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| - Basis for my starred ratings (which skews heavily to the food or drink):
1 star: Never again.
2 stars: Poor food, poor experience, extraordinary measures in order for me to come back.
3 stars: Average, nothing really special, nothing particularly bad.
4 stars: Very good, would definitely return.
5 stars: A favorite, one of the best.
Totally out of the way in an unassuming location, very good Thai food.
Came on the recommendation of a friend and we will be back when we can. Ordered the tom yum with chicken, beef and basil, papaya salad with dried shrimp, and a pad thai.
They apparently only use Thai chilis so on their 1-5 scale, 2 has enough kick to make it worth your while.
The papaya salad was one of the best we've had. Good fish sauce balanced with some heat and some sweetness. It was crunchy, refreshing, and rivaled Lotus of Siam in Vegas.
The tom yum was also pretty good - served family style in a hotpot. It had a lot of heat, but lacked some traditional sourness. Might have been trying to accommodate Western tastes, so if you're looking for a particularly sour kick from your tom yum, this is not the place. BUT, it is tasty here, with heavy notes of lemongrass and ginger.
The beef and basil stir fry was fine. Nothing really special. It was tasty, no complaints, nothing to rave about.
The pad thai here is good, with our only complaint being that it is a little tamarind heavy. The noodles were just a tad overcooked, but we appreciated the general balance of their sauce (with again, just a little too much tamarind.) But I appreciate that it was not the overly sweet mess that you get at most Thai places here - there was appropriate sourness and saltiness and heat all mixed in, with the sweetness playing second fiddle to the rest.
So an unexpected surprise in the Valley for Thai - and it just MIGHT be the best Thai in town. Couple other places to go or retry before a final determination, but this place is legit.
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