Thurs July 10 spicy lunch at Sala Bua, Chinatown, 12 noon

Sala Bua is a special place that I hope continues to build its business - eating Thai among the riches of Chinatown requires a leap of faith, and so far this place delivers on all counts. Join me this Thursday (July 10) at noon [bumped slightly later based on consensus below as needed] for their savory and wickedly spicy (on request) cuisine.

We can order broadly based on capacity. My favorites so far have been the special Sala Bua pork and mushroom eggrolls, creamy tom yum, all three varieties of papaya salad, chicken larb, searing raw shrimp, and the rarely-sighted chicken rice (khao man gai) rich with scented broth and scratch dipping sauce (all of their sauces are remarkable), and dreadgarlic Isaan sausage bomblets. Ambitiously flavored regional dishes are front and center on the menu - no secret password required. Ordering something "hot" here has so far generated a 30 minute smolder I don't get anywhere else.



Thanks for joining if you can. I'll give them a heads-up we're coming on Wednesday (not under LTH, just a full, interested group) since, while I've had the luck of the deftest hand in the kitchen the past four times or so, there's hardly ever anyone in the dining room.

Sala Bua
2002 S Wentworth Ave Unit 103 (Chinatown)
(312) 808-1770
https://www.grubhub.com/chicago/sala-bua-thai-cusine/

1. Santander (Matt)
2. stevez
3. turkob (maybe)
4. GAF (attempting persuasion below)
5.
6.
7.
8.

Bump for later start time and Mr. Z.

I can't do Thursday, though I think I could Friday if decide to change...

boudreaulicious wrote:I can't do Thursday, though I think I could Friday if decide to change...

Crzzap. Can't change the date this round (headed back to MN on Friday), but I'll be eating there at least once a month and will post or PM again the next time I'm there - thanks for the interest. I'd actually like to get a monthly Chinatown lunch thingy running (maybe on Fridays), exploring both great regional spots and old Chinese-American faves, along with other neighborhood Asian like Ahjoomah's Apron.

Great idea Santander. I'm a maybe for Thursday, depends on work load.

Santander,

How spicy will the dishes be? I haven decided, although most people would say that I eat spicy food, that I don't really enjoy Thai-spicy.

GAF wrote:Santander,

How spicy will the dishes be? I haven decided, although most people would say that I eat spicy food, that I don't really enjoy Thai-spicy.

For your excellent company and additional ordering power, we'll make things work! But even as a baseline, the chicken rice is by definition mild, as is the creamy tom yum and the wrap-in-basil-leaves eggrolls. Isaan is in your own control with garnish peppers. It's the salads (as recommended to me by jatbeni in the original thread) that take off like a rocket ship at this place. We can do one full Thai hot for entertainment and exercise restraint on another. No pressure, let us know if you can join whenever.

The schedule looks good. I'll see you guys at noon.

Grand - see you and any other last-minute takers there at noon.