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| - When I knew that my next Vegas trip was going to be with the No1DP, I wanted to introduce him to eating off-Strip. Vegas is considered a foodie destination city but according to foodie sites like Vegas Eater a lot of the gems aren't on the Strip. No1DP obliged, knowing that there was going to be a cab ride to and from the hotel.
CONCEPT: The restaurant of chef/sommelier Bank Atcharawan "the Riesling dude" (formerly of Lotus of Siam - helped develop the wine list there with focus on Rieslings), who won one of the "Sommeliers of the Year 2013" from Food and Wine. While Lotus of Siam's focus is on northern Thai cuisine, Chada Thai is focused on southern Thai cuisine, a region unexplored by many Thai restaurants. Bon Appetit also listed this under its top 50 new restaurants.
CAB FARE: ~$13 from the Palazzo.
VENUE: Like most Vegas off-strip restaurants, especially in Chinatown, it's located in a nondescript strip mall. The cab almost missed the restaurant as we approached the area where we thought the restaurant was and I had to look through the door to confirm that this was the restaurant.
The inside has a minimalist look. Picture frames were along the wall where I sat. The main focus was on the large wine racks in the wall closest to the entrance to the kitchen. No1DP notes that the main focus would be more on the wine list and food. For a Friday night at 9:30 there were only several groups dining in.
SERVICE: Good service, considering they only came by when they thought they were needed and left us alone most of the night. They also made good menu recommendations. While we were eating they also told us that 15 minutes prior to leaving they can call and arrange a cab to pick us up as they noticed that we arrived here via cab.
WINES
No1DP: Reuscher-Haart Piesporter Riesling, Mosel, Germany (Riesling, $8). A crisp and slightly sweet Riesling. I normally don't like whites but his wine was better than mine and I seriously considered sharing another glass with him.
Me: Bouchard Pere & Fils Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Burgundy, France (Pinot Noir, $8) Light and earthy and made a good sipping red.
FOOD: No1DP and I decided to go a la carte.
Som Thum Goong Pao ($11) - Green papaya salad topped with grilled prawn. Papayas were crunchy, sweet yet slightly tart. Shrimps were grilled just right and had a slight crunch.
Yum Kai Nok Kata ($6) - Fried Quail eggs, topped with dry shrimp, cilantro, onion. Spicy lime dressing. Egg was a mixture between poached and over easy. Yolk melted in mouth yet did not leave a mess on the plate. Dried shrimps definitely added a sweet and spicy kick.
Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodle) with Lobster Tail ($21) - Flat rice noodles, hot chili, garlic and basil. Lobster was separated so that the dish can easily be shared. Lobster texture suggests it was cooked just right. More notably the noodles did not have a heavy taste, which meant that it wasn't cooked with TOO much oil.
Seabass Tod Krueng ($19) - Pan fried Chilean seabass glazed with chili paste. Fish texture was SOFT and could be separated with a fork. The chili paste gave the fish a kick. No1DP notes that unlike cheap spices, where the spice is sharp and dissipates quickly the spice kick just lingers in your mouth a minute. Right amount of ginger.
Most notably about these particular dishes was that sub-par Thai dishes have a very heavy feeling after you eat them. That was not the case with this restaurant and every dish we had was still quite light. This was a pleasant surprise as we wanted to have room for 3-course dessert afterwards.
Definitely will be back to try out more dishes and to have a crack at Bank's Riesling collection.
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