Your Favorite Thai Dishes
 

I can name just a couple on top of my head that are among my favorites:

1) Pad Thai
2) Pad Kee Mow
3) Kratongtong
4) Tom Yum

Anyone else?

Pork pad Thai. Hold the vegetables.

Any kind of Pad Thai is good. ^

Tom Yum soup! ^

Pad Thai
Tom Yum Gah
Spicy Beef Salad
Golden (Deep Fried) Tofu

Pra Ram Long Song
Poo Pad Prik
Pla Jaramet Pao
Tod Gratiam Prik Thai

I fell in love with this dish a few years ago when I was in Chiang Mai. I've had it several times since in Bangkok and again in Chiang Mai. Sadly, I haven't been able to find it here in the U.S.

Kaow Soi Gai – Famous Chiang Mai Curry Noodles with Chicken

http://www.fourseasons.com/chiangmai/menu_1418.html


The dish is served in a bowl, with curry noodles with chicken on the bottom. It is crowned with crispy noodles with some condiments, both sweet and sour. In your mouth, it is a juxstoposition of soft and cruncy, sweet/sour and spicy.

I agree that Pad Thai is the best. Some places make it better than others, but Pad Thai is the best.

It's hard to beat my Gaeng Phet Ped Yang. :)

I learned to cook it recently from a chef in Thailand and I love making it. ^ Very easy, too. :)

Chicken Panang
and of course Chicken Pad Thai

There are so many, but my son and I are always looking for the best Panang Curry. So far, the winner is a place called Yum Yum Thai... a hole in the wall on the ourtskirts of Atlanta.

This from someone who's not yet been to Thailand, so I hope to add to my favorites list when I go.

Tom ka goong. Yen ta fo. Pad woon sen. Panang Curry.

All these talks about Pad Thai is making me very hungry! :D

I used to think that Pad Thai is the only Thai dish out there until Sala Rim Nam at the Oriental Bangkok completely zapped this fallacy out of me. Thai food is just great. There's too many to name as 'favorites' :)

Did you go for the dinner or lunch buffet? I've been to both and I must say that I preferred the lunch buffet by far. The dinner was just so-so and I wasn't impressed by the dance performance.

Lunch is completely different. It was a good introduction to a variety of Thai dishes and everything was delicious. The service was superb and there were staff members always wanting to help us, explain to us what was in each dish, and offered to carry our dishes to our table. You can also have a better view of the river during the daytime.

Lunch is also a lot cheaper.

1 vote for coconut chicken soup

I have only been to lunch francophile. You are absolutely correct, the service and level of attention is indescribably good, and the food, just wonderful.

And don't get me started on the dessert francophile-it's heaven, simply heaven :D

Som Tom (hold the dried shrimp) and only 5 chilies please, I dont want to cry even though my Thai girl friend thinks its cute.

Sticky Rice and grilled chicken on Phi Phi Island ^

Its difficult to find real Thai food in the US unless you head into an oriental district. China Town in Washington DC has some real Thai food cooked by Thai families.

Really? There are lots of restaurants in the DC area owned and operated by 1st-generation Thai immigrants. Most of these restaurants are in the suburbs of Montgomery County (e.g. downtown Bethesda has lots) in MD and Fairfax County in VA. Such restaurants employ mostly Thai-speaking waitstaff - you can ask for a dish to be "Thai-style".

Also re:Chinatown in DC - I find that Chinese who don't live in DC proper rarely go there. The real chinatowns are in the suburbs - e.g. Rockville in MD and perhaps Falls Church in VA.

I am am embarrassed to say that I don't recall the Thai name, but my favorite is the salad with julienned green papaya and various other ingredients.

The best that I have ever had (and indeed one the best dining experiences that I have ever had overall) was at the Sunday brunch at the Four Seasons in Chiang Mai, where they had a station to make your own. They had the green papaya, shredded carrots, the unbelievably hot Thai green peppers, dried shrimp, peanuts, limes, and a handful of other items. One makes ones own mix of ingredients, then they crush it for you with a pestle and bring it to your table.

Som tam.

Larb Gai(laab)

Dessert, indeed. The only Thai dessert I've ever really loved I ate at Sala Rim Naan, and I just haven't seen it on the menu elsewhere... it was multicolored rice(?) balls in a warm coconut broth... outstanding.

It's often claimed that the best Thai restaurant in the US is (off-the-strip) in LAS.

But the best Thai in the DC area is certainly not in DC's Chinatown. You'll find it, for the most part, in suburban strip malls. There's Dungrats on Route 7 near Bailey's Crossroads... Sakulthai on Van Dorn .. and by far the best Thai restaurant in the District is Thai X-ing, a one-man mostly takeout operation.

Good ol' Pad Thai for me. Usually w/chicken and shrimp.
I also like Pad See Ew very much so.

Right now, trying to plan a trip to Thailand around Christmas time.

Excellent thread.

I'll take your dried shrimp and raise you some chilies, love this dish.

this is becoming less and less true, I'm finding it easier to find Thai (and many other ethnic cuisines) in the US. I also don't believe that just because one is Thai that they can cook Thai better than someone who is not, there are some crappy Thai cooks as with any cuisine.

What helps emerging ethic restaurants is if the gen public gets out of the chains and explores their surroundings.@:-)^

other Thai favorites:
laab/larb (so easy to make at home)
almost anything with Thai basil
Pad Woon Sen (better than pad thai IMO)
Tod Mun (spicy fish cakes)

--

Pad woon sen is my favorite, but you have to save room for the mango and sticky rice dessert. Fabulous!

The miser in me is grateful for the cheap Thai noodle shops around my neighborhood when you can get two meals' worth of good food for about $7.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
(We all know what this is, right?)

Pad Siew
(Pan Fried Wide Noodles, Chicken, Broccoli, Egg, and Sweet Soy Sauce)

Yellow Chicken Curry
(Chicken, Curry, Coconut Milk, Carrots, Potatoes-Medium Spice)

There are lots of restaurants here in Los Angeles (Thai Town) which is sort of South East Hollywood.

Yes, the desserts at the lunch buffet at Sala Rim Naam were good. But I truly fell in love with the millefeuille across the river at Le Normandie:

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/510000236.asp

Would you be willing to share the recipe and technique?

You must be referring to Lotus of Siam, the one restaurant I never miss when I'm in LAS. Insanely good food - don't miss the nam kao tod (sour sausage and crispy rice appetizer)

That might be my favourite dish from any restaurant

I'm also a huge fan of Som tam

I also adore Miang som - a fragrant dressed mixture of pomelo, prawns/crab, shallot and grated coconut which you pick up and eat with betel leaves. Mmmm....

And Thai sticky rice is delicious. Unadorned, it's my very favourite kind.

But there are so many dishes I haven't tried yet, it's such an amazing cuisine and I have so muh more to learn about it.

http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/vi...hai_cooki.html

For Tom Yam Goong (Thai Spicy and Sour Prawn Soup) and Gai Phad Med Mamuang (Sauteed Chicken with Cashew Nuts & Dry Chili), see:

http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/vi...le_thai_c.html

Indeed. I wouldn't miss it in LAS, as the routine of wannabe fine dining establishments in the various hotels does get old after so many renditions. Lotus of Siam is excellent. But at the same time, there are several Thai restaurants that I do believe are its equal, a couple of them here in suburban Northern Virginia (I'm a lucky guy! :D )

Thanks.

Extra chilies for me!

I've been a few times, and found it a bit overhyped. Certainly good, but being played up everywhere as 'the best Thai restaurant in America' built my expectations up a bit higher than the food delivered.

A meal a few months ago at Thai House Express in San Francisco left em blown away--far more flavorful than anything I've had at LoS. Just the first bite of Laab at THE had me convinced. Ruam Mit in St. Paul is another place that I'd suggest over LoS.

Not that LoS is bad--it's certainly stronger than 98% of the US Thai places, just that I think the buildup was too much.

Just went to Thai food for lunch today...

-Pad thai is always a given (no tofu please).
-Red curry
-Thai fried rice (I doubt this is authentic Thai food, but I like the Thai versions a lot better than their Chinese counterparts)
-Tom Yum soup

All of the above as spicy or extra spicy (if I'm dining alone...at home...just in case ;))

On a related note...I've always wondered if Pad thai is an "authentic" Thai dish or something Americanized, like General Tsos Chicken and the like in Chinese cuisine?

Nua Nom Tok
Penang Gai
Larb Gai
Tom Ka Gai
Spicy Lemongrass Soup.

In DC proper do Thai X-ing -- actually get someone else to grab it if you can because the waits for take-out can be all over the place :D -- and Bangkok Bistro.

i'm a simple girl... i like red curry (with tofu) and pad thai (with tofu). mmm, maybe i will order some thai food now! @:-)