i want to join!!!

boudreaulicious wrote:+1 for collaboration dinner!!!

+2! What a great concept that would be.

What are we lining up for? Whatever it is, I'm in!

laikom wrote:I was thinking more along the lines of a collaboration dinner, but then, that is a bit of a selfish thought.

Having had the incredible pleasure of dining Tuesday at Elizabeth, it was our 25th wedding anniversary, and being a Rainbow Thai regular, I am giddy at the thought of a collaboration dinner between Elizabeth and Rainbow. Giddy I tell you, simply giddy!

Iliana--looks like you'd have a sell-out if you are interested in making this happen

Yes Please.

boudreaulicious wrote:+1 for collaboration dinner!!!

If this happens, I'd love to attend!

=R=

laikom wrote:I was thinking more along the lines of a collaboration dinner, but then, that is a bit of a selfish thought.

Laikom planted the seed, interested to see how it grows.

Rainbow Thai with Laikom and Iliana.

Wanpen, Iliana and Pramote.

Lunch today was:

1. crispy mussel pancakes (a little greasy but delicious with the hot sauce served with it
2. straw mushroom "salad" with ground pork, which was spicy and an entree in itself
3. jungle curry, with pork, which was spicy, a little funky, and surprisingly light broth.

Another good experience here. The prices are very low for the quality and variety.

Make my first trip to Rainbow Cuisine Saturday and had to go for the Naem Khao Thot. What an incredible symphony of flavors and textures: crunchy, sour, sweet, chewy, spicy, and just a little bit funky. What makes this version so great is that the chef fries the crispy rice for just the perfect amount of time.
Was fun to get the first batch of the day. Just a note that they didn't open right at 11 a.m.; I had to wait 15 minutes. But that's pretty typical of a small, family-run place.

Killer. Went last night (Sat), we were the only table at 7:30 but by the time we left all the tables were full.

We had the fried chicken, the issan sausages, the Nam khao, the mushroom salad, and the Khao kluk kapi (sorry for my misspellings).

I actually prefer the sausages at Rainbow to the ones at Aroy. Which is something I never thought I'd say! The fried chicken was phenomenal, and even better cold out of the fridge just now. I could drink a quart of that dipping sauce served alongside the chicken.

The stuff we ordered packed some pretty serious heat, especially the mushroom salad, which crept up on us. Sweating under the eyes and smiling, unable to stop eating, that's my kind of dinner.

The service was fine, she kept apologizing for the long ticket times, but for someone who does not like to be rushed, I thought the pace was perfect.

I can't wait to go back. If I lived closer, I could easily eat this food several times a week.

I had a great inaugural meal at Rainbow Cuisine a few weeks ago with mhl and a few other friends for my birthday. Our menu was pretty extensive:
- naem khao thawt
- mussels pancake
- banana blossom salad
- issan sausage
- kai tod
- red curry with duck
- ground chicken basil with egg
- tod mun
- mushroom salad
- raw shrimp salad
- crispy pad sie ewe with beef

Most everything was as good as reported. I didn't really enjoy the texture of the mussels pancake or tod mun, but that may speak more to how much I enjoy those dishes than to their actual quality at Rainbow. Also, the issan sausage were a little drier than the ones I had recently at ATK, and they were served sans chile peppers. I probably had a little too much champagne to speak intelligently about the dishes I loved, but everything was very tasty. Several of my fellow diners were pretty new to authentic Thai cuisine, and I think that they were converted. All in all, it was a great meal, and I can't wait to get back.

Just as a note, I did order ahead as others with big dine in groups have suggested, and the dishes came out quickly and properly. We finished our meal in an hour and a half, which is kind of insane for how much we ordered, the fact that it was a Friday night, and how small the place is. I'd definitely recommend it if you're planning a big dinner there.

Rainbow is now closed on Mondays.

I had been telling them they need to take one day a week off to have some time, and I'm glad they finally did, they deserve it! I have updated the original thread to reflect the new hours.

Hit up Ranbow for our weekly Thai order.

I asked for a pork Larb and they made it for me, and it was amazing, despite the dish not being on either menu.

Which brings me to my only real complaint. You cannot order online from the Thai Menu!

It honestly isnt that big of a deal, as I enjoy talking to the order taker, but a centralized menu would be fantastic.

Bspar wrote:Hit up Ranbow for our weekly Thai order.

I asked for a pork Larb and they made it for me, and it was amazing, despite the dish not being on either menu.

Which brings me to my only real complaint. You cannot order online from the Thai Menu!

It honestly isnt that big of a deal, as I enjoy talking to the order taker, but a centralized menu would be fantastic.

The ingredient cost, prep time, and overhead to produce those dishes is much higher than the standard menu items. If the "thai menu" dishes were online, they would also get a lot more complaints from people not knowing what they were ordering. "My sausage is sour!", "This fried rice is too spicy and has raw ham in it!" By not including all of the specialty dishes on the online menu, that alleviates a bit of that stress. This is not to imply that they are at all annoyed by the increased time or lower profits on the thai dishes, they love making them, and after all this time has passed are still thrilled that so many Americans, as they say "eat like Thai people".

That makes sense.

I suppose that I am happy that the prices arnt higher on the Thai menu. I'd also happily pay more if I had too. Rainbow is THAT good.


I also cannot wait to try the Duck Larb...

I thought it was also because they take longer to make, so they didn't want complaints about delivery times...

Is there such a thing as raw ham?

Defenses of secret menus never seem very convincing to me. If the longer prep time is an issue, or the higher cost of some ingredients, just state as much on the menu and charge accordingly. Think people won't like the taste? Describe it honestly (this fried rice is spicy; this sausage is sour) and let them decide for themselves.

"Honest" descriptions can be tricky. "This fried rice is spicy" is highly relative.

Boudreaulicious, yes i forgot to add, delivery times are the main concern about the added prep time.

Katie, no matter what the grub hub website says, even if it's an option for a restaurant to put 1.5 or 2 hour delivery time, almost nobody would be okay with that, and the rest of them wouldn't even bother read the disclaimer. Each person's definition of spicy will be different, etc. Also, it's not a secret menu, the Thai menus are easier to find on the counter at Rainbow than the standard one. Many meats can be cured but not cooked, Naem is one of them.

Also, I might add that it's not uncommon for restaurants of all types to have different delivery menus from what are available in the restaurant.

Delivery is usually a much easier option for me.

Id like to note that they will make you, and deliver you, whatever you want.
Happily so.

Mrs Willie & I took my Mom to Rainbow Thai for a Mother's Day dinner tonight.

We started with the Isan Sausage, Neua Daet Diaw, both were stellar.

For entrees we split an order of Naem Khao Thawt & Kao Kluk Ka Pi.

The Kao Kluk Ka Pi was terrific, shrimp paste, savory of the pork & egg, sweetness of the apples.

The big let down was the Naem Khao Thawt. Had this been the first time I had it, I would have been puzzled by the praise posted in this thread. Tonight it was off, very off, very singular in crunch (didn't have the chew it should) as well as singular in flavor, the three of us felt very blah about the dish.

The let down aside, the other dishes were quite bright, so we will for sure be back at a later date.

I had it Friday for lunch and it was exactly as it always is (delicious). Chewy and crunchy, ingredients and flavors all same as ever. Sorry to hear you had an off batch--that would bum me out too!

I have had the Naem Khao Tod as Willie describes once or twice, smaller crispier bits of rice. Considering I've probably had the dish 100 times, the hit rate isn't so bad, and Rainbow remains one of the most consistent restaurants out there. Accidents happen, and there is no reason to fear the recipe changed. My guess is that the rice pucks were left in the fryer too long. One time I had the Naem Khao Tod with a completely different flavor, tangier and less spicy. When I asked why it was different, I found out that Wanpen accidentally used the wrong curry paste to flavor the rice... Oops.

Do those eggplants get eaten raw?

JoelF wrote:Do those eggplants get eaten raw?

Indeed. Fresh, crispy and delicious!

laikom wrote:

IMAG0181.jpg

Looks like Wan Pen has embraced the no-carb challenge

Went to Rainbow on a last-minute audible last night. Isaan sausage and crispy rice salad was excellent as always. My GF normally pushes strongly for Sticky Rice, but I convinced her to go here this time. With a couple of bites, she became a big fan of both dishes, even grabbing a final bite of rice with her fingers after she gave me all her silverware so she would stopping eating it.

I can't see going there in the future when we would not order that dish.

Chicago Hokie wrote:even grabbing a final bite of rice with her fingers after she gave me all her silverware so she would stopping eating it.

that's hilarious--and I can totally relate!!!!!