I've had the pleasure of eating a lot of fantastic Thai food since moving to the Bay Area seven years ago. My first taste was at New Krung Thai while checking out Santa Clara University as a prospective student still in high school and I've been hooked on the cuisine ever since. Case in point, these are the Thai places I could come up with just off the top of my head at which I've dined: Thai Pepper and Jasmine Fine Thai, both in Santa Clara's Franklin Square. Amarin Thai in Mountain View. Thai Spice Los Gatos. Osha in SF. Thai Cafe, Banana Leaf, Coconut Grove, all in Milpitas. Blue Mango and House of Siam in San Jose. While some are better than others, New Krung Thai on Winchester at Forest Avenue is still one of my favorites. And it's quite reasonable, too. Shrek and I can get 1 cucumber salad side, 1 large Tom Yum soup, Pad Thai, Yellow Curry, and Rice for 2 for about $45. Pretty good considering the large Tom Yum is $13+ alone. And we always have leftovers - plenty enough even for a full meal the next day. (Or a snack a few hours later.)
Recently, however, I have been frequenting a little place on the Alameda called Tee Nee Thai. A lot. I can count three times in the past month we've been, and that's saying something as
1. There are a lot of awesome dining options around here, and
2. Shrek and I were only first introduced to Tee Nee just a month ago by our neighbors (who, to our delight, like food almost as much as we do!) I always enjoy dining out in a larger group, especially at places that encourage family-style dining because it means you can try so much more but for the same or less price than going by yourself or with just one other companion.
We ordered our standard plates (Tom Yum Soup, Cucumber Salad, Yellow Curry, Pad Thai, sides of rice...) and I can honestly say that I've never had them taste SO GOOD before. Now that's a statement because, as you saw, I've tried them at a lot of places! (I realize I should be a little more adventurous when it comes to ordering, but at least this way I can truly compare dishes at different restaurants when I order consistently.)
If you go to Tee Nee Thai, here's what I would keep in mind:
1. Watch how spicy you order your dishes, because we order "medium" each time and it is still pretty darn spicy. It's just the way we like it but it is equal to other restaurants' "hot."
2. We made the mistake of ordering Tee Nee's "sticky rice" the first time we went and the rice was the consistency of rubber. It was very difficult to tear apart and didn't allow dishes such as the curry to soak into it. Now, I always enjoy steamed white rice when I go there.
3. It's pricey for Thai, but the flavor, quality, and service is excellent. We went just last weekend and ordered our favorite plates, of course, minus the Tom Yum but +1 beer and it totaled about $45 with 18% tip. (P.S. I love the Check Please Lite Iphone App. Sooo helpful) Tee Nee's Pad Thai is $10+ where I usually see it closer to $7 at other places, but check out the casserole-type dish it's served in. It's pretty monstrous and we always have leftovers. (Though, not as much as when we go to New Krung Thai...)
4. GO!
*Note: All the photos were taken at Tee Nee Thai last week with my iPhone.
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