Week: Thur. May 4th, 2006
I’ve always said this sleepy but waking big little city needs more restaurants cooking with locally grown (and raised) organic products. But I would’ve never guessed that I’d see the day a Thai restaurant would be among those to answer my weeping pleas.
Thanks to an eccentric fellow by the name of Peter Kong, I have seen the day. Kong is a man who passionately believes in a better way and gregariously works each table making sure his patrons don’t escape without hearing his message.
Luckily, his politically charged message results in not only locally grown organic vegetables on my plate, but also free-range chicken, grass-fed beef (Riverview Farms) and wild caught fish. It doesn’t stop there, many of the restaurant’s fresh herbs and spices used to liven up each dish are organic as well.
A lot of stock is justifiably put into sustainable ingredients, but it requires a skilled chef in the kitchen to make it all happen. And L’Thai’s food generally ranges from good to very good.
For starters, I recommend the addictively refreshing Nua Nam Tok – citrusy strips of grass-fed beef tossed with onions and lively chili sauce. But next time I’ll skip the Tom-Kha (coconut soup), though a nice velvety texture, it’s a bit mild for my taste.
And honestly, my only complaint with L’Thai’s food is that there isn’t enough combustibility. If you like spicy you need to ask for Thai spicy, and make sure you stress that you want Thai Thai spicy and not American Thai spicy. Then immediately after ordering – threaten your server with bodily harm if your food comes out anything but.
After putting the fear of god into my server during a second visit, well-sourced crispy Whole Red Snapper arrived under a fiery blanket of red curry. I then dragged one of those sweet but slightly chewy eyeballs through the contrasting piquant sauce. Bliss.
If feasting on fish eyes isn’t your thing – Pad Thai is a much safer play and one of the better versions I’ve encountered.
One of the most shockingly delicious dishes I’ve been served in quite some time arrived in the form of dessert and goes by the name Ka-nom Mhor-Gang. It’s a warm almost starchy Thai custard laced with taro root sided by a generous mound of sweet coconut sticky rice. Think oatmeal cookie with a side of icing. |
Nua Nam Tok with locally raised grass-fed beef
Type of Cuisine: Organic-driven Thai
Address/Tel: 4880 Lawrenceville Highway Suite 14-15, Tucker Tel: 770-491-9948
Recommended Dishes: Nua Nam Tok, Pa-Nang, Crispy Whole Fish, Pad Thai, and Ka-nom Mhor-Gang (Thai custard dessert)
Pricing: $$$
Hours:
Lunch
Mon - Thurs: 11am - 3pm
Dinner
Monday - Thursday: 5pm - 10pm
Fri: 5:30pm - 10:30pm
Saturday: Noon - 10:30pm
Sunday: Noon - 9:30pm
Note: Organic meats will cost you an extra $2 on lunch entrees and $3 at dinner. Also, you must request organic meats. Don’t count on your server to give you the option – it just doesn’t happen.
Also, grass-fed beef tends to be chewier than regular beef.
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