Malai Thai Vietnamese Kitchen

Cyberspace: www.malaikitchen.com

Where to Find It: 3699 McKinney Avenue, Dallas, TX 75204

Food Group: Thai/Vietnamese

How Much to Fork Over: $$$

The Grade: B

Faves: Malai Spring Rolls, Drunken Noodle, Outdoor Seating, Service

Peeves: Prawns weren’t very fresh

The Jibba Jab:

Uptown’s Hot Spot.  The pun is intended, specifically for Malai Kitchen’s ability to put up a good amount of spiciness for my Fire Mouth. First, I was impressed with their service before I even stepped foot in the door because of my incessant calling to either change the amount of people in our party or the time of our reservation.  They were very accommodating and polite from beginning to end.  The outdoor area is wonderful for large parties, such as ours, with the capability to flag down your patrons while they are walking up to the entrance and it also gives you plenty of room to move about while sharing plates.

As for the food, we started our table off with Chicken and Beef Satay, of course, and the Malai Spring Rolls, which were so incredibly fresh, crisp and delicious.  The flavors melded impeccably.  Next, we all tried a bit of everyone’s entrees, which consisted of the Drunken Noodle, Iron Pot Chicken Curry, Pad Thai, Grilled Tiger Prawns and the Panang Curry Duck.  Out of all of them, the Drunken Noodle and the Green Papaya Salad were by far the best and I think everyone else had the same consensus and they were both definitely the spiciest dishes of the bunch as well, which will, as usual, get the one up on my list.  Malai Kitchen is an obvious repeater, but I wouldn’t call it the greatest Thai in Dallas.

Drunken Noodle

Grilled Tiger Prawns

Green Papaya Salad

Iron Pot Chicken Curry

Panang Curry Duck

Florida Day 1 – Lemongrass Asian Bistro & Johnnie Browns - Delray Beach

My Aunt, a flight attendant based out of Miami, and I recently took a trip to Florida.  She needed to retrieve a car that was being shipped to Ft. Lauderdale to replace her older car that she has to drive around Miami in between flights.  We were able to meet up with a couple of her friends in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area, including one of my own, and had a blast during our stay.

The first night, we were going to stay with one of my Aunt’s friends, who I will call Boca because she lives in Boca Raton, so immediately after landing from our flight we headed to a Publix and grabbed some essentials: Water, Wine, Champagne, Cheese, Crackers, and Sun Screen.  Upon arrival, we popped open the champagne, cheese and crackers.  Now, I have to emphasize on one of the cheeses that we bought because it literally the stinkiest, nastiest smelling cheese I have ever encountered and I’ve had Limburger before.  When it was opened, my Aunt thought the dog farted, and I thought a dead rotting animal carcass walked in the room.  It was so bad that we had to put it in a Ziploc bag and open a small slit if we wanted a nibble.  I just had to try this concoction with the un-godliest aroma because cheese is my dear close friend and I will not discriminate against those that are stinky.  I better get my gas mask for this one.  I quickly opened the bag, took a little slice and tried it.....hmmm….really strong, but really good and would be even better with honey or a fig preserve spread on it.  I really liked it!  The name of the cheese was Morbier Au Lait Cru made in France.  I would buy this cheese again just for the joke potential it has from the stinch!  After girl chitchatting for a few hours, we were hungry for something substantial, so we went out for a girl’s night in Delray!

Morbier Au Lait Cru.....Stinky!

Lemongrass Asian Bistro – Delray Beach

Cyberspace: www.lemongrassasianbistro.com

Where to Find It: 420 E Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach, FL 33483

Food Group: Thai, Sushi

How Much to Fork Over: $$

The Grade: B-

Faves: Outdoor Seating, Red Curry

Peeves: It’s both a Thai and Sushi restaurant

Sushi Side

Thai Side

The Jibba Jab:

Asian Confusion.  It was two different cuisines, Thai and Sushi, in two different connected rooms, respectively.  Why not just separate them into two different restaurants?  We came here for Thai food, but were seated in the Sushi room because the patio was full, and then had to stare at the chefs hard at work at the Sushi bar.  I studied the menu and was even more perplexed because it was mostly sushi or Japanese dishes with just a few Thai choices.  This clearly wasn’t Asian Fusion in my perspective. 

We ordered Edamame to tie us over until our mains arrived.  I opted for the Steamed Dumplings, my Aunt ordered the Red Curry, and Boca decided on the Green Curry with Tofu.  My Dumplings were decent, but the dipping sauce was incredibly sweet and had a very strong molasses flavor.  It was too much, so I took a bit of my Aunt’s Red Curry broth and used it as a dipping sauce…..much better…..her Red Curry was delicious.  I didn’t get to try the Green Curry, but she ate what she could and took the rest home, so I’m sure it was great. 

If I ever return to this area, I’m not sure if I would go back to this restaurant.  It didn’t really do much for me.  I was indifferent, but our next stop was a bit more interesting!

Green Curry with Tofu

Red Curry

Steamed Dumplings

Johnnie Browns

Cyberspace: www.johnniebrowns.com

Where to Find It: 301 E Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33483

Food Group: Bar

How Much to Fork Over: $$

The Grade: A

Faves: Outdoor Seating, Rod Stewart Look Alike, Customer Attire

Peeves: I can't do a one-arm push up on a table!

The Jibba Jab:

We didn’t try the food here, so I can’t rate this place on that, so my A goes toward the entertainment!  When we sat down, I had a flash back to the 80’s, especially my Aunt and her friend.  It was a Tuesday evening, and I guess that meant it was Rod Stewart night because not only did the singer look like him, he sang exactly like him as well.  He also had a few groupies in the crowd with some eccentric attire.  We had a blast watching these ladies almost molest the 2 man Rod Steward band!  Just take a peek the video below.  He put on a wig for the song Maggie, but also make sure to look at the keyboard player.  He isn't wearing a shirt!  Sexy huh?  Then check out the pics.

Groupie 1

Groupie 2 and 3 on the way!

Check out those tights on her!

Look closely, the woman is down at that guys crotch level.

Yes, he is doing a one-arm push up on a table!

Finally, a face shot....Rod Stewart, right?

Ginger Thai Express

Ginger Thai Express

http://www.gingerthai.net/
Rating: B

Location: 6300 Skillman st, Dallas, TX 75231

Category: Thai

Price: $

Favorites: BYOB with no cork fee! and Tom Yum Soup

Comments:
A friend of ours recently had a birthday and wanted everyone to celebrate it at Ginger Thai…..with wigs on! Yes, that’s right. We had a group of around 20-25 people and we all wore crazy wigs or a mustache, and I have to say it turned out to be really fun. We received quite a bit of attention from the few other customers that could eat in the small place, especially from the kiddos.

Chicken Satay

Now, Ginger Thai doesn’t look like much on the outside or in, but the prices are inexpensive, you can save more money by bringing your own alcohol, which our group definitely took advantage of, and the food isn’t half bad either. We started off with an order of Chicken Satay, Crab Cream Puffs, and Pork Steamed Dumplings. Between the three, my one complaint was the Peanut Dipping Sauce for the Chicken Satay looked like it came straight out of a jar of baby food. It wasn’t really appealing by sight or by taste, but the actual satay was nicely grilled and well flavored. The Cream Puffs were crispy on the outside and wonderfully creamy on the inside, which paired nicely with the sweet dipping sauce, and the Dumplings were quite delicious. For my entrée, I ordered the Tom Yum (Spicy Hot and Sour) Soup with Chicken. The broth was definitely was wonderfully fresh with hints of ginger aka. Galangal, lemongrass and cilantro, and they gave you big strips of delicious chicken in the soup. I would definitely order it again. On the other hand, my husband ordered the Chicken Pad Thai because that’s what he always orders at a Thai restaurant, and it was mediocre at best. It was just too sweet for my taste with hardly any flavor. I know that Pad Thai has about 20 ingredients in it, but all I could taste was that horrible baby food peanut butter in it. I wasn’t a fan. Overall, though, you got a good amount of bang for your buck, and BYOB is even better.


Crab Cream Puffs



Steamed Pork Dumplings

Tom Yum Soup

Chicken Pad Thai

Samui Thai: Best Thai in Dallas

Samui Thai Cuisine

http://www.samuithai.com/
Rating: A



Location: 906 W McDermott Dr. Allen TX


Category: Thai

Pricing: $$$


Favorites: Chicken Satay, Pad Thai, Lemongrass Steamed Seafood


Comments:
Need a good go-to Thai restaurant?  Well, Samui Thai is your place!  From the Best Pad Thai in the area, to wonderful curry dishes, to some of the freshest seafood, you can’t go wrong with anything you order here.   MT and I have been going to this place for many years, and we have become acquainted with the owners because of it, so they always know exactly what we want when we walk in.  It’s nice not to have to order, especially since we always want our dishes extra extra spicey….and they will make it that way.  I’ve been to many places that will barely put anything into it when you ask them to make it really hot….hardly giving you any sort of burning sensation, which is what we love!  But, have no fear if you don’t like it that way.  They will keep it mild for you weaklings!  Just kidding.  Also, don’t be afraid to order dessert here because they have always surprised me.  Their Mango Sticky Rice is incredible and worth the extra effort to stuff more food in your full belly!

 

Silk Road Thai Cuisine

Silk Road Thai Cuisine

http://www.silkroadrb.com/

Location: 6851 Virginia Parkway, McKinney, TX 75071

Rating: B-

Pricing: $$$

Category: Thai

Favorites: Chicken Satay, Outdoor Patio

Comments:

In honor of my husband, Matt's, recent promotion, I, Matt and our good friend Jason went out to eat at a restaurant we’ve been meaning to try in McKinney. It’s a new Thai restaurant called Silk Road and is located in a very convenient spot being just down the street from our home. Anxious to celebrate, we arrived at the restaurant around a farmer’s dinner time,6pm, but hey, it helped on the wallet some. They have Happy Hour specials from 5-7pm everyday and all day on Sundays! Since we were celebrating, we had to order a bottle of champagne first, which was not on the happy hour list. Having only 3 choices, cheapest, cheap and expensive, we thought to go in the middle and order cheap, but the bottle hadn’t been chilled and we didn’t want to wait, so we opted for cheapest, which had been chilled. I love the bubbly no matter the price!! We then ordered an appetizer on the happy hour menu, vegetable dumplings, and chicken satay (not on the happy hour menu). After diving in and finishing off the appetizers, which were good, but nothing majestic, we proceeded to order a bottle of red wine, and then the main course. Jason ordered the Crab Fried Rice, and Matt and I split the Chicken Pad Thai, extra chicken, extra spicy, as Matt always has to have that dish. He can’t go to any Thai restaurant without ordering Pad Thai. That’s his Standard! The portions were very large, which was great that we split the Pad Thai, but I would have wanted it little more peanut flavor, less sweet, and a bit spicier. It really didn’t have any kick to it, so we had to order more chilies. Other than that the food was rather decent. I have a couple of concerns though. The service was a tad sluggish, but that could have been because hardly anyone was in there. Sometimes an empty restaurant puts the staff in a bit of a leisurely pace, which brings me to unease, as well. I know that we arrived a little early, but we didn’t exactly dine and dash. We left slightly after 8pm, so the restaurant should have been busier than when we walked in, but it wasn’t. Overall though, I would go back. It’s close to our house, and their prices are very affordable, particularly their wine list. I really hope that Silk Road sticks around!!

Chicken Satay and Vegetable Dumplings

Chicken Pad Thai

Crab Fried Rice