Little Thai Kitchen

For some reason, this place has been below my radar for a long time, and I'd almost forgotten how much I like it. It's just a little hole in the wall, small, intimate, and quiet, with a great menu, and has been my favorite Thai restaurant ever since it opened. I'm quite fond of the twist-and-shout seafood, garlic tofu, pad woon sen (stir-fried vermicelli noodles), and green coconut curry. Interestingly, I'm no longer as averse to the peanut salad dressing as I used to be, so either it improved, or more likely my tastes have changed a bit. I definitely would like to start coming back more often again.

One day I stopped by for lunch with a visitor from out of town, after gushing about the place to him, and it was closed! A few days later I stopped by, and it turns out that there was a sickness in the family that day; because it’s a small family operation, if someone gets sick, they can’t open. Then, sometime after that, they closed down for redecorating, and it seemed to last forever, but finally they're open again. The menu has changed a bit, but not necessarily for the worse: many dishes now offer a choice of meat, seafood, or tofu. Can't beat that! Unfortunately, the green curry is gone.

I notice that one of my favorites -- the "Twist & Shout Seafood" -- has been replaced by "Mussels Madness" on the menu. I asked about it, and it turns out that too many people were asking for just shrimp or just mussels, and so forth, so they dropped the complete combo with mussels, scallops, shrimp, and squid. However, they will prepare it for me if I ask. Also, I noticed that the service was particularly attentive, promptly refilling my tea when it ran out, and giving me another napkin when I used mine to clean up a spill. Definitely, they deserve their high service score.

Back in the early 1990s, this location was the notorious Teriyaki Express rice bowl: notorious because it was incredibly slow (I'm talking 35-45 minutes to get a rice bowl!). Then it was Barbecue Express, which was good at first, but went downhill after it changed managers (the original manager was a great guy, and I always wondered what happened to him). After that, Little Thai Kitchen opened up: at the time, the only other Thai restaurant in town was Dara Thai, and I never had a very high opinion of them.

I've heard good things about the newer Thai places downtown, but I don't know if or when I'll get around to trying them all. I did finally try Ewa's and Red Curry, and they're both very good, but Little Thai Kitchen is still my favorite.


Location
[No web site]
Business Category:Local establishment (1-2 locations)
Breakfast (1-10):
Lunch (1-10):8
Dinner (1-10):8
Cleanliness (1-10):7
Service (1-10):8
Noise (1-10):7
How often visited:Many times
How likely to return:Definitely
Last known visit:2021-01-28
Last updated:2021-04-25

ffred's restaurant reviews