Amarinds

We drove West last night for a small, quick Thai meal. I really like this place. Fresh ingredients, good flavors, nice presentation, and a decent menu for standard Thai. We had:

Fried, stuffed chicken wings: Deboned wings stuffed with shrimp, mushrooms, chicken, and veggies in a fishcake-like consistency. Deep-fried and served with a spicy sweet and sour sauce. These are a nice appetizer with a very good flavor.

Spicy grilled pork: The pork was a tad dry but the flavors in this dish fill your head. I couldn't begin to nail down all the spices, but the whole dish was fragrant and spicy.

Green Cury (Chicken): I'm a sucker for a good Thai curry. This had a very rich flavored broth with very fresh ingredients, especially the asparagus and baby asian eggplants.

Anyone have any other dish recommendations for my next trip?

Amarind's
6822 North Ave.

This is a favorite of my family's. Soups are great, including Tom Yum and Som Tom. Chive dumplings are a greater starter. Red Curries are excellent also, as is their version of chicken Larb. They also have very nice regular lunch specials.

You can't forget Amarind Green Noodles or the Ice coffee. This is the best Thai food bar none.

That's a great Cows album btw. I don't agree as per best Thai, however.

I guess I'll put this here rather than a separate thread: what is the view on Amarinds Thai? I heard decent things about it, so I ordered a pick-up order when we first moved to town. It was simply some of the most disappointing food I have ever had, and not just Thai food. I recall the basil chicken was a mix of pale chicken and large chunks of under-cooked vegetables without any seasoning at all. My wife threw out her Thai fried rice before I could even try it. Today I note Eater has this spot on a top Thai list along with some real contenders. Did we hit a seriously off night, or is Eater desperate to fill a list? Does this place compare to, say Rainbow or Andy's? What would you recommend.

tazerowe wrote:I guess I'll put this here rather than a separate thread: what is the view on Amarinds Thai? I heard decent things about it, so I ordered a pick-up order when we first moved to town. It was simply some of the most disappointing food I have ever had, and not just Thai food. I recall the basil chicken was a mix of pale chicken and large chunks of under-cooked vegetables without any seasoning at all. My wife threw out her Thai fried rice before I could even try it. Today I note Eater has this spot on a top Thai list along with some real contenders. Did we hit a seriously off night, or is Eater desperate to fill a list? Does this place compare to, say Rainbow or Andy's? What would you recommend.

We loved Amarind's when it first opened and it was our go to for many years. However, we definitely noticed a decline. After a terrible take-out experience we finally gave up on it. I'm shocked to hear that it was included on Eater's list. I can't comment on the current situation as we haven't gone back, but maybe things have improved?

tazerowe wrote:I guess I'll put this here rather than a separate thread: what is the view on Amarinds Thai? I heard decent things about it, so I ordered a pick-up order when we first moved to town. It was simply some of the most disappointing food I have ever had, and not just Thai food. I recall the basil chicken was a mix of pale chicken and large chunks of under-cooked vegetables without any seasoning at all. My wife threw out her Thai fried rice before I could even try it. Today I note Eater has this spot on a top Thai list along with some real contenders. Did we hit a seriously off night, or is Eater desperate to fill a list? Does this place compare to, say Rainbow or Andy's? What would you recommend.

I would be interested to hear about any recent experiences at Amarinds, as it is very close to home.

We went years ago, probably near when they first opened at the current spot. That evening the food was pretty good, but the service and timing of the meal were horrible. We were brought an appetizer and an entree at more or less the same time, followed by a long wait between each of the next entrees brought out and then a final appetizer after everything else had been served.

We haven’t been back since, but I pass it almost daily and wonder how it is because it’s proximity and how it still seems to get decent reviews

I seem to remember it was a favorite of the group for a while (especially when compared to the other area places).

I went many moons ago, wasn’t really impressed and never went back.

There should be a thread that covers local Thai.