Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Restaurant Review: SEA

Had lunch at a brand new restaurant here in town today. It's called SEA (for South East Asia) and it promised thai food. I was pretty excited to see it go in, because I've gotten completely sick of all the other restaurants within walking distance of my office.

The menu offers a decent variety of appetizers, entrees, and noodles. The lunch menu is limited compared with dinner, but the lunch specials are very well priced. $6.50 will get you a choice of appetizer, a salad, and a choice of entree. I ordered from the non-lunch-special menu because I wanted Pad Thai. Boring yes, but I like to order a standard dish to see how different restaurants compare doing the same dish. So Pad Thai with Prawns, spring roll, and a soda. While waiting for lunch (I didn't have to wait long) I soaked up the atmosphere. The interior is very nicely done with lots of color, plants, and decent chairs. The large windows admit a lot of natural light which is a nice change from the other Thai places in town that seem to shun daylight. The food arrived, and it was good. I'm not sure I've had better Pad Thai. The noodles were a bit mushy perhaps, but they always are. The prawns were properly deveined, a detail that is often overlooked in other restaurants I've eaten at. The carrots and bean sprouts were warm but crunchy, and the flavoring good. It's not spicy Pad Thai, but it was good. The portion was generous, and there were a lot of prawns (not 5 or 6 like in some other restaurants in town). I ate half and still have plenty for dinner, but I tend to eat small portions. Laurel could clean the plate I'm sure. The presentation of my dish, and the others I saw was first rate. The service was excellent, and very interested in what I thought of the food. My server actually said "We are just open, and if there is anything you'd like to suggest we'd love to hear it." I complimented the food and made one suggestion. I wish all places that serve prawns would take the tails off so you can eat them with the dish not pick through and bit/pull them off. He wrote this down and thanked me for coming. I'm definately going to eat there again. I imagine it's not the best thai food around, but it's more than passable, and many of the offerings are unique.

3 comments:

zelia said...

I noticed that place when I was driving in p-town yesterday. I've always been fond of that weird little building and it's big windows and bright colors. I'll have to try that place sometime, it sounds nice. Well written restaurant review too!

tuktuk said...

but yer supposed to save the prawn tails for fargo. today david pierce gave him a bunch of bacon he didnt want from his breakfast. luckiest dog in the hood....

Scott said...

Awwww...I want bacon. David never gives me bacon.