Thai Taste - Lunch Revisit

The other day I met a friend for lunch at Thai Taste.  I hadn’t reviewed it since we had dinner there quite awhile ago, and I thought it might be nice to see how the lunch offerings were.  I like that they offer reduced portion lunches at a very reasonable price, but that they are cooked to order (no buffet). I think the entrées are all about $7 and include soup or salad, a spring roll and rum cake for dessert. 

I really enjoy Thai flavorings and have been enjoying trying different places around Indy.  This one happens to be very close to my house, so it is an easy one to stop into.  I chose soup (you had a choice of Tom Yum soup , a rice noodle soup, or salad).  I went with the noodle soup since I had decided not to get noodles for my entrée.  The soup was nice.  It was a mild flavored clear broth with a decent amount of rice noodles in it, and I think the main seasonings were black pepper and a few pieces of cilantro on top.  It would likely be too bland to eat an entire order of this soup, but it wasn’t bad.

For my main dish, I had the Garlic chicken.  The lunch portions are actually quite large, especially for the price.  I have to say though; I was disappointed in the chicken because it was pretty dried out.  I enjoyed the flavor of the garlicky, peppery sauce though; it helped make the meat more enjoyable.  Unfortunately though, I also didn’t really care for the fact that the meat was piled on a bed of cabbage, because all the sauce soaked in to the cabbage and left the meat even drier.  It would have been better if the meat was allowed to sit directly in the sauce so you could get a bit more of it with each bite.

My friend shared her Pud Thai (using their spelling) which was much better than my dish.  It was your classic rice noodles with bean sprouts, onions, tofu, egg and green onion and a light, slightly tangy sauce (I think the tanginess comes from tamarind).  There were dices of chicken and some crunchy peanuts on top.  This dish was much better than mine, because you could really taste the flavor of the sauce and because there were so many different flavors with all the various ingredients.  And the chicken, if it was overcooked, was not as noticeable because it was much smaller pieces that were fewer and farther between. 

Honestly, I didn’t really care for the spring roll that much, or maybe I just get them too much with dishes and am tired of them.  There just wasn’t anything about it that made me want to eat the extra calories.  It was a little too doughy on the inside.  We both skipped the dessert (we couldn’t even finish the entrées) so I can’t speak to the rum cake. 

This place does a very good lunch business though, and you are certainly getting a good value for your money.  I would rank the food in the middle of the pack as far as Thai places at which I have eaten in Indy.  Some things are quite good and other things just okay.

Thai Taste

5353 East 82nd Street

Indy 46250

317/578-9722

(no website I could find)

Thai Taste

This evening, we were trying for Vietnamese (will get there yet) but it was raining so hard, we just opted for Thai that was closer to home. We went with some friends who had recommended it, and who have eaten there many times. I have to say, I can’t believe something that was pretty darn tasty was so close by and I hadn’t been there.

Again, since we had more people than just hubby and I, we took advantage and ordered too much food. But it was nice to try lots of things. For appetizers, we tried the Thai dumplings and the calamari with black pepper. They were both not bad, but not the highlight of the meal for me. We also had the Yum Nuea, or beef salad that was pretty tasty and right up my alley.

The Thai dumplings were steamed dumplings filled with ground chicken, potato, carrot, onion, corn and green peas and served with a Thai “special sauce.” The dumpling skins were a bit tough I thought, and the filling a bit dry, but our friends told us usually they are lighter and softer than this, so maybe it was a bad night. The sauce was a soy based sauce with what I would guess was a rice wine vinegar—but that is just my guess. It was nice with the dumplings.

The calamari wasn’t bad, not chewy or anything, but nothing spectacular. It was served with Sriracha (spicy red Asian hot sauce) and a more sweet and sour (but thin, not that bright orange stuff you see at Chinese restaurants) sauce that I really liked with it. The breading was very light, and strangely, the calamari was served with some crinkle cut French fries as well. I didn’t eat any, but they looked like they were from a bag.

The beef salad was by far the best appetizer we had, if you ask me, and it is one thing I would definitely order again. It was sautéed beef served over lettuce and topped with onions and peppers and doused appropriately with lime juice. I really like those tangy flavors and the onions, lime juice and beef went together very nicely. The beef was probably done a little more than I would like, but with all that lime juice, it was still pretty tender.

For entrees, I ordered the Pud Makua (#2), or sautéed chicken with eggplant with sweet basil and Thai sauce (you can get any type of meat—pork, beef, or chicken or shrimp or vegetarian). I tell you, I would be hard pressed to not get this again (in fact, I am thinking it would be good carry out right now). I really like the slightly tangy sauce with the chicken, and the eggplant was served in large dices with skin removed. The basil also added a nice subtle flavor. It reminded me of this Vietnamese dish I used to get at a lunch place in Oakland, which is funny because I started out wanting Vietnamese anyway.

Oh wait, before I forget, I have to tell you, they served each of us a little dish of steamed rice in the shape of a heart. This seemed to demonstrate the mood of the service. The staff was very friendly and attentive and helpful when we asked a few questions. They also seemed to take great pride in what they are making and in the way dishes were presented. I appreciate this is a little place like this that probably doesn’t have a big kitchen staff.

The table also ordered the Pla Sarm Ross (#42) which was a deep fried whole tilapia topped with fresh pepper, garlic, onion and cilantro. It also had a nice tangy broth under the fish which added a nice flavor. The fish wasn’t bad—a bit of work with all those bones, and a touch dry (overcooked I think), but a nice presentation and combination of flavors.

Finally (I told you we ordered too much), we also had the Guay Teow Gai Sub (#54) which was pan fried rice noodles topped with ground chicken, onion and curry powder. These were really nice as well, and would likely be on my re-order list. I really like the lightness of rice noodles, and the way they seem to really absorb the flavors of the sauce they are cooked in, and the various toppings added a nice variation in texture.

All in all, I really enjoyed this meal and will definitely add it to my list of places for a quick, close bite (and certainly to the carry out rotation). It is one of those places located in a strip mall (the same one as Trader Joe’s and Penzey’s, how convenient) but I really appreciate the way they have added semi-sheer curtains over the windows so that you aren’t just staring out at a parking lot, but light still filters in. They have done a nice job making the interior feel pretty homey, and I have to say, for a Tuesday night, they were doing a better business than a lot of places these days.

There are certainly lots of things to try (the entrée portion of the menu numbers to 58 items, and that doesn’t include the appetizers, of which I think I counted about 30) so there is something for lots of different tastes. The prices are reasonable and the people who run it seem to really care. I can’t believe it was right there, and I missed it for so long.

Thai Taste
5353 East 82nd Street
Indy 46250
317-578-9722
(no website I could find)