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| - I love to see good new restaurants in this area of the South Hills... Dormont is on a major upswing, in large part due to the small business owners. My Thai should help.
The décor is really nice, and the place is big and open. I am a bit concerned about the size of the place in relation to the # of people it has been drawing in -- diners will really need to start turning out for this place to last.
Overall, the food is quite good. There is a touch of "foodie-ness" to the way they approach Thai food, which has its pros and cons. There are a few surprises in their bites, from appetizers to mains, but the portions are a bit smaller than you would expect for what you are paying.
There is some strong competition in the area, just a couple of blocks away. The food here may be on par and slightly more inventive, but the portions are a little smaller and about $2/plate more expensive.
I think they can command the $2/plate more, but they will need to up the amount of food they give you for that price. For example, the appetizer sampler platter ($10) consisted of 2 very small spring rolls; 3 very small dumplings, and 3 medium-sized chicken satays --- with dipping sauce. At the very least, the spring rolls should be bigger than a bite, and there should be more dumplings. The sauces crushed the amount of food on the sampler.
Similarly, my main (seafood platter, $17) just didn't have enough "stuff" (even light on the veggies) to justify the price -- although the curry paste sauce was quite tasty and inventive.
Also, a middle-grade beer was $6 ... and it had quite a bit of foam on top.
All said, there's some strong potential here -- but they better fine-tune quickly. Start by giving more for your money, and it might justify the cost.
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