Elephant Thai Does it Again

I had dinner tonight at Elephant Thai for the first time in a while. Ann has added a new dish to the specials board, Red Snapper 3 Flavors. Once again, Ann shows her deft hand with fish preparations. This is a deep fried fillet topped with a mixture of red & yellow bell peppers and diced onions along with a healthy dose of jalapeños and fried basil leaves in a sauce that is at once sweet & sour and spicy with a note of fish sauce and garlic (mine was EXTRA spicy at my request). This was an excellent dish! It was followed by another chalk board special, sweet sticky rice with fresh mangoes, for desert. This was such a satisfying dinner that I didn't even feel the urge to go across the street to The Chocolate Shoppe for ice cream. My only regret is that I didn't bring my camera with me. Get there soon and try this before it's off the menu.

Elephant Thai
5348 W. Devon
Chicago, IL
773-467-1168

stevez wrote:Red Snapper 3 Flavors. Once again, Ann shows her deft hand with fish preparations. This is a deep fried fillet topped with a mixture of red & yellow bell peppers and diced onions along with a healthy dose of jalapeños and fried basil leaves

Stevez,

Take out the basil leaves, and this is just about exactly what many Mexican restaurants are serving as huachinango a la Veracruzana (which it ain't). In addition, many of the Mex places that serve this dish do not include the jalapenos either, which makes no sense, as these peppers are native to Veracruz, and so would be a very appropriate addition (they would not, however, and to the best of my knoweldge, be included in a traditional a la Veracruzana prep).

The red snapper at Elephant sounds much better than the red snapper done in this ersatz Veracruzan style -- the most egregious example of which is served at Hacienda Tecalitlan (Bram Stoker's baronial barn on Ashland).

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:

stevez wrote:Red Snapper 3 Flavors. Once again, Ann shows her deft hand with fish preparations. This is a deep fried fillet topped with a mixture of red & yellow bell peppers and diced onions along with a healthy dose of jalapeños and fried basil leaves

Stevez,

Take out the basil leaves, and this is just about exactly what many Mexican restaurants are serving as huachinango a la Veracruzana (which it ain't). In addition, many of the Mex places that serve this dish do not include the jalapenos either, which makes no sense, as these peppers are native to Veracruz, and so would be a very appropriate addition (they would not, however, and to the best of my knoweldge, be included in a traditional a la Veracruzana prep).

The red snapper at Elephant sounds much better than the red snapper done in this ersatz Veracruzan style -- the most egregious example of which is served at Hacienda Tecalitlan (Bram Stoker's baronial barn on Ashland).

Hammond

This dish had solid Asain flavors and could not be confused with erzatz Huachinango a la Veracruzana (which I have had on many occasions) by any stretch of the imagination.

stevez wrote:This dish had solid Asain flavors and could not be confused with erzatz Huachinango a la Veracruzana (which I have had on many occasions) by any stretch of the imagination.

I don't doubt that it had "solid Asian flavours," stevez, but based on the description you've given, the plaa thâwt sãam rót (fried fish with “three-flavoured” sauce) at Elephant Thai doen't adhere to tradition any better than does David's AmMex fish in-the-style-of-Veracruz.

Bell peppers? (which are no more appropriate than, say, broccoli)

Onions? (as opposed to Asian red shallots)

Jalapenos? (as opposed to Asian long, red chiles)

Basil? (which was doubtless Thai sweet basil, as opposed to true Holy basil)

At any rate, thanks for the heads up. I'll be in the vicinity of Elephant Thai this weekend.

E.M.

stevez wrote:I had dinner tonight at Elephant Thai for the first time in a while. Ann has added a new dish to the specials board, Red Snapper 3 Flavors. Once again, Ann shows her deft hand with fish preparations.
<snip>
My only regret is that I didn't bring my camera with me.

Steve,

Introduced the neighbors to Elephant Thai tonight, they were quite taken with the place. Taste, quality, friendliness, popping with freshness, not to mention the ever engaging Ann. The bill coming to a pre tip total of $60 for 4-people was icing on the cake.

We all enjoyed the Red Snapper 3 Flavors, thanks for the heads up.


One of Ellen's other favorites of the evening was mildly spicy Ong Choi, which she said was more to her taste than my usual ong choi order at 'Little' Three Happiness with fu ye (fermented tofu).

Ong Choi at Elephant Thai


Enjoy,
Gary

Since I did bring my camera when I tried Elephant a month ago, I might as well share here. I tried standard menu items. I'll be back for specials.

Chive Dumplings "Fried chive dumplings brushed over with fried garlic, served with chili black soy sauce"
Very tasty.



Spring Rolls "Fresh rolls with roasted tofu, egg, cucumber and bean sprout, served with special thai sauce"
Rather bland.

Roasted Duck Curry "Roasted duck with pineapple, tomatoes, grape, and basil leaves with red curry in coconut milk"

An excellent curry.

Panang Curry "Panang curry in coconut milk, with bell pepper and citrus leaves."

An even better curry. Fresher tasting coconut milk than most.

Elephant Thai gets extra marks from me for having a cute Irish pub (Moher) just down the street to help wash down the heat.

kiplog wrote:Chive Dumplings "Fried chive dumplings brushed over with fried garlic, served with chili black soy sauce"
Very tasty.

Kiplog,

Nice picture of Elephant Thai's chive dumpling, they make one of the better versions around town.

Enjoy,
Gary

Stopped in Elephant Thai today for the first time. I explained right off that I wanted the LTH/authentic treatment and Ann obliged. Had the basil chicken, spicy. Outstanding! Fresh and flavorful. I love the texture of the ground chicken, too.

Ann said that Elephant will be featured in the At Play section of tomorrow's Tribune. I hope this exposure leads to a lucrative summer for this Great Neighborhood spot.

There hasn't been much posted about Elephant Thai lately, so I thought I would insert a data point. Despite having much more business than in the old days (that's a good thing!), Ann is still able to maintain the quality of the food and is turning out wonderful dishes. On a recent visit, I had the always great Red Snapper 3 Flavors.

Red Snapper 3 Flavors


Accompanying that was crab fried rice with deep fried egg made with real crab meat.

Fried Rice W/Deep Fried Egg

This is my first post to lth, but I have been reading the board for over a year now. A hearty thank you to all who post regularly as your recommendations continue to be spot-on - some of the best meals I have had in Chicago were due to lth recs.

I work in the south loop and yesterday I was really feeling like Thai food so I turned to the only really good Thai place close by - Siam Rice. I ordered the Tom Yum soup w/ Tofu and the Som Tum salad with shrimp. The soup, I'm afraid to say, was the worst version of Tom Yum soup I have ever had. In fact, I threw it out after taking a few bites - the flavors just seemed way off. The version I have had at Sticky Rice is much more my style. The salad, on the other hand, was quite good, although it was the first version of Som Tum I have tried so I have nothing to really compare it to. Shredded papaya and peanuts seem to go very well together.

So I have lived in the Jefferson Park area for 4+ years now and I am ashamed to admit I had never been to The Elephant before. Since I wasn't really satisfied with my lunch experience, and since I have been meaning to go to The Elephant for some time now, I had to make the move.

My friend and I stopped by Foremost Liquors on Milwaukee and Foster and picked up 6-packs of Anchor Steam and Goose Island 312 and headed over to The Elephant around 8:00 pm. I had been tipped off by others on the board about the Chive Dumplings and the Red Snapper 3 Flavors so I ordered them without hesitation. My friend ordered the Emerald Noodles, and told me it was fantastic, although I did not try it.

I thought the chive dumplings were phenomenal - the outside was just the right amount of crispy, the sauce had a little kick to it, and the chive filling was delicious. I would definitely order that again. The Red Snapper, as well, totally hit the mark. In retrospect, I should have ordered it spicier, because the sauce what sweet and some more spice would have complemented it very well. One problem I ran into was that I was only given a fork and no knife so I ended up using my fingers to pick apart much of the fish. I guess I could have asked for a knife, but in a weird way I kind of enjoyed the extra effort. The snapper was fried just the right amount and very succulent and flavorful.

There is no doubt that The Elephant will now be in the regular rotation, especially because I'm sure they will deliver to my house since I live so close by. I'm already looking forward to trying some of the other dishes (especially the Panang Curry and Pad Kee Mao which are two of my favorite go-to Thai dishes).

Made my first trek to Elephant last night, after being sidetracked during an attempt earlier this week, and my perseverance was rewarded. Across the board, I thought the dishes were delicious, well-prepared and visually appealing . . .


Chive Dumplings...These were wonderful -- piping hot, crispy on the outside and filled with aromatic chives. I thought the accompanying sauce was terrific, too.



Shrimp Rolls...Again, served piping hot, the shrimp rolls had a great peppery note and the whole basil leaf inside the crispy rice wrapper really distinguished them.



Moo Ping...the pork in this version was a little 'chunkier' than what I'm used to but still very tender to the bite. It was also a bit more garlicky than other versions I've had and less sweet, which I appreciated. Really delicious.



Tom Kha Kai...I loved this rendition, which really satisfied. It was rich and creamy in texture and delivered very nice sour and tart notes that made it virtually irresistable. This was the large bowl and I wish we'd had more of it.



Som Tum...not the hottest I've had by any means but a delicious, well-balanced rendition that embodied all the things that make it a great dish...crunchy, sweet, hot and aromatic, bordering on pungent.



Roasted Duck Curry...very tasty but I wish I'd ordered this one "spicy." I loved the flavor of the rich, complex curry, which was slightly thicker than what I'm used to. It also thrilled me that each piece of roasted duck still had its well-browned skin.



Basil Chicken...A very tasty version of one of my Thai baseline dishes. I love this one and try to order it everywhere. I thought the flavors and textures here were great but again, wish that I'd requested it more spicy. Still, there was a depth of flavor here that made the dish very satisfying.



Emerald Noodles (Special)...this non-menu item seems to be something of a regular special. It combined green (aka emerald) noodles with delicious shrimp, real crab, chicken and egg. The dish was slightly sweet, like pad see ewe often is, but not overly so. This had very nice balance.



Pad See Ewe with Chicken...I loved this rendition just based on the near-perfect noodles alone. They were dense, chewy and slightly caramelized. It was a bit similar to the Emerald noodles but different enough that I'm glad we ordered it. Still, next time, I'd probably skip the 2nd noodle dish and order one of the fish dishes...first-time jitters, I suppose.

It appears that my office will soon be moving to Niles and that will put The Elephant very much on our regular lunch radar. The move is likely months away but my next trip to The Elephant will certainly be much sooner than that. This was a delicious, satisfying meal served by an enthusiastic crew (owner, Ann, is a real charmer) in a bright, cheery space. Thanks, LTH, for another great endorsement.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:but again, wish that I'd requested it more spicy. Still, there was a depth of flavor here that made the dish very satisfying.

Ron,

I can say with certainty that Ann is ready, willing and able to amp the spice level to just shy of sun-spot if you wish.

Glad you liked Elephant Thai, it's one of my favorite spots and I agree, Ann is a real charmer.

Enjoy,
Gary

My wife and I had planned to get sushi at our local place on new year's eve, but when they told us it would be more than an hour wait for our pick-up order, we started looking for a second choice.

We decided on Thai, and I remembered this thread, so quickly searched for 'elephant' and scanned the thread. Not having a menu, I needed the phone number and a few suggestions on what to get.

I called in the order and the woman on the phone took it, very politely, and asked if I had read about them on the "little three H" forum. I said yes and she said "because you order everything just like they have pictures of."

We kind of laughed and I told her that the people in this forum generally know their stuff, so I trust their suggestions.

She was delightfully friendly when I picked up the order and we chatted a bit about the spicing of the foods. She told me that her curries are authentically spicy and said that most americans can't handle the spice level.

"But," she said, "Mr. Ronnie, he like *very* spicy!"

As for me, I like spicy, but their Som Tum pretty much blew my doors off.


Anyway, the food was very good and this place isn't far from our new house at all, so it's pretty much going to be our regular Thai take-out from now on. Thanks for the guidance, LTH!

Does anyone know if this restaurant is open on Sundays?

Tammy76 wrote:Does anyone know if this restaurant is open on Sundays?

They are closed on Sunday.

Finally went for the first time to Elephant.

A+

Back in the late 70's we were one of the first diners at the old Thai Star Cafe at State and Erie.

Elephant harks back to the flavors we had back then.

Thanks LTHForum!

Here are some pictures of a recent dinner I had at Elephant Thai accompanied by GWiv and Ms. Wiv.

Thai Sausage *


Spring Rolls


Chive Dumplings


Chicken Larb


Shrimp Pad Prik Pao


3 Flavor Snapper


Sweet Sticky Rice W/Mango


Everything was delicious, as usual. Ann really amped up the heat on a couple of the dishes as requested. I walked away with sweat on my brow and a very happy stomach.

* The sausage was an off menu item that Ann is thinking about adding all the time.

The Elephant
(Elephant Thai)
5348 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60646
773-467-1168

stevez wrote:The sausage was an off menu item that Ann is thinking about adding all the time.

I can now verify that Ann has added the grilled thai sausage to the regular menu. The sausages are delicious. It's important to note that they're not in the same style as the fermented Issan sausages. This had more of a straight-ahead seasoned grilled pork flavor. The texture is rather coarse, and they are not bashful about using the pork fat.

Highly recommended.

Best,
Michael

Took some friends who were first-timers to Elephant for lunch on Saturday, where we had an excellent meal. Ann was in Valentine's Day mode and handed my wife (and several other female diners) a long-stem rose, which was a lovely gesture. Of course, flowers don't mean much if the food isn't good. LOL, that was not an issue here, as food was as delicious as ever -- flavors popping and perfect textures, which made the dishes extremely satisfying . . .


Moo Ping



Chive Dumpling



Strawberry Bubble Smoothie



Thai Sausage
As Michael posted above, this is not quite as funky as other renditions around town but very delicious.



Papaya Salad



Tom Kha Kai



Basil Chicken



Emerald Noodles



A rose of beet
Great, beautiful details in the Thai tradition at Elephant. This rose was cut from a beet.



Red Snapper, 3 Flavors



Larb Chicken



Duck Curry

=R=

Made it over to Elephant today -- along with Gypsy Boy and my new point-and-shoot camera -- for another great lunch . . .



Galangal Soup
This isn't exactly on the menu but since I'd recently done a favor for Ann, the owner, she offered me a bowl of this fiery and funky soup, which I loved. In addition to packing some serious heat, it also contained fish sauce and chicken stock, along with pieces of fish and chicken and the large pieces of vegetable seen in the shot. Ann told me that the soup starts with a galangal paste, which is compounded by hand. Great stuff, especially on a blustery afternoon.



Thai Sausage
One of my favorites at Elephant. It was super juicy and browned beautifully on the exterior.



Larb Chicken
Another favorite of mine at Elephant (are you sensing a pattern?). I love the heat and complex flavor and texture of this dish.



Papaya Salad
Brow-beading heat, crunch and provocative flavors. Som Tum is probably my favorite Thai dish and Elephant's version is a great one.



Pad See Ewe with Vegetables
I loved the fat, dense, slightly-browned noodles -- and the fresh vegetables were really nice because the pieces were big and they were tender without being mushy.

I always enjoy Elephant Thai and am very happy that within the next few months, my office is moving about 10 minutes from them. It truly is a Great Neighborhood Restaurant.

=R=

Isn't it remarkable how, no matter how appetizing the food looks in person, it looks even more astounding in Ron's pictures? The pics in his post are testament. I will also add just a word or two to say that this was my maiden voyage to the Elephant and now I'm depressed because they're so far away. Everything was top-notch: the very freshest ingredients, hot (not warm) from the kitchen, and delectable in every way. I particularly enjoyed the sausage but the whole meal was a delight. If you haven't been, and Ron's pictures don't convince you, you're hopeless!

Gypsy Boy wrote:Isn't it remarkable how, no matter how appetizing the food looks in person, it looks even more astounding in Ron's pictures? The pics in his post are testament. I will also add just a word or two to say that this was my maiden voyage to the Elephant and now I'm depressed because they're so far away. Everything was top-notch: the very freshest ingredients, hot (not warm) from the kitchen, and delectable in every way. I particularly enjoyed the sausage but the whole meal was a delight. If you haven't been, and Ron's pictures don't convince you, you're hopeless!

Amen. Your pics, Ronnie, are as always gorgeous and hunger-inducing. The Thai sausage is also one of my favorites, and the pad see ewe, which my son loves, is excellent. Elephant is terrific and worth the 15-minute drive for us every time.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Made it over to Elephant today -- along with Gypsy Boy and my new point-and-shoot camera -- for another great lunch . . .

What camera? Thanks.

lol -
See Ronnie_S? It ain't just me.

(I asked him once for camera make/model a while ago after one of his signature awesome picture postings!)

Always impressive!

Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments. Believe me when I say that the food far outshined the pics. I love the homey preparations at Elephant and the fact that Ann takes such pleasure in sharing her passion for food with her customers. She positively beams when she serves you. Even from Highland Park, it only took about 20 minutes to get there, which makes it a relatively viable option for those of us in the Northern Suburbs. Still, as I mentioned above, when my office moves to Niles later this year, Elephant will be extremely close for me, which is exciting.

=R=

Without derailing the thread, these pics were taken with a Canon s90 (not the same camera I used when seebee previously asked). I'm still getting used to it (received it as a Christmas gift) and these shots are a bit distorted due to some post-production issues, which I'm still learning. I took these shots in RAW mode and they looked unbelievable in that state. After resizing and compressing to .jpg they lost a little bit of their creaminess. There's a way to adjust for that and since it's somewhat camera-specific, I'll have to do it a few more times before I start to get comfortable with it. In my limited experience shooting without flash, the s90 is outstanding in daylight, as well as medium-light and low-light situations but not quite as successful in extremely low-light situations. The lens and the sensor are smaller than in a typical DSLR and that's fairly apparent in extremely low-light shots -- there's quite a bit of noise. Still, it shoots in RAW, has a very nice macro feature, can adjust from 80 to 3200 ISO, offers very good image stabilization and it fits in my pocket, so it's extraordinarily useful and convenient to have on-hand. With my larger Canon 20D, the shots are obviously superior but it's a bit of a load to tote around and there's absolutely no way to shoot covertly with it in a restaurant.

Thanks for the info Ronnie. I meant to say of course that I was interested in the camera because the photos and food look great. I'm going to post a question on what seems like a relevant thread on other culinary chat that if you are able to respond to at some time, I would greatly appreciate.

Got up to Elephant Thai last night for an enjoyable meal. Real solid food all the way around, and it being byob made it even better. Friendly relaxed service for a casual Monday night dinner, good company, really good food. Plenty of food ordered for 4 adults and 1 toddler.

Hopefully I remember all the items( I left the ordering up to Mr. Wiviott, and he didnt disappoint):
- spring rolls, a good version of this appetizer, served with some jalapenos, and a nice sauce

- chive dumplings, I really liked these, probably one of my favorite items of the night, I really liked the chili black soy sauce it was served with.

- shrimp rolls, really good, these shrimped wrapped in basil, and wonton wrap, then deep fried were great.

- Som tum - this papaya salad was in a word great. sweat, a little heat, some crunch. another one of my favorites. SImple but great imho.

- crab fried rice with egg, another great dish, enjoyed the thai style fried rice with real crab, and the egg with its yolk mixed into the rice was excellent(just like I do my fried rice @ home)

-pad woon sen(i think), served with shrimp as well as the noodles, a really solid dish, one of my daughters favorites.

-another shrimp dish in a red sauce, also really good, I cant remember the name

- larb chicken, maybe my least favorite dish of the night, not bad by any means but just not one of my favorites.

I was hoing to try the Red Snapper with 3 flavor sauce I had seen posted about, but last night they were offering a catfish version instead(I am not a big fan of catfish)

I came away from this meal really impressed with the fresh, clean flavors of the food @ Elephant Thai. Really went well with the PBR I brought with.

I have pictures, I will get them up in the next couple days.

jimswside wrote:Got up to Elephant Thai last night for an enjoyable meal. Real solid food all the way around, and it being byob made it even better. Friendly relaxed service for a casual Monday night dinner, good company, really good food. Plenty of food ordered for 4 adults and 1 toddler.

You had some of our favorites--I completely agree about the chive dumplings. Another good appetizer is the Thai sausage served with peanuts--even though my kids aren't crazy about it, I always order it.

Did you go across the street to the Chocolate Shoppe for the great one-two punch of Elephant plus ice cream? Your daughter would probably love the wild decorating they do there, and the ice cream is first-rate. The place almost seems to be from an earlier era with its kids working behind the counter and the comfortable neighborhood atmosphere. They're good at giving tastes of the various flavors too, although admittedly I was there last with my pretty 20-year old daughter, and the guy was offering her and therefore us an awful lot of ice cream to taste!

EvA wrote:

jimswside wrote:Got up to Elephant Thai last night for an enjoyable meal. Real solid food all the way around, and it being byob made it even better. Friendly relaxed service for a casual Monday night dinner, good company, really good food. Plenty of food ordered for 4 adults and 1 toddler.

You had some of our favorites--I completely agree about the chive dumplings. Another good appetizer is the Thai sausage served with peanuts--even though my kids aren't crazy about it, I always order it.

Did you go across the street to the Chocolate Shoppe for the great one-two punch of Elephant plus ice cream? Your daughter would probably love the wild decorating they do there, and the ice cream is first-rate. The place almost seems to be from an earlier era with its kids working behind the counter and the comfortable neighborhood atmosphere. They're good at giving tastes of the various flavors too, although admittedly I was there last with my pretty 20-year old daughter, and the guy was offering her and therefore us an awful lot of ice cream to taste!

the sausage appetizer you mention sounds good, next time.

we did go across the street for ice cream, and then a few miles West for SuperDawg.

jimswside wrote:

EvA wrote:

jimswside wrote:Got up to Elephant Thai last night for an enjoyable meal. Real solid food all the way around, and it being byob made it even better. Friendly relaxed service for a casual Monday night dinner, good company, really good food. Plenty of food ordered for 4 adults and 1 toddler.

You had some of our favorites--I completely agree about the chive dumplings. Another good appetizer is the Thai sausage served with peanuts--even though my kids aren't crazy about it, I always order it.

Did you go across the street to the Chocolate Shoppe for the great one-two punch of Elephant plus ice cream? Your daughter would probably love the wild decorating they do there, and the ice cream is first-rate. The place almost seems to be from an earlier era with its kids working behind the counter and the comfortable neighborhood atmosphere. They're good at giving tastes of the various flavors too, although admittedly I was there last with my pretty 20-year old daughter, and the guy was offering her and therefore us an awful lot of ice cream to taste!

the sausage appetizer you mention sounds good, next time.

we did go across the street for ice cream, and then a few miles West for SuperDawg.

mmmm...SuperDawg, the dessert of champions!