TR: It’s snowing outside.
NI: Yep.
TR: Do you still want to go out for dinner?
NI: Nope.
TR: Okay.
NI: We could go to Taste of Thai. That’s close by.
TR: We’ve eaten there so many times I probably taste like Thai.
NI: Do you want to order in then?
TR: Sure.
NI: Pizza?
TR: Not in the mood.
NI: Hunan?
TR: No.
NI: There’s that new place we haven’t tried yet.
TR: Asian Thai? Sure.
NI: Dear reader, if you’ve never seen the words ‘Asian’ and ‘Thai’ placed so close to each other in a sentence, we don’t blame you because until we discovered this great little restaurant, neither had we.
TR: Sandwiched between Appleton favorites and past winners of the prestigious Golden Fork Award, Koreana and Sai Ram, on Northland Avenue, Asian Thai might not be your first step when trolling through town for an international bite to eat.
NI: Fortunately, they have you covered. You don’t actually have to go to Northland to try Asian Thai. It can come to you.
TR: Their menu has all of your favorite Chinese and Thai dishes, from the juiciest Pad Thai to the spiciest General Tso’s Chicken.
NI: It’s like Taste of Thai and Hunan had a baby, argued over what food heritage it would inherit and then compromised.
TR: Sure. Why not?
NI: I can’t say I care too much for the décor. The floors are carpeted and the air is kept to a toasty 75 degrees. The tables hadn’t been dusted and the room was dimly lit.
TR: Décor? We ordered in.
NI: I know. You should put in a work order and have those lights changed.
TR: I’ll let that one slide. We started with two bowls of hot Tom Yum soup served with some rather large prawns and a complimentary spring roll that we broke in half.
NI: Mushrooms, green peppers and succulent pink prawns stewed in a delicious orange broth that appealed to the spice enthusiast in me. I love most kinds of Tom Yum soups, so I might be a little biased — but I loved what Asian Thai had to offer.
TR: I agree. It was spicy enough to satisfy those who love burning sensations through their insides and appease restaurant-goers with lightweight taste buds. I know this isn’t how you’re supposed to eat them, but I dipped my half of the spring roll into the Tom Yum to pack some of that flavor into each crunchy bite.
NI: We served ourselves a helping of vegetable fried rice and Kung Pao shrimp.
TR: I did not enjoy our vegetable fried rice. It was served with slices of onion and a generous helping of green peas, but tasted too sweet.
NI: The rice definitely didn’t stand well on its own. I actually would have preferred the steamed rice if we were eating at the restaurant, but there is a $20 minimum on all delivery orders. If you’re not in the mood for anything else, you can ask them to not send the steamed rice and pick one of the many rice or noodle selections listed in the menu.
TR: The Kung Pao shrimp was a delicious mix of tender prawns cooked to a perfect brown tint, with a healthy serving of vegetables and spices.
NI: I’m a nut for cashews — pun intended — and I’ve never tried Kung Pao anything so let me tell you, this blew my mind. I’m eager to try Hunan’s Kung Pao shrimp now that I have something to compare it to.
TR: I’ll give the Tom Yum and Shrimp a thumbs up, but a thumbs down for the fried rice.
NI: I agree. I would definitely recommend the Kung Pao shrimp to a friend.
TR: Now let’s open fortune cookies. Mine says, “Be mischievous and you will not be lonesome.”
NI: In bed.
TR: Funny. What does yours say?
NI: “The joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days.”
TR: In bed.
NI: Oh dear.
TR: If you’re not in the mood to go out for a bite to eat but are willing to spend around $20 for delivery, drop the tried and true Hunan menu and brave some Asian Thai.