Last night our family went to Thai Delight for dinner to celebrate my birthday. I made a reservation in advance because it's a Saturday. We arrived early, and were seated at a nice table by the window (overlooking...legs and feets of soon to be seated alfresco-diners on the balcony who are really overlooking something else). The idea of that didn't take our appetite away. For a party of four we ordered:
1. Thai Combo Platter (L)-- a platter presented in English Tea set's three tiers. Green Papaya salad on the top, spring rolls + samosas in the middle; Fish cakes + shrimp cakes at the bottom, accompanied by sweet chili sauce and plum sauce on the side.
2. Stir-fry mustard greens (gai lan) with salted fish.
3. "Fish Pot"-- butterflied grey mullet warmed on the table with mixed vegetables
4. Seafood Curry (sweet) in bread bowl.
5. Stir-fried thin rice noodles with shrimp
6. Tom Yum Soup (one serving)
There is a story to tell about the platter, but let's leave it for the last.
The gai lan were cooked just right although I would've preferred them more chunky...(each piece of gai lan was bite sized...) It's a huge pot for a regular sized fish, it occured to me that the pot seems so much bigger for the theatrical element but did none for the warming up part. We had to hurry and eat the cooked fish slightly warm. Rice noodles, while artfully presented, tasted flat without the chili flakes and even if you add the chili, you will only taste the chilis and nothing else. Tom Yum soup is wonderful, but could add a little heat. I'd say it's more like a stew with more than enough straw mushrooms and shrimps in it there were only spoonfuls of soup left-- definitely a soup for one. Seafood curry is by far the best order we've had. My dad is never a fan of hot food and this curry is his favorite (and ours) for the night. The lack of heat aside, this curry is a fantastic concoction of mild curry, coconut cream and ample amount of lemongrass, which gives the sauce a fresher take rather than the traditional way of spicy blend in curries. Seafood were cut in morsels. Shrimps are fresh and other small bits of seafood (unrecognizable, really, in taste because the sauce is so good) are just as fine (none overcooked to resemble rubber). The sauce is perfect with bread and there is no doubt we mopped up every bit of the sauce with the bread bowl we consumed entirely.
The platter, though, was an absolute disaster. While fish cakes and shrimp cakes are excellent (but we've had better) There is only green papaya in the salad and nothing else. Green papaya and a sauce that's tangy but again, without heat in it. The slightly tart chunkiness in the fruit is good but the texture is mixed. The right way of executing it would be cutting the papaya in thin julliennes and this one certainly does not remotely present itself as anything close.
Samosas are ok but it is the spring rolls that gave it away. We took one bite into the crispy spring roll and wait, there is an unrecognizable taste and smell to it. We suspected it could be because the filling has gone bad, so we requested the manager over and see what happened.
The manager, before we even said anything further, promptly dismissed our concerns and with his best attempt to be polite (but everyone who can see his face would not match their expression with trying to be polite) and remove the springrolls away, changed plates, while we went on...
10 minutes later the manager returned with yet another plate of spring rolls..."These are freshly fried, so these SHOULDN"T be a problem". We took a bite, and disappointingly the filling was of the same smell/ taste. This time we had to summon the manager along and we cleared it out with him: that it could be the filling and it has nothing to do with them being freshly fried or not. If the inside is rotten it's the inside that's flawed. We didn't finished that before he interrupted us with "I'll just take 20 dollars off that platter in your bill". and he drifted off with the inedible spring rolls.
It was never about the 20 dollars. If we wouldn't have gotten into such rage over how the manager was handling the matter and how little the kitchen has concern over the quality of the food they serve to the customers, then why bother with boasting over having great reviews in publications all over the city on their fabulous ambience and exquisite cuisines? Is that what a well-reviewed resturant has become- the new standard that I failed to realize? We skipped desserts, and knowing that while the food in Thai Delight may be satisfactory, we are not exactly delighted about going back for at least a while.
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