Sanook Thai & Sushi

I just tried Sanook, which opened a few weeks ago a couple of blocks away from my condo. It's a decent addition to the multitude of good Thai restaurants near me.

Ambience and service reminded me a bit of TAC Quick. Staff were young, urban, well-dressed and hip-looking, though I must admit I have no idea what any of that really means. Decor was stark and clean - no art, and bare, cobalt blue walls. One wall was white, and onto it, LCD projectors displayed landscape scenes of some far-away, presumably Asian land.

The menu bore little resemblance to TAC and other places with a wide array of authentic, non Ameri-thai dishes. That said, the standards were executed mostly quite well at Sanook, and without any Americanized heat-restraint. Pork larb was potent, and should be ordered only by those with high-spice tolerance. It was fish-sauce funky, plenty limey, and hot-hot-hot. Green curry was similarly fiery, and nicely balanced by just-enough coconut-milk sweetness. Masuman curry was milder and sweeter, and achieved the too-rare success of cooking the potatoes (sweet potatoes, in this case) all the way through. I'd estimate that about half the time I try this dish around Chicago, the potatoes are woefully undercooked. Not at Sanook.

One downer came in the form of spring rolls which had rice paper that was too dry, and almost too-chewy to eat as a result. The negative turned into a positive, however, when the server noticed that we weren't really enjoying the spring rolls. She asked what the problem was, and when I explained, it took her no more than 30 seconds to have a conversation with the manager, who promptly came over to apologize and let us know the dish would be taken off the bill. He explained that the restaurant had run out of what they usually use for spring rolls, and had substituted some previously-made frozen ones tonight. A poor decision, he acknowledged, and one which I attribute to the restaurants early growing pains.

With Sticky Rice, Spoon, Opart, and Dharma all so close, I'm not sure how often I'll find myself eating Sanook's food. It was good though, and the proximity will probably get me back on very cold winter nights when I just don't want to trek any further.

Sanook
2845 W Irving Park
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 463-7299

Seeing how completely empty Sanook was last night, it doesn't sound like many people rushed there based on my lukewarm review above. Probably a good thing, as last night's dinner reached far below the mediocrity of my first visit. This time around, the larb was missing most of the key ingredients of larb: no lime, no rice powder, no herbs. It was just too-chunky ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, who knows?) and plenty of one-dimensional heat. Add in dirty serviceware and prices higher than better nearby alternatives, and it may be quite some time before I return. I hope someone else goes and posts about a wonderful meal. I'd like to learn that my dinner was just new-restaurant growing pains. They seem like nice people.

Kennyz wrote:Pork larb was potent, and should be ordered only by those with high-spice tolerance. It was fish-sauce funky, plenty limey, and hot-hot-hot.

Kennyz wrote:This time around, the larb was missing most of the key ingredients of larb: no lime, no rice powder, no herbs. It was just too-chunky ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, who knows?) and plenty of one-dimensional heat

Kenny,

Larb was back up to snuff at a recent lunch, spicy hot, herbal, textural interest from ground toasted rice and a nice sideways fish sauce funk. Served warm it really hit the spot on a blustery cold day.

Thanks for the heads up on Sanook,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

Kennyz wrote:Pork larb was potent, and should be ordered only by those with high-spice tolerance. It was fish-sauce funky, plenty limey, and hot-hot-hot.

Kennyz wrote:This time around, the larb was missing most of the key ingredients of larb: no lime, no rice powder, no herbs. It was just too-chunky ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, who knows?) and plenty of one-dimensional heat

Kenny,

Larb was back up to snuff at a recent lunch, spicy hot, herbal, textural interest from ground toasted rice and a nice sideways fish sauce funk. Served warm it really hit the spot on a blustery cold day.

Thanks for the heads up on Sanook,
Gary

excellent! The place is so new and clearly working out some consistency kinks. My first experience was good, and it's close enough that I'll surely be giving it more chances.

Kennyz wrote:excellent! The place is so new and clearly working out some consistency kinks.

Kenny,

Sanook fumbled the ball at a recent lunch, lifeless watery magura, inexpertly formed flavor deficient Mexican Roll, insipid spring rolls, Stir-Fry Hell lacking heat, only thing hellish about the dish was the pool of ground beef grease lining the bottom of the plate, Pad Kee Mao w/over cooked pork and under done veg. Not one item in a diverse representation would make me consider a return visit.

Friendly efficient service, but I have to wonder if the same person was cooking as prepared the previous tasty larb.

Enjoy,
Gary

Windows are papered over.