Phonthip Style Thai Restaurant

This little Thai place is located @ 1006 E, Francis Ave.  One time, when Geo was out of town and I was driving past and just happened to see it, I stopped here for take out.  Ordering Spring Rolls, I was pleased.  It was gr4eat.  However, I was expecting the Vietnamese kind with lettuce, and what I got was more like mini egg rolls.  I then remembered that these were THAI spring rolls.  I thought it funny that it did not register right away with me that this would be Thia, not Vietnamese.  I decided to try this restaurant for dinner sometime with Geo and tonight was the night!  However, to my surprise it became dinner for four, not two.

They offer some very lovely dishes.  It was hard to choose!

We have some long time friends who were able to join us for diner, making it really fun.  This became a sort of "anniversary" dinner-out evening" for the four of us, something that  we had been talking about for a long time, and this was the place.  Because there were four of us, we were able to try a variety of foods.

On the menu tonight for us was Chicken Satay for appetizers,

                                                                                Thom Kha (soup),

Sweet and Sour (Chicken)

Param Longsong (a beef and spinach dish)

Phad Thai
                            and Red Curry.

as well as ice cream desserts.








The price was reasonable and the service very friendly and helpful.  It was a great meal, and being with our friends was a blast!  The best part is that they liked the food as much as we did!

Now, let's talk about the ice cream. The menu had two options:
 

 This one is ice cream with red beans and lotus seeds.

 This one is ice cream served with the Hot Sticky Rice.

The lotus seeds sounded interesting so we tried that first... but to my surprise the lotus seeds and red beans were simply served on top of the scoop.  These red beans were actually just red beans, kind of like kidney beans from a can, served on top of the ice cream.  The Lotus seeds looked like ... Mexican jumping beans and tasted like... well, bland... nothing in particular, really.  I did think that they had the texture of walnuts. The vanilla ice cream was the best ever.  Ice cream with red beans and lotus seeds was quite unique, I mean, it's something I would have never thought up for myself.

Next we went for the hot sticky rice and ice cream...which sounded to me like a most unusual combination of ingredients.  Good thing we had the other first.  After eating this one, the red beans and lotus seeds definitely takes second place in my book, well-maybe third.  I think plain ice cream takes second and red beans and lotus seeds, third of three.   

I had to ask the waitress what Phonthip Style really was... as I was thinking that maybe it was a place or providence of Thailand, or maybe a particular kind of spice.  That is not the case though.  Phonthip is the cooks name and the Thai food is cooked with her special style... the way she likes it best.

All of the dishes were delicious.  The Satay appetizer was so pretty on the plate and it whet our appetite for all that lay ahead.  Everything was served looking quite colorful and attractive.  We took turns trying each others food.

There was nothing we did not like.  'The sweet and sour dish with it's cooked cucumbers was a little different than I had ever seen before, but I liked it.  The curry was very tasty not too spicy, just enough.  The Thom Ka was a little unique in flavor from other restaurants I have tried, but this too was delicious, kinda sweet.  My friend, who I was worried would think Thia food too-spicy really, really liked it.

The restaurant itself is not very big and it has only been open since October of this year doing much of their business during the lunch hours, but they are open until eight for dinner too. Delicious!