Friday Dinner: Pai Northern Thai Kitchen

Last Friday, I finally visited Pai when I dropped by for an early dinner after work.  It was a quick 10 minute walk to the restaurant and we arrived around 5:45PM.  Although it was a bit early for dinner, I am glad we decided to go early as many tables were reserved and a small crowd started to form at the doorway around 6PM.

The entrance to the restaurant is definitely very unique and you probably wouldn't know it's a restaurant if you were just walking by.  Upon opening the door, you see a staircase going down to the basement- the dining area is dimly lit but it is quite spacious.  

Grabong ($10)

Vegetarian deep fried battered squash fritters with a garlic tamarind dip

We started off our meal with some deep fried squash fritters- in case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of a sucker for deep fried foods.  These fritters were very filling as the portion size is quite large and there is a substantial amount of squash in the center of the fritters.  The fritters, when paired with the garlic tamarind dip, were delicious!  They were fried to perfection and had been given sufficient time to dry off- I could not feel or taste the greasiness of the oil.  Unfortunately, I was almost full before I even got my main.

Chef Nuit Pad Thai ($14)

Stir fried rice noodle in a home made tamarind sauce with beansprouts, tofu, egg, chives, Thai coriander, fresh lime and home roasted peanuts. Choice of Chicken, Beef, Pork or tofu and veggies. (contains oyster sauce) 

As usual, I ordered a Pad Thai with chicken.  I was unsure what to do with the pile of lettuce to the side so I opted not to eat or mix it in.  The sauce was definitely on the sweeter side and the medium heat level added a nice kick to the dish.  The dish tasted good, but wasn't particularly memorable.  

Khao Pad Thamada ($13)

Stir fried jasmine rice with egg and green onion. served with your choice of Chicken, Beef, Pork or Tofu & Veggies. (contains oyster sauce)

Unfortunately, this was my friend's order so I didn't get to try it.  From looking at the picture, it looks like there's a lot of rice and not much else- but it might be issues with the lighting.  However, I did hear sounds of "nom nom nom" from across the table and every last grain of rice had been consumed.  You can draw your own conclusions on this one..

Food - (3/5)

Service - (4/5)

Decor - (3/5)