mostly with noodles and cabbage. The sauce was pretty typical for what you expect with this appetizer. The rolls were at least not too greasy, which can be an issue with this app.

Green Papaya Salad, $7.95
Description: Shredded green papaya mixed with garlic, tomatoes, and fresh lime juice. Served with cabbage.


I wanted to eat a  little lighter/ healthier, so I figured I could fill up on the papaya salad and take home any leftovers of the heftier curry entrees.
The salad was large, but whoa, it was difficult to eat. The only flavors I got were extreme heat and lime juice. It was very acidic. I could not have eaten this as is. So, I dumped our leftover “sweet sauce with chopped peanuts” that was left over from the fried spring rolls all over it. This helped tremendously, and I was able to eat the whole salad. Though, I still did not enjoy it. Others at my table agreed, and I was left to finish it off all on my own.
To be fair, I have only tried one other papaya salad in Portland, which was even spicier. Perhaps I am just not a papaya salad kind of girl?

Kang Pa-Nang Curry with Beef. $11.95
Description: Choice of meat (chicken, beef, or pork…or pricier for shrimp or a combo of shrimp, scallops, and salmon. You can also order with tofu) with Pa-Nang curry sauce, green peas, ground peanuts, basil, and coconut milk.

HOLY MOLY! This was the best pa-nang curry I have ever had. I love pa-nang curry, never met one I didn’t appreciate. However, this one was a little extra sweet and the beef flavor really helped give it depth. I also loved the crushed peanuts on the top. This gave great texture as well as a little extra flavor.
All curry dishes come with either white or brown rice, which is served separately from the curry. I did not eat even one bite of rice. I don’t have belly room for a filler. This curry (as well as the mas-samun) was too tasty!
While the price seemed cheap for what I usually see for curries at Thai restaurants, the dish was actually pretty small. Spoiler alert: no leftovers were taken home. So much for filling my belly with salad first, right? Oops.

Mas-Samun Curry Tofu. $11.50
Description: Tofu, potatoes, onions, peanuts, cauliflower, broccoli, and coconut milk in mas-samun curry sauce.

We ordered this dish off of the vegetarian part of the menu. I hardly ever see “mas-samun” curry on a menu, but when I do, I get it….it is delicious! I was pleasantly surprised when I was asked by the waiter if I wanted my tofu fried or steamed. Fried, please! In my opinion, there is nothing worse than ordering tofu in a dish and getting huge blocks of steamed, mushy tofu. This was the exact opposite. The tofu was cut into nicely sized bites and fried just enough to give it that crispy texture on the exterior. Thank you, Taste of Thai!
The curry sauce was divine. It was sweet with a little more heat than the pa-nang curry (both were ordered a heat level of 3/5), but still with a ton of flavorful depth.
The vegetables were cooked perfectly al dente, so there was still crunch and chew to the broccoli and cauliflower. The veggies were also plentiful. This dish was amazing. Think any of this got taken home in a to-go box? Nope….impossible not to eat it all in one setting.

Overall
Our friends were right. This is the place for the best curries. These were absolutely the best curries I have ever had. When, not if, I return, I don’t think I can order anything else than the pa-nang and mas-samun curries. They were too perfect.
As for the appetizers we tried, I will definitely skip out on those. Maybe trade them in for another type of curry dish?
As for the prices, they seem low, which is great. However, the portions are smaller, so there is no room for leftovers, which I usually have at other Thai restaurants. So, I suppose that is fair.
The service was fine, nothing great, nothing to complain about. The restaurant is a little crowded, but who can blame them? This place is delicious and in a wonderful, buzzing part of town.
Will I return? Hell yea.