I won't MISS PAD THAI!

I had read various good reviews about Miss Pad Thai on Alessandro, and was sort of excited.  Healthy, homemade, fresh, authentic; all the right buzzwords to draw me in for one of their $5.99 lunch specials!

I ordered the Red Curry Beef, their noteworthy $6.95 Coconut Shrimp appetizer, and of course a $1.99 Thai Iced Tea. 

A large chilled and sweet Thai Tea arrived to my thirsty delight—no complaints.  After a few minutes, a small bowl of clear soup arrived.  [If you’ve read my earlier posts you already know my philosophy about Asian soups served before meals.  If the soup’s good, then so will be the meal.  If the soup’s lacking, then so will everything else.  It’s not always the case, but more often it’s “a tell” and your first good glimpse into YOUR FUTURE MEAL!!!] 

Unfortunately, their soup was little more than some tofu floating in oriental bullion flavored salt water—a disappointment.  I was afforded about twenty some minutes to ponder on my soup worries as my meal service seemed to screech to a halt!  There were only two tables eating and I was one of them.  What seemed like an eternity passed but finally my appetizer arrived—YEH! 

Six large prawns gingerly covered in a crispy light brown coconut coating came a calling me!  I answered their cries and consumed them quickly.  They were quite good and worth every fair review I had read.  I crunched and dunked my happy heart out and thought to myself, “I’d come back for more of these...” But, my happiness would be short lived.

Again, I was abandoned for what seemed like another 20 to 25 minutes!  This is inexcusable; especially during a lunch hour!  Finally, my Red Curry Beef came, and what do you know—NO BEEF!  AGAIN!  [Note: The same thing happened at Papaya Valley Thai Cuisine in an earlier review. What is with Moreno Valley Thai joints?  You order beef, and get chicken!  And if you point it out, they just look at you weird like, So?]  The waiter did go and get the chef who offered to redo my lunch but there was NO way I was going to wait another century so I opted to just ‘suck-it-up’ latterly and figuratively.

Now I like spice, and when asked always say, “Spice it up!”  But, the spice in this Red Curry was off and heavy handed.  It lacked any cohesive tastes normally found in Red Curry’s hot, sweet, creamy appeal.  It was all heat and no heart.  It was shallow, one-sided, delivering confusing herb notes but no richness or direction.  Plus, every bite left me chewing on a Kaffir lime leaf, which is not pleasant.

My bill came with no comps or considerations so I paid it and left.  I was now late, and it was a whopping $18.00 disaster after tax and tip!  I doubt I’ll be returning here, although I’ll probably think about those warm munchable shrimps and want to go back.  But then, I’ll remember the time… time… time… TIME!

MY SEARCH CONTINUES...

RICE & SPICE – How Nice!

I slid into Alessandro’s Rice & Spice Thai Cuisine for a quick $6.00 lunch!  I was allowed to pick my own table in a small but airy and very unpretentious dining room.  I immediately felt comfortable and was able to relax a bit.  Now isn't that a great idea!

I pretty quickly decided to spring for the $7.00 L.12 Red Curry Shrimp lunch special, AND, an A.3 Mao-Mao appetizer (deep-fried chicken/pork dumplings) AND, of a Thai Iced Tea of course.  AND, when they took my order they did something that no other Thai place had done thus far.  They asked me how spicy I wanted my food?  Somebody actually asked me how I WANT IT.  I felt so special.

Question:  How do you know if a Thai place is any good?

Answer: The ‘lunch special’ soup they start you with ROCKS YOUR WORLD! This was like the Tom Yum lemon grass soup the others served but unlike the others, theirs was superb. From the very first sip, it hit me like spicy Thai truck BAM!  I’m not sure what happened next, I think my eyes rolled back and I fell into some strange soup stupor.  Before I knew it, my bowl was empty and my lips were splattered with the power of hot n’sour!

The empty bowl was efficiently replaced with a large batch of crispy hot-skewered dumplings.  You’re probably wondering if they were any good, well, listen to me eat them: CRUNCH DIP TONGUE CRUNCH MUNCH CRUNCH SMACK—DIP TASTE DIP CRUNCH MUNCH MUNCH DRIZZLE—SMACK LICK SMACK DIP CRUNCH CRUNCH YEOW! Need I say more?

Again, empty plates were taken away and replaced with new treasures.  My entrée, a nice sized bowl of creamy, spicy, Red Curry Shrimp, rice, and an egg roll enticed me now.  I immediately grabbed my spoon and slurped down a taster’s spoonful.  Again, I was overcome by the artful magic of fine Thai cookery.  The next 10 minutes must have looked a little scary as I proceeded to inhale the curried shrimp, destroy the egg roll, and devour and dunk the sweet aromatic jasmine rice—what an awesome delight.  Two minor notes: the shrimp tails were a bit challenging to eat while in hot creamy curry, and the bamboo was a bit tough and woody (I’ll order it without next time).

I think I’ve found my MoVal Thai joint!  Comfortable, quick, inexpensive, and fantastic food!  The staff was exceptionally nice and accommodating and made me feel welcome from the start.  They showed a genuine interest in serving me great Thai meal that I would like—and I did.

And though you’ll join me here for more sizzle-sticky, crunch-a-munch, lip smacking lunches, nonetheless,

MY SEARCH CONTINUES…

PAPAYA Piriah!

Papaya Valley Thai Cuisine on Sunnymead: According to other internet reviews, write-ups, and mentions, this place is established and comes recommended by small group of Thai devotees.  I was intrigued and enthusiastic about their $5.95 lunch specials.  After a brief wait, I ordered a #L14 Beef Pad See-Ew (Stir-fried flat noodles with beef and Asian broccoli).  I also ordered a #24 appetizer of Chicken Sa-Tay, and a Thai Iced Tea of course.

A medium sized tea arrived as well as a nice array of secret Thai condiments.  Later, the Sa-Tay came along with a cucumber-vinegar salad condiment and a fantastic peanut sauce (both of which I liberally used to drench my somewhat dry chicken skewers).

Later, my hot BEEF NOODLES would arrive looking and smelling pretty darn good except for one small, insignificant, minor, hardly worth mentioning detail: IT WAS CHICKEN! Major gaffe!  [Believe it or not, the same thing would happen to me again at Miss Pad Thai]  The waitress appeared stunned, but later offered to replace it with the beef version. I’d already blown half my lunch hour and couldn’t wait for a redo so I resigned myself to eating more of their chicken.  That said, their CHICKEN Pad See-Ew was pretty good and delightfully spicy.  It was velvety, semi-complex, and a decent attempt at good Pad See-Ew.  It came with a nice aromatic rice, chewy egg roll, and a crispy wonton.

My bill finally arrived totaled out exact with no subtractions.  They should have comped my tea to compensate for their screw-up, but did not.  My supposedly cheap lunch ballooned to $16.41 (not including tip).  Their peanut sauce was memorable—but that’s all I’ll take of them—just a memory.  Darn, I had such hopes.

MY SEARCH CONTINUES…

Cruising the RIVER KWAE

I began my short search for MoVals best Thai down the long River Kwae Thai Cuisine on Alessandro, sailing in for a quick $6.00 lunch.  I was seated in two-seconds flat, given water and a service, and their extensive menu.  There were several lunch specials to choose from and I picket #9 Chicken in Red Curry, one of my Thai favorites, and a Thai Iced Tea of course.  I was promptly served some Tom Yum Kai soup and a brilliant, cold large sweet tea.

The soup was okay, not bad, but nothing to write about, except this:  I’ve noticed something about Asian restaurants in general, and their ‘special lunch’ soups.  If the soup is any good, then the meal will probably also be good.  If the soup is bad or tasteless, then stand-by for more of that.  It seems to always be true—maybe for all restaurants—and I just didn’t notice until now.

My entrée came quick: good’n creamy, and hot, steamy white rice, a small salad, and crispy wonton.  My lunch was fair, chicken tender, rice light and sweet, curry pretty tasty, but my salad had a small black wet gross thing in it (probably just wilt rot).  The best thing was the Thai Iced Tea!

Overall, the lunch was a quick low-cost delight.  I was in & out in less than a half-hour and for $8.00 (not including tip)!  But here’s the thing: Thai food isn’t suppose to be just all right, or okay, or mediocre.  It’s supposed to WOW you by design.  Its nature is to ZING your palate, make you sweat; take your tongue on a wild Thai ride!  Theirs clearly did not.  But it was a good cheap lunch nonetheless and Ill probably go back again and ask them to KICK IT UP a notch!

One weird thing: When you walk in you’ll see a large glass display case showcasing their house wines.  Oddly, most of the them were varieties of Sutter Home.  Now why would anyone advertise one of the least drinkable cheap wines on the market?  They should hide those and stock up on some  Clos Du Bois , Chateau Ste. Michelle, or even some decent Turning Leaf or Beringer.  Sutter Home, behind glass, like it some museum artifact!  HA HA HEE HEE HEE AHH AH!

MY SEARCH CONTINUES…

Live and Let THAI – A Quest For the Best!

Okay, so  just like you I’ve been in Moreno Valley a while and am starting to know my way around.  I’ve done the mainstream Movies, Malls, McDonald’s, and Mega Stores, but I want More!  Actually, I’ve been craving some Thai food lately and decided to go on a quest to find MoVal's best Thai restaurant!  My very own Thai joint, a place I can hang my hat, pull up a chair, relax and dig-in to some exciting exotic Thai food.

MoVal is small enough where I think I can eat my way around and review about every Thai place it offers.  In fact, a quick Google search found about half a dozen or so possibilities: Miss Pad Thai, Papaya Valley Thai, River Kwae Thai, Thai Dine, and Rice & Spice, and maybe a couple more.

Lunch Specials are a great way for restaurants to bring in patrons.  Asian restaurants have a long history advertising inexpensive multi-course meals.  Thai places usually offer some sort of $5, $6, or $7 lunch deal that comes with soup, wontons or egg rolls, rice, and an entrée dish.  It’s a great way for new customers like me to sample their dishes cheaply, and get a feeling for their establishment.  I’m going to spend the next couple of weeks going to these Moreno Valley locals, eating their lunch specials, and posting my reviews.

Since you don’t know me from Adam, I’ll not bother qualifying myself.  But I will say I frequent finer restaurants, have eaten my way around the world, and take a devilish delight in good food and wine.

Now I’m going to take on MoVal and find its best Thai restaurant!

M is for Mighty Hungry?

MY SEARCH BEGINS...

From NoHo to MoVal

How I got here and when I got here is factually unimportant.  It’s also the same mundane story of many who move with their company to some new unheard of location.  Say what you will about the San Fernando Valley, but at least it’s a happen’n place—sort of.  I’d never heard of Moreno Valley, Box Springs, Sunnymead Ranch, Lake Perris, Sycamore Canyon, Rancho Belago, Moreno Beach, Canyon Springs, or even the Riverside International Raceway.  But now that I’m here, I’ve made the best of it, made it my home, and make it around town pretty easily everyday. 

Moreno Valley (the locals call it MoVal) is a clean quaint efficient little city, mostly housing tracts, with a few major boulevards speckled with a variety of the usual strip-mall stores, drive-thrus, eatery chains, lunch-and-lubes, mega-giga-super-grocery complexes, extra value super deluxe discount centers, and theaters-a-plenty.  The only problem is, half of them are closed, out-of-business, bankrupt, or simply abandoned.  Nonetheless, MoVal folk seem to keep a speculative outlook and cheerful optimism waiting for better times.

And though I’ll always have a part of my heart in North Hollywood, I come to you, open minded, interested, and eager to suckle at the milk and honey trickling from your rocky bosom.  Now MoVal Me!

M is for Maybe I’ll Make it Mine?