Restaurant Review: Thai Chili Cuisine

Thai Chili Cuisine - dinner on April 3, 2017

I found a small business restaurant that was female co-owned in my neighborhood and talked one of my friends into meeting me there for dinner. It’s closer than my favorite Thai restaurant where I get my favorite pad thai and it’s always good to find another small business to support.

We went on a Monday night and it wasn’t that crowded. Maybe 12-16 tables of varying sizes and a quarter to a third full? We were greeted and seated promptly at a table originally meant for four but the hostess (owner?) separated the two two-toppers slightly in case more customers came in to use the other one. But she kindly invited us to use the chairs from the nearby table to place our purses on which we appreciated.

Roti - $6.95

 As always, when trying a new Thai restaurant, I get – what else – the pad thai, no bean sprouts. I’ve never understood the purpose of bean sprouts. They have no flavor and an annoying crunch. Left to themselves, they camouflage among the noodles then interfere with the dish by inserting their crunchy texture when you just want soft noodles. No, bean sprouts and I are not friends.

Pad Thai with Chicken - $9.95

Fortunately, the restaurant was very accommodating of my aversion to bean sprouts and served me the pad Thai without them. Which made me enjoy my favorite dish just the way I like it. My friend had the drunken noodles which looked good but I was too wrapped up in my pad Thai to try it. We split an appetizer order of roti and OMG, that made the whole dinner worthwhile. The roti was served warm; it was deliciously buttery, flaky and crisp yet chewy. Much as I liked the pad Thai, I’d go back for the roti alone.

Drunken Noodles - medium spicy, $9.95

Thumbs up for Thai Chili Cuisine. It isn’t fancy or large but I like this kind of “neighborhood gem” that isn’t too crowded, has good service, reasonable prices and serves good food. I’m already thinking of who else I can meet for dinner so I can go back.