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…