Having lived in South East Asia for a number of years, I acquired a strong appreciation of Thai foods. When I find a new Thai restaurant in the area, I always begin by ordering the Tom Yum Goong which is a soup that is spicy and that has a very strong taste to most Westerners. The soup tends to vary widely from Thai restaurant to restaurant, but it almost always contains shrimp, magrut leaves, straw mushrooms, lemon grass, green onions, lime juice, and hot peppers. The aroma of the Tom Yum Goong soup is greatly influenced by a fish sauce that has been added to the recipe. \r
At the Thai Café the evening I went there for dinner with my wife, I enjoyed the aroma, flavor, and presentation of the Tom Yum Goong soup, but the soup that I was served contained overcooked shrimp and it also contained some very hard pieces of lemon grass. These problems could have been easily remedied by adding the shrimp very late in the cooking process and by straining out the tough shreds of lemon grass prior to serving.\r
We both ordered Pad Cashew Nut as our entries. The dish contains shrimp sautéed with snow peas, Napa cabbage, cashews, and carrots. It was served with steamed white rice and it was very, very good. The Thai Café serves hot tea in large cups that the waitress brings to the table and diners can choose from a large selection of Asian and British teas. \r
The Proprietor came to our table prior to our leaving and thanked us for visiting the restaurant that evening. The service was very good and the décor and furnishing were totally appropriate for a Thai restaurant. Overall, we enjoyed our experience at the Thai Café very much and we do plan to return there again shortly.\r
Pros: Captures Authentic Thai Cusine
Cons: Some dishes were overcooked during preparation
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