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| - Sala Thai was the latest stop on my husband's and my quest for the holy grail, a.k.a. our search to find satisfying and authentic Thai food in Phoenix. I must say that Sala Thai is among the best places we've tried since we arrived here from California.
We met Jim W and Audrey W (our fellow voyagers on our Thai food search) for dinner at Sala last Sunday night. As Jim mentioned in his review, Sala Thai isn't nearly as far away from South Phoenix or Chandler as you would think it is, especially on a weekend night when traffic is minimal. The restaurant was decently crowded when we arrived, but we got a nice booth just a minute or so after.
It took us a while to decide what to order as the menu was huge and had a lot of new, interesting dishes like the "Thai Egg Bomb" (think Thai omelette, not the sulphuric smell released after eating too much Pad See Ew). After a long deliberation (thank you to our waitress for being patient with us!), we selected the pork satay appetizer, Pad Thai with chicken, catfish Panang curry, spicy basil fried rice with beef, and the duck curry. Just as at Swaddee (our favorite Thai place so far), we were asked to select a spiciness level from 1 - 5. We picked a different level for each dish, so we could see what the range of spiciness was like.
Well, as Jim also mentioned in his review, the pork satay was disappointing - while the peanut sauce was great and not too sweet, the pork was overdone and chewy. The duck curry was decent, although it was a little milky for my taste. I prefer my curry to have a thicker consistency and less coconut milk. The duck was great, though, with a nice crispy skin. Similarly, the crispy catfish topped with panang curry could have been improved with a thicker and more intense curry. The fish was good-quality, however, and was definitely a nice mild compliment to the curry's spiciness.
The real stand-outs for me were the basil fried rice and the Pad Thai. The Pad Thai had an almost meaty flavor to it (must be a different regional version of the dish than the sweet/sour or peanuty versions that are served at most Thai places), and was just the right level of sauciness. I was also impressed with the quality of the chicken. The basil fried rice was outstanding as well - the beef was perfectly tender and flavorful, and the crispy bits of basil added a wonderful flavor.
Since the curries are what keep me coming back to a Thai place, I was a little disappointed that Sala's weren't as good as those I've had elsewhere in the area. However, our meal was highly flavorful and enjoyable, and I would definitely rank Sala up towards the top of the places we've tried in Phoenix (see my list at http://www.yelp.com/list_details?list_id=Pa46iQOM92L75uQoyyuRlQ).
Jim and Audrey - I look forward to the next stop on our tour!
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