Kansas City: Thai

Thai Place – Any survey of Thai places in the KC metro seems to start and end with Thai Place. I haven’t been down here for too long, but in my limited exposure, this seems to be the case. There are four different locations of this local restaurant, all run by family members of Ann Liberda, proprietress of the Overland Park original, who in turn got her start at the area's original Thai joint, Bangkok Pavillion (recently burned down, rebuilt, and reopened).

Finally hit this place the other night, and it exceeded my (low) expectations, but didn’t hit as high as I’d hoped.

I can easily believe the best Thai food in town can be found here. Unfortunately, it’s not all that Thai. No papaya salad. No sticky rice. The Thai sausage in the Thai sausage salad, according to our waitress, is actually Chinese sausage, and I trusted her enough not to put this to the test.

Physically, it’s a very charming space. It’s a small, strip mall restaurant. Very intimate, cozy, white tablecloths, very cool light fixtures, pleasing Thai art on the walls, a small, but nicely stocked bar at the back. Certainly a good place for a date, but not uncomfortable for my wife and me and our two little kids. Service was extremely good. When asking about some “unusual dishes,” the waitress smilingly asked if we’d visited Thailand, and after giving a little background, acknowledged that you just can’t get the stuff in KC that you can get in Chicago or LA. Doesn’t mean I’ll stop looking.

The food. We ordered modestly. Chicken satay for the kids, yum nua num tok (“waterfall beef”), and yellow curry shrimp fried rice. Four levels of heat offered: mild, medium, hot, and Thai hot. We ordered the salad hot and the rice medium.

Satay was the weakest point. Big fat chicken tenders had too little surface area for satay to my taste. The spicing reminded of an Indian curry. The peanut sauce was okay, heavy on the coconut milk, very smooth in texture. The kids liked it. It was fine.

The fried rice dish was fine too, I guess, though the flavors didn’t strike me as Thai. The curry again struck me as more Indian than Thai. Reminded me of something you’d get at Big Bowl—very competent execution, nice presentation, big helping, came out hot, but lacking the pop of flavor you want. Did have good heat, impressive, especially for a medium order.

Nam tok/num tok is a favorite of mine, and this was a much better version than it’s going to sound like in a minute. No fish sauce detectable, but the beef was of good quality, and well-cooked with noticeable outer char, mint was fresh, toasted ground rice. The lime was a bit understated and lemongrass (which I wouldn’t expect, but I don’t think is outside the range of possibilities) I only know to be part of the dish because I saw it on the menu. Now is where it probably doesn’t sound too good. But the fact is, the elements that were present still add up to a pretty good dish. And the heat was a step up from the medium, a really substantial blast of chili, enough to overwhelm the dish actually, especially with the other elements lacking.

Prices were surprisingly high. The above three orders, a side of rice, and a house special “Thai Sling” from the bar (a bit margarita tasting, but not quite, not bad at all, though I’d like to see their hand at a real drink) was about $40 before tax and tip. This is the kind of thing I’m talking about when people start talking about cost of living in KC vs. Chicago. Sure the portions were good size, but I’d much rather get an extra dish or two and have a little less of everything.

All told, I think this place sounds worse than it is. Or maybe it’s just accepting the realities of where you live. The food was good, and I’ll certainly be back. They had enough interesting things on their menu to keep me happy for a while. But I’m damn sure spoiled for good Thai.

Thai Place
9359 W 87th Street
Overland Park, KS 66212
(913) 649-5420
http://www.kcthaiplace.com/

Aaron,

I always think of Thai Place as "fancy go to meetin'" Thai food. You are correct that a lot of standard dishes are not available there. I've posted before that Thai Place reminds me of Aurn's in its heyday. My go to dish is always the fish (sometimes it's snapper, sometimes it's catfish) in sam rod sauce...thai hot. This dish is very tasty and packs a considerable dose of heat! That dish alone makes Thai Place (Overland Park location) a can't miss destination for me on every visit to KC. The red curry is pretty good, too.

Thai Place Catfish in Sam Rod Sauce


Sorry about the quality of this picture

I'll agree with your assessment of Thai Place, particularly the high prices. We enjoy eating there but don't go that often because of all the negatives you've mentioned. On the other hand, this is the best Thai food in the KC metro area so if you want those flavors, Thai Place is where you're going to end up.

We have also eaten at their Westport location. Much more intimate and romantic if you're looking for a nice night out without the kids.

For some excellent Americanized Mexican, we enjoyed Mi Ranchito when we were in town over the Holidays.

Keep it coming buckaroo!

Buddy

I started a separate thread for an account of a recent group dinner at Thai Orchid.

Just jacked into this site from KC. First post.

Thai and SE Asian are my favorite eats and when done well, they have many psychedelic layers going on. Compared to a SE Asian friend who has been teaching me to properly balance Thai, I haven't had Thai at any restaurant in US that can compare to her (including in Chicago). There are a lot of shortcuts that most restaurants take as there is a great deal of prep work involved. A sense of balance is needed that is hard to do on a large scale (such as a restaurant).

That said, I really prefer all appz instead of an entree when eating Thai out. A soup, salad (larb/laab/nam sod) and other trinkets give much more variety and layers that burst with SE Asian flavored crystals.

There are a couple places in KC that pull this off but not consistently. Thai Paradise downtown is better for lunch than for dinner for appz/soups/salads as a meal. Thai Place has several locations but I've only found the one up in NKC to have high standards for the appz/salads. (The one near where I live in Westport sucks.) Cheap happy hour appz and the pork larb salad at NKC location are often good. The firepot volcano seafood soup is also descent (the one up N).

Cambodian and Laotian salads are something else I've been experimenting with (via friend). The Froggy egg and crème fraîche influence in Laotian food is awesome. Unfortunately the Cambodian/Laotian community in KC seems to stick with vietnamese/thai standards, at least in the restaurants. Some of the River Market area places (which have more Cambodians) sometime present vietnamese in cambodian style (lots of side condiments and wider use of fish sauce, though less is more). But I'm not clear on all the cultural nuances, IE, I think larb is actually cambodian or lao but is a thai staple. Therefore I just talk about eating SE Asian.

When eating out SEA, I often ask for many things on the side depending on what I ordered.... ginger, lemon grass, thai basil, limes, cilantro, etc above the usual chilis/spiced condiments some may offer. Then I'm able to perk up any dish to my tastes.

Welcome, ignatius! I've certainly noticed with interest your affection for SE Asian cooking on the KCRag forum...glad you made it over here.

Completely agree that few restaurants do as good a job with Thai food as a good home cook and that there are a lot of shortcuts that considerably ratchet down the quality (though you could argue both are true for a lot of restaurants).

Thai has become so popular that a lot of people have tried Thai restaurant food often enough to have a sense of what "Thai food" is, but not realizing that there is a whole other level of quality (and range of dishes) out there.

I'm still learning KC's Thai scene, such as it is, and I'd love to hear more about the Laotian and Cambodian offerings, since the Thai restaurants proper haven't exactly overwhelmed (should get to Thai Paradise for lunch).

Chicago has plenty of average-to-good Thai and AmeriThai places, but there are at least a couple that are really special, some of my favorite food anywhere. Spoon Thai, TAC Quick, stand out, with Sticky Rice (and a handful of others) perhaps a notch behind. Even these places, it may not be apparent by a chance visit the quality available from these kitchens, as my best meals have been fairly well-orchestrated compositions off the translated Thai-language menu. (A poster here, Erik M., has contributed immeasurably to the exploration of the Thai scene in Chicago and elsewhere.)

You should definitely poke around here on LTHForum if you're looking for a knockout Thai meal in Chicago. There's tons of great info, and also plenty of folks who would no doubt be happy to meet you and arrange such a dinner. I have a much better experience eating Thai with a large group because I enjoy so many different types of dishes as part of my meal. (And I'm still up there regularly enough, I may be able to join you, so let me know....seriously, a $100 plane ticket + $35 meal is just about worth it for a meal of this caliber. Or as worth it as some other high-priced joints with middling food.)

Here are a couple posts with pics that give a good idea of what's available. This first link was my last Thai meal in Chicago before moving, and it was un-freaking-believably good. I'm not one of those offal-crazy food nuts, but the "Isaan-style sour, light, and spicy soup with beef offal" probably reigns as my most memorable soup experience

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=85760#85760

I wasn't at this meal, but I had a similar one a few months later, and the bitter beans were a spectacular new experience. Oh, and the whole, few-day-old, rice-fermented fish. Wow.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=88523#88523

Cheers,

Aaron

Will check those out next time I'm in Chicago.

Another quicky Thai in JoCo to checkout is Thai 2000 on Shawnee Mission. Was pretty good last time I was there but it's been a few years.

Lulu's is another one on SW Blvd that is not always consistent but they hit the mark sometimes. I like their soups but it has come out cold once. Has urban rehab decor.

I cook SE Asian myself or with friends so don't hit the SEA restaurants as often as I used to.

Unfortunately, Thai2000 bit the dust last year. Pity, bcz some of their stuff was genuinely home-style.

Also watching all the nutty Thai dvd's was a hoot too.

BTW, if you're interested in how it was Back In The Day for Thai in KC, Charles nails it pretty well:

http://www.pitch.com/2007-01-25/dining/strike-two/

Willy was an absolute stunningment when it opened: hardly anyone in town but dedicated foodies knew what Thai food was. And Bankok Pavillion, in its first two or three years rivalled decent food in The Old Countrie, most likely bcz it was the owner's MIL in the kitchen!

Geo

i agree, thai 2000 was awesome. They had a drive through, too, which was neat. I remember they had great complimentary fried chicken wings and chicken soup when we came in to eat lunch a couple times.

Tried Hot Basil down on 119th in scary suburban OP a couple weeks ago. As with most Thai places, it suffered with shortcuts. Had a larb salad with two bits of cilantro, one bit of mint and seemingly no rice powder, which is most important part. Hot basil wings were OK. Green curry was uni-dimensional. The dude came from Thai Place in NKC and has a lot of the same items, but not with the same level of balance and with even more shortcuts. It didn't suck but it wasn't worth the trip to the land of sprawl and stripmalls as I heard it was.

BTW, here's how I make larb/laab. It's simply too involved and not economically doable for most restaurants...

http://forum.kcrag.com/index.php?topic=15545.0

BTW, waaaay OT, but if you haven't tried the weekend buffet at China Tom's, you haven't lived. Some of the best food I've ever had, and man, I've *lived* in China! Sat-Sun mornings, begins at 11. Last Sunday pork belly showed up in *3* different dishes.

Your larb looks *great*, Ignatius. Nice effort.

Geo

Geo wrote:Your larb looks *great*, Ignatius. Nice effort.

Geo

Thanks, we regularly have SE Asian cooking parties and I tend to take this as it's often a big hit. When we plan to get together, it's usually requested by several to bring it.

There's a China Tom's on 47th in Westwood near OK Joes. Have never been. Is that the one?

That's the one. You'd never believe that's the place with the *amazing* buffet. Get there early, since by noon all the locals show up with their families. Cost: $11.

Geo

So my kitchen has been deified by me friends as the best thai kitchen in KC. If visiting KC, PM if you'd like to try these SE Asian influenced adaptations...

See following TWO posts...
http://forum.kcrag.com/index.php?topic= ... #msg438895