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| - In a food category where most vendors pre-cook their wares and display it in heated bins, I love the idea of Thai Express: being able to order, and have your meal prepared fresh in front of you.
This is not the norm in a food court.
Given the typical lunch hour line-ups at this location (routinely the longest by far in the area), I'm not the only one appreciating the concept. But despite the onerous-looking wait times, Thai Express has a pretty slick operation in place to pull everything off.
The cooks manning the stir fry bowls are continuously turning over meals at a rapid pace, while additional prep staff staging fresh ingredients for the meals next up.
As well, a second wait area exists for soups... so those "waiting" are spread out along the counter.
In reality, the volume Thai Express deals with is pretty impressive.
I've tried this location a couple of times now, and my take away experience is this:
First up was Pad Thai. I sat down, and my initial impression was it was missing a few things. No peanuts, no hint of lime, or even egg. It was pretty bland.
That was mostly my mistake: as a rookie, I failed to realize that there is a station off to the side that provides (yes) fresh limes, and ground peanuts, as well as hot sauces, etc. that you can add to your meal as desired.
My second visit led to the "General Thai" meal. As the name hints, it was coated chicken and veggies on a bed of rice.
Tasty, but I noticed the rice seemed like it had been "drying out" a little around the edges. Not surprising, as they do have a lot of ingredients "queue up" for the massive lunch rush.
The verdict? Well, I know I'll be coming back. A lot. Bottom line is there is enough on the menu to keep me interested, and returning repeatedly.
When your choices ARE food fare, Thai Express is definitely one of the better options.
3/30
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