HC Rating: 3
Price: $
My permanent Thai food craving recently had me on Yelp looking at reviews of all the Thai food restaurants in close proximity to UCLA. But in my post-Dance Marathon exhaustion, I could not reconcile myself to the idea of a long bus ride, and ended up choosing the convenient option of Thai House in Westwood Village (on Gayley across from Whole Foods).
The restaurant is small and cozy, with friendly servers and a casual atmosphere. The menu was extensive and covered all my Thai staples plus some, but because there were only two of us we had to limit ourselves to a few dishes. We decided to start with a classic favorite: chicken satay (with extra peanut sauce, of course) ($8.50). The chicken was cut thinly but still moist, with a pleasant curry/grilled flavor. I was a little disappointed in the peanut sauce, which lacked strong peanut flavor and was more of a liquid consistency (and was an unexpected red color); I prefer the variation that is thicker and more like crunchy peanut butter. Next we ordered the vegetable red curry ($8.50), a combination of various vegetables (broccoli, baby corn, eggplant, green beans) in a spicy and flavorful curry sauce. The curry was tangy and hot without being overpowering. We used our bowl of white sticky rice to soak up the last of the curry and peanut sauce. We were slightly saddened with the dessert selection, as we had been hoping to end our meal with our favorite fried banana-mango-coconut ice cream combo. The only offerings were coconut or green tea ice cream.
I would definitely go back to Thai House to try my other favorites (pad thai, yellow curry, pineapple fried rice). Another major perk is that they deliver for free for orders over $15 and include complimentary Thai iced tea—so next time the craving hits, I’m planning on ordering in to the dorms. While it was not the best Thai food I’ve ever had, Thai House’s prices are college-student friendly and the food satisfied my hankering for a taste of Thai.
Pictures: http://jnrc.us/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/tommythai-300×225.jpg