Thai fried chicken at Siam Noodle and Rice?

So last night a friend suggested we stop at Thai Noodle for dinner, and I happily agreed. Ended up with the papaya salad, which seemed fine (I only tasted, having already had one bad experience with shrimp in the last few days), pork satay, green curry with beef, and Thai fried chicken.

Having read much about the last from many posts describing many restaurants, I was looking forward to it. But... it's just fried chicken. Is Thai Noodle's different from any other Thai restaurant's? Or is it as simple as order fried chicken, get fried chicken?

I mean, it was fine, delightfully crisp skin (which my self-admitted "health nut" friend peeled off and which I quickly grabbed up), but nothing... interesting. I'd rather have fried chicken even at, say, Harmony Grille.

What am I or they missing?

Bob S. wrote:But... it's just fried chicken. Is Thai Noodle's different from any other Thai restaurant's?

Bob,

Would mind providing cross streets or an address for Thai Noodle, I'm blanking on exactly where Thai Noodle is located.

I checked for Thai Noodle in both Google Local and Yahoo Yellow pages and could not find a match.

Enjoy,
Gary

Hi, Gary --

I am a doofus. A doofus who shouldn't post until that third or maybe fourth cup of coffee has kicked in. It was Siam Noodle, just north of Wilson on Sheridan. We started to go into Thai Cafe a half-block north by mistake, and then realized and went to the proper location, but in my haze yesterday morning I jumbled the two.

b.

Bob, I took the liberty of changing the heading for this post, so that other people know which place you mean. You know, you yourself can go back and edit your own post.

Rob

Vital Information wrote:Bob, I took the liberty of changing the heading for this post, so that other people know which place you mean. You know, you yourself can go back and edit your own post.

Rob

Rob (and the other moderators) - a convention on many boards that allow for editing, especially editing by moderators or others not the original author, is to add a line to the end of the post something like:

edited by Shannon Clark

that lets people looking at a post know that it has been edited from how it was originally posted, it is also a chance to add something like "edited to correct name of restaurant" which can help explain not just that, but why, moderation/editing was done.

Just a suggestion.

Shannon

Thanks, gents.

Anyway: Should I be enjoying the pure simplicity of the dish, or is their take on it less interesting than other Thai spots? I appreciate how crisp the skin was, as I said, but other than that, I'd have to say I prefer the American rendition, especially the buttermilk-enhanced kind for extra flavor and texture.

Vital Information wrote:Bob, I took the liberty of changing the heading for this post.

Rob

Rob,

Siam Noodle and Rice, not Siam Noodle. I corrected the subject line.

Gary

Siam Noodle & Rice
4654 N. Sheridan Rd.
Chicago, IL
773-769-6694

Bob S. wrote:Thanks, gents.

Anyway: Should I be enjoying the pure simplicity of the dish, or is their take on it less interesting than other Thai spots?

Bob,

To my taste Siam Noodle and Rice's take is less interesting then others. Siam Noodle and Rice uses only wings, smallish wings at that, which have a tendency to be dry.

A few of my favorite Thai fried chicken spots are Spoon Thai, TAC Quick Thai Kitchen, Thai Avenue and Siam's House.

Thai Fried Chicken at TAC Quick


Enjoy,
Gary

Siam's House
7712 N Milwaukee
Niles, IL
847-967-2390

Spoon Thai
4608 N Western
Chicago, IL 60625
773-769-1173

TAC Quick Thai Kitchen
3930 N Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60613
773-327-5253

Thai Avenue
4949 N Broadway St
Chicago, IL 60640
773-878-2222

Thanks for the pointers, Gary. I'd say our plate actually had more drumsticks than wings, FWIW. (That was fine with me, as I admit I'm not a wing fan -- too much work for so little meat, most of which seems to be tucked between the two bones.)

We did ask the owners what they thought were their best dishes from that page (and to their credit, they cleverly hide their secret menu on the inside back of their menu ;) ), so everything that night was recommended by them. And all was fine -- I just wasn't sure if, as I say, my expectations for the dish had been unfairly high.

Bob S. wrote:Thanks for the pointers, Gary. I'd say our plate actually had more drumsticks than wings, FWIW. (That was fine with me, as I admit I'm not a wing fan -- too much work for so little meat, most of which seems to be tucked between the two bones.)

We did ask the owners what they thought were their best dishes from that page (and to their credit, they cleverly hide their secret menu on the inside back of their menu ), so everything that night was recommended by them. And all was fine -- I just wasn't sure if, as I say, my expectations for the dish had been unfairly high.

a brief clarification, there's a distinction between drumsticks (the lower leg of a chicken, below the thigh) and drumettes (the drumstick-shaped joint of a chicken wing). were you served drumsticks or drumettes?

Bob S. wrote:Thanks for the pointers, Gary. I'd say our plate actually had more drumsticks than wings, FWIW.

Bob,

I believe Ed Fisher is correct in pointing out you may be mistaking wing drumettes and leg drumsticks. I have been to Siam Noodle and Rice a number of times, most recently 4ish weeks ago with Erik M, and, unless they have changed, Siam N & R uses wing sections, including wing drumettes.

Bob S. wrote:I just wasn't sure if, as I say, my expectations for the dish had been unfairly high.

High expectations are warranted, Thai fried chicken is one of my favorite dishes. My suggestion, go to Spoon Thai order Thai fried chicken, papaya salad, beef or pork neck Nam Tok and sticky rice. If there are more people than just you, add dishes as appropriate.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Bob,

I believe Ed Fisher is correct in pointing out you may be mistaking wing drumettes and leg drumsticks. I have been to Siam Noodle and Rice a number of times, most recently 4ish weeks ago with Erik M, and, unless they have changed, Siam N & R uses wing sections, including wing drumettes.

I bow to the experts. :) I have chicken a few times a year, and never at home, so I'll be the first to admit my ignorance of the little pieces.

G Wiv wrote:High expectations are warranted, Thai fried chicken is one of my favorite dishes. My suggestion, go to Spoon Thai order Thai fried chicken, papaya salad, beef or pork neck Nam Tok and sticky rice. If there are more people than just you, add dishes as appropriate. :)

Enjoy,
Gary

Indeed, I'm a little surprised that I haven't gotten there yet -- I've tried to take non-CH/LTH friends many times, every single one demurring. And as I'm trying not to waste a single nice night, grilling out on my back porch in the remaining weeks of my having one, I'm eating out much less anyway. But it will happen.

I too believe, that SNR(and their sister - thai homemade) serves drummette's a major drawback in my book. I also find their chicken to be, if anything, over-marinated so that fish overwhelms the chicken

Though I do prefer only wings, I like thai avenue's version, because they do the whole wing, including my favorite portion, the little flipper at the end, which is all crunch and munch.

on a somewhat related (well wing-anatomy related) note, there was a recent article in the trib on chicken wings where they noted that the second portion of the wing, the portion between the drummette and the flipper, the portion where in a harold's order, you can remove the two wing bones and insert french fries in their place portion, are reffered to on the southside as "the fling". growing up in the southside (well, hyde park) I had never heard this appelation - do folks know if it is really common usage?