Thalia, River West

Thalia, River West

Eating next door to the Thalia theater in Pilsen last night, we ate at the restaurant called Thalia in River West tonight.



Ana, the owner/hostess, told us she was Laotian, and she served us an off-menu item that she said her Laotian mom used to make her (and probably still does; mom works the kitchen). It was a one-bite lettuce wrap with cilantro, noodles, beef, ginger and soy sauce (she said her mom would have used fish sauce -- and I told her I thought that sounded great -- hint).



Sorry about the over-exposure (the combination of bad camera and bad photographer yields such results). The dish itself was very much on the safe-side; a crowd-pleaser, but somewhat one-dimensional.

We had a seafood sampler of tempura (so-so), a crab cake (not bad) and some very good seared tuna…with fish sauce added (you apparently have to make the effort to encourage the kitchen to let you have it, Thai style -- though I doubt there is much authenticity in this dish).



No one will mistake this fusion food for the stuff at Spoon, TAC, etc., but we liked it. Folks here were very nice; Ana runs the place and teaches computer science at Harold Washington.



She had her family design and sew pillows, wall hangings, etc.



This place is off the path, and it delivers to -- and seems to be patronized largely by –people who live in the big old condos all around. It's BYOB and prices are well within most limits: the $14 dollar, 3-course lunch (with 6 pieces of sashimi/sushi) looks like a good deal.

Thalia
833 W. Chicago.
312.226.6020

I stopped by Thalia this evening to pick up my order. My order was Roti Canai, Thai Chicken Wings, Penang Noodles and Mango and Sticky Rice.

I think I may have scared Ana, especially when I said I recognized her from her picture online. Her response? "What picture online?".... Ooopss....


The roti canai is pretty damn good. The accompanying chicken curry gravy was great. Not enough roti canai though, so I have lots of curry left over!

The Penang noodles are not what I expected. A little sour... I didn't like it, but the shrimp in them were fresh!

The thai chicken was pretty good. They put the sauce on it, so it was a little congealed when I came home. The chicken was battered and fried, and I prefer my thai fried chicken unbattered, but tastewise it was pretty good. I definitely do not expect TAC or Spoon standards here....

The sticky rice and mango is excellent! Soft sweet mangoes, coconutty sticky rice. I am eating it right now, so I have to finish this post fast!

We dined at Thalia for the first time last night and had a very pleasant experience. Ana greeted us at the host stand with a warm smile and every employee we encountered thereafter was very welcoming and efficient. We were sat in the second room (away from the open kitchen,) and it was very cozy and comfortable - a little less noisy than the main room. We noticed on the way in that they have a pretty nice set-up for outdoor dining when the weather permits. Foodwise, we loved both our appetizer choices. Their fried calamari was perfect - light, crispy, and presented beautifully with a nicely Indian masala-spiced aioli dipping sauce. We also shared a Laotian salad with crispy tofu that was pleasantly pungent with lime juice and fish sauce. Jonathan had the "Basil" entree with chicken that was loaded with fresh vegetables and served with your choice of white or brown rice. It had one "chile" icon next to it on the menu indicating slightly spicy and it truely did have some kick to it. He cleaned his plate. I was craving sushi so I ordered a spider roll, an order of Saba (2 pc.,) an order of Escolar, and an order of Tamago. (A good tamago is sort of a benchmark for me when testing a new sushi place. My all-time favorite is Katsu's.) The sushi was perfectly fine, but nothing special. Typical, in my experience, of places with large menus of things other than sushi. Next time we go, I'll probably order something from the non-sushi side of the menu, which is full of the "usual" noodle and curry dishes, but also offers some unique dishes. BTW, they do have a liquor license now. Their wine list is fairly standard, but priced accordingly. We both found glass pours we enjoyed for $7/ea. After sharing one dessert and each having a hot green tea, total bill, without tip was just under $100.

http://www.thaliaspice.com/

Had dinner at Thalia last nice before we went to the theater across the street. While the food was pretty good, no one is going to confuse this place for TAC or Spoon.

Roti Canai was a highlight. Everything else was just alright. I ordered the Spice Fire entree which they place 5 little chilis next to to denote hotness and would rank the heat at a 3/10 on my scale. Pricess were about 30% higher then you can expect at the aforementioned Thai restaurants.

Verdict--if you are going to the theater across the street, Thalia is a decent option, otherwise I wouldnt go out of the way to eat here again.

iblock9 wrote: While the food was pretty good, no one is going to confuse this place for TAC or Spoon.

Last winter, I interviewed the kids of Nick Kokonis of Alinea -- Nick said that after the interview, they were going to their favorite spot: Thalia...and I'm guessing it was not for the authenticity of the cuisine.

Oddly enough, I was taken there by friends last wkend. Have passed it frequently without trying it since it opened as it's not far from my apt. Out of about a dozen things ordered, most were quite avg while one was inedible (calamari, well past it's use date even for the pencil erasers it became) and one or two were standouts.

The tom yum fried rice w/duck breast was by far the best thing of the evening, and so much better than everything else I need to go back soon (Steve Z) and try it again to make sure it wasn't a freak occurrence. Spicy, sour, tom yum flavor w/roasted and sliced duck breast. Really good. Also, a soup called volcano or something like that was also quite nice. I enjoyed the ambiance but outside of the above mentioned Ana, the service was poor.

Jazzfood wrote:The tom yum fried rice w/duck breast was by far the best thing of the evening, and so much better than everything else I need to go back soon (Steve Z) and try it again to make sure it wasn't a freak occurrence. Spicy, sour, tom yum flavor w/roasted and sliced duck breast. Really good. Also, a soup called volcano or something like that was also quite nice. I enjoyed the ambiance but outside of the above mentioned Ana, the service was poor.

Today at lunch I was able to try the dishes Jazzfood talked about upthread. I have to pretty much agree with everyone who posted about Ana being very nice and the food being very average. We started with a dish called avocado tuna, which was nicely seared tuna served over avocado slices in a mild Thai-like marinade. The fish was good, but I wish the accompaniments had a bit more punch in the taste department.

Thalia Spice Avocado Tuna


Also from the "Tastes - from the sea" section of the menu, we ordered Spice Crab Cake which was described as crab meat blended with Thai spices. The crab cake was more of a fish cake consistency and couldn't have been blander if it had a flavorectomy before being served. We later learned that we were served a particularly non-spicy version of this dish (despite for asking for spicy food) and Ana had the kitchen re-do the dish properly. The second version that we got was significantly better than the first.

Thalia Spice Crab Cake


Next up was Volcano Soup, specifically ordered Thai hot. Once again, Thalia failed to deliver in the spice department. The soup, served in a hot pot style serving vessel, was a glorified Tom Kha broth with shrimp, squid and scallops as well as mushrooms in the very bland broth.

Thalia Spice Volcano Soup


Rounding our our lunch was tom yum fried rice w/duck breast. this dish was the best of the lot. It very much put me in mind of a couple of the rice dishes at the personally blacklisted Urban Belly.

Thalia Spice Tom Yum Fried Rice w/Duck Breast



Thalia Spice is a nice enough place, but it's hardly the type of authentic Thai food you might find at a place like Spoon or TAC. It's a perfect place to go with an unadventurous friend who you would like to turn on to the joys of Thai cooking. Training wheels for the palate, so to speak.

Beautiful pics, Steve. Based on your description, I'd say they made the food look better than it actually was.

=R=

at the personally blacklisted Urban Belly

The what?

ronnie_suburban wrote:Beautiful pics, Steve. Based on your description, I'd say they made the food look better than it actually was.

=R=

Yes. The food was beautiful. It just lacked any sort of flavor punch.

stevez wrote:Thalia Spice is a nice enough place, but it's hardly the type of authentic Thai food you might find at a place like Spoon or TAC. It's a perfect place to go with an unadventurous friend who you would like to turn on to the joys of Thai cooking. Training wheels for the palate, so to speak.

Friendly, moderately hip/upscale setting, lots of promise though ultimately Thalia is more sizzle than steak.

Ana, Mom, Vince

The singapore crab rangoon at Thalia's (asian) amazing... The fries at Peppers (maybe , the best ever) and my Sirloin Spicy Suprise - here's the recipe - it can be as hot as you'd like it using my fav, the habanero. YUM times a million.

Hi,

Is this your recipe or the Thalia's? What I don't understand is why you would use Sirloin for a braised dish.

2 -3 lbs sirloin ( cut into strips)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1 habanero diced
1 1/2 cups chopped onions (or shallots if you want to fancy it up and add mad flavor)
1 cup mushrooms (optional)
salt and pepper
1 (28 ounce) cans Italian whole tomatoes ( squished in hand or roughly chopped)
1/4 sherry wine
16 ounces small sour cream
egg noodles or rice

Regards,

Thalia has opened a loop outpost in the pedway under Block 37 called Simply Thalia.

They have a very limited menu, but a nice rendition of tom yum soup.

Simply Thalia
108 N. State
Pedway Level
Chicago, IL 60602

I used a Groupon to try out the Block 37 Simply Thalia last night. Nice comfortable room--a little dark for reading the menu in back but not impossible. Our real highlights were the excellent seaweed salad and a pick-up-the-plate and-lick-it "Sushi Chef's Special" called Tuna Tatari. We also had the hamachi maki, which was fine, and miso and tom yum soup, also fine. The only thing I wouldn't order again was the Bangkok roll. Not bad, but the lovely apricot sauce wasn't assertive enough with the blandness of the bean sprouts and tofu.

Not cheap. If we hadn't had the Groupon, it would have come to about $36. But I'd certainly go back.

I am totally addicted to the Fat Boss roll at Thalia Spice. Not the one in the pedway. But the one off Chicago Ave. The ingredients are the same but the one on Chicago has less mayo than the one in the pedway...

Yes, I said mayo. I am normally not a fan of mayo covered "fusion" rolls, but this one is pretty good. Scallop, ebi, avocado, scallion, masago, spicy mayo, spicy sauce... I shouldn't like it, but I do

In fact I am waiting for my delivery order right now...

Just found out that Anna is no longer affiliated with Thalia. She has opened her own place called Anna's Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar. I think she has not been with Thalia for a while.

Anna's Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar
813 W Lake Street
Chicago, IL 60607
312-344-1090
www.annasbistro.com

A good friend of mine is a very close friend of Anna's. She has been gone from Thalia for 6 months or more. Her mother is doing the cooking at her new spot.