SPICY THAI

Where: Spicy Thai, 3230 N University Avenue, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Kelsey, Daniel, Scott & Hayley

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Green Curry, Pad Thai, Pineapple Red Curry, Pineapple Yellow Curry, Mango & Sticky Rice

What It Cost: $27.25 for two people (2 entrees + dessert)

What We Thought:

Decent curry, not the cheapest prices, kind of Americanized dishes.

None of the dishes were anything to go crazy about, but none of them were bad. This meal left me full, but not really excited, if you know what I mean? I thought their heat meters were pretty accurate - I was satisfied with the spiciness of my dish, without having my taste buds burned off. But for those of you who like your Thai food REALLY spicy, Spicy Thai may not be your best bet.

The Pad Thai was pretty good - not as peanut-y as I normally like, and the sauce was pretty acidic. Of course this didn't stop me from eating the whole thing with Owen, since Pad Thai is my new favorite meal of 2014, but I've had better. I liked how you could choose what type (or if) of meat you wanted.

Cute rice container! There was plenty of rice for everyone's curry, which was nice. Nothing worse that shortages of rice! I thought it was a little odd how much they charged extra if you want sticky or brown rice though...I love sticky rice, but I definitely wouldn't "upgrade" to it here.

Normal yellow pineapple curry. Nothing too crazy here...

I ordered the red pineapple curry, and thought it was pretty good. It was actually my first red curry (I usually stick to yellow), and I was surprised to find I like it more! Nice pepper flavor coming through, which was tasty with the pineapple to mellow out the heat.

I always have to get mangoes & sticky rice! This one was much more soup-y than others I've had - it kind of seemed like the coconut sauce was just poured on top instead of cooking the rice with any coconut flavor. But mango was in season, so the fruit was absolutely divine.

What You Should Do: It's not a bad choice, but it definitely wasn't my favorite Thai place we've been to. I've heard they are really good for take-out, but I don't know if we'll be back, since it wasn't that cheap for the portion sizes.

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THAI DRIFT

Where: Thai Drift, 1655 N State Street, Orem 

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Papaya Salad, Spicy Pad Phet, and Pineapple Curry

What It Cost: $36.00 (including tip)

What We Thought: 

Let me just start off with, this is literally the most spicy meal I have ever eaten in my entire life. Ever. And man, I like spicy food, and don't try to avoid it. BUT WOW. 

So when we ordered the papaya salad, and the server asked us how we wanted the spiciness on a level of 0-10, we went with for a 7, since papaya sounded fruity and like it would kind of cancel out some of the heat. UM, NO NO NO. Do not be surprised. It's the kind of heat where the food tastes super good so you eat it really quickly, and then it hits you. And you die. Because it feels like your tongue is literally bleeding from every taste bud -- seriously, I asked Owen to check my mouth to make sure I wasn't actually bleeding! Let me tell you, it was spicier than everything I've ever had, but the flavors were excellent and it was a lot of fun! But if you don't actually like spicy food, maybe go for like a 2. The server kind of laughed when we said we want a 7.

The spicy pad phet on the other hand wasn't as spicy as you might think (thankfully). I have to admit, we had to save most of the dishes we ordered, and reheat them the next day so that we could actually taste them. Because our taste bloods were on fire. Eating was actually physically painful. Anyway, the pad phet was really good -- normally I don't really love bamboo, but this dish made it work for me, and it was great!

Pineapple curry is always my favorite, and this one definitely did NOT disappoint! Of course, the pineapple enzymes made me want to go in for anesthesia, considering the papaya salad-damaged tongue. But when I ate it the next day, IT WAS SO GOOD! I'm telling you, Thai food definitely makes the best leftovers. This was one of the sweetest (but not in a bad way), creamiest, best pineapple curries I've ever had. And that's saying something.

The only thing I didn't like about this meal was that I was so full by the end that I couldn't order my all-time favorite dessert, mango and sticky rice! But man, it looked good, and I want to go back and order dessert first next time!

What You Should Do: I have it on quite good authority that this is the best Thai food in Utah County, and so far, I have to agree! In every other restaurant we've been to in Utah County, when you say you want something hot, they make it with a little kick, but usually pretty weak. THIS IS THE EXCEPTION. You can't say I didn't warn you. But it's so worth it!

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Thai Mango

Where: Thai Mango, 2250 N University Pkwy #4, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Spring Rolls, Pineapple Curry, and another dish we can't remember the name of (!!!) Something with "pad" and maybe "king" in it??

What It Cost: $31.00 (including tip) 

What We Thought:

Okay, so along with Korean food, we also are not really the number one experts when it comes to Thai food. But a guy in my research lab said that this was one of their favorite restaurants, so we thought we'd give it a try. 

We started out with the spring rolls, which were very different and much better than I expected. Of course (don't judge me for this), I'm pretty sure the last time I had a spring roll was at Panda Express, so...I probably didn't have a very good idea going into it! But they were super delicious! The filling was fresh and delicious, I loved all the basil, and they tasted great dipped in the peanut sauce it was served with. I loved the combination of crunchy and crisp with the meat inside them, and could have eaten like 20 more.

Then I got the pineapple curry with jasmine rice, which was super tasty. I loved the tangy infusion of pineapple in the sauce, and chicken was definitely a good choice with the other flavors. The only thing I didn't love was the bamboo - the texture stood out too much for me in the medley of other vegetables, and the pieces of bamboo were pretty big. I ended up eating around most of them, but thoroughly enjoyed the rest of it.

Neither Owen nor I for the life of us can remember the name of his dish, but all we remember is that he loved it! He got it with beef and jasmine rice, and loved the savory sauce mixed with fresh grilled vegetables. He was a little surprised at the huge branches of basil in it, but I am a basil fanatic, so I thought they were delicious. 

What You Should Do: Definitely check it out. The service was better than I was expecting from other reviews - they were pretty busy and didn't have many people working, but we never had to wait super long for anything. This was a great experience for us, and we certainly are going to be trying other Thai food restaurants soon!

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