rev:text
| - Tucked inside of Bailey's Restaurant and Bar on the Southwest corner of Craig and Rancho, this little Thai restaurant was a pleasure to visit. It is owned by Tick, the original owner of Komol. The Thai restaurant is basically the dining area of the bar. It's a little smokey, and the bar definitely has a dive sports bar feel to it with a Coors logo of every NFL team lining the room. Surprisingly, one of the pioneers in the Las Vegas Thai food scene has made his return to Vegas in this little bar.
We ordered the Pad Kee Mao with Pork, the Beef Panang, and the Glass Noodle Salad. All were entrees and were under $10. The Pad Kee Mao was out first. The pork was light and tender, the veggies crisp. The noodles were a bit heavier than the typical noodle used in this dish. The sauce was also light, with not a lot of flavor but with a nice balance to it.
The Beef Panang and the Glass Noodle Salad were my favorite dishes. Again, both were light in flavor but balanced with authentic ingredients. The Beef Panang was watery as a good Thai Panang should be, and without peanut sauce. The spices used did remind me of the Panang at Komol. I quite enjoyed the flavor of it. The Glass Noodle Salad was lightly sour, lightly herbed, but it hit all the right spots. I recommend trying these two dishes.
Overall this little hidden Thai restaurant is definitely worth a try if you live in the neighborhood. The heat levels were quite low (we ordered hot, and it was barely spicey), but our server said they have had some problems with customers ordering hot and complaining about it being too hot. If you can't handle the heat, get out of the Thai restaurant is what I say, but I guess they have a business to run. She said that now that she knows we can eat spicy, they'll make it Thai hot for us.
We had a nice little chat with Tick, the owner. He opened Komol in '79. The only other Thai restaurant at the time was Kung Fu. It was a time when people didn't even know what Pad Thai was! I got a nice little Vegas history lesson on Thai restaurants, and enjoyed his insights. I will definitely try to come back and visit Tick and our waitress Kim to enjoy some light, but well made Thai food!
|