We were looking for take out the other night and I wanted Thai. My wife, whom I love dearly, said she’d heard about a place called Secret Thai and her friends recommended it. I know at least one of those friends and he’d also raved about the place to me. I so respect this guy, whom I will only identify as, “O,” but I live in Broadmoor and Chalmette is a hike.
My wife, whom as I have mentioned, I love dearly, was willing to do so and that is how I got to taste the food from Secret Thai.
What our friends said was that the food was really good, outrageously spicy and served in large portions. That is more or less the experience I had. We’d been told not to order our food “Thai” hot, and when I called, the restaurant suggested we order either “0” or “.5” in terms of spiciness on what I assume was a 5-point scale.
I did not get the feeling that this was a gimmick. I also did not find any of the dishes I ate particularly spicy and when I eat there again, I’ll probably go higher. And I will eat there again.
We ordered the fried spring rolls, drunken noodles with chicken, a p0rk red curry and chicken larb. Everything was outstanding and there was too much of it. We ate leftovers for two days.
The spring rolls were crisp despite the travel time because the restaurant cut holes in the clamshell to allow steam to escape.
When I tasted the red curry, the first thing that hit me was kaffir lime leaf, and that suggested to me that they make their own curry paste, or at least that they use fresh lime leaves. There was a real depth of flavor to it.
The drunken noodles were great, too. As I was eating them I was trying to decide where I’d had better examples 0f any of the dishes we ordered in New Orleans in the last several years. I don’t have an answer.
The larb was the one thing that didn’t blow me away, and it was still good. I like this place, and I have changed my opinion about traveling to da parish for Thai food.
This past Sunday my son and I went to the Bounyful Market at Algiers Point and among the things we sampled were stuffed naans from Plume. It’s a place I’ve been meaning to visit for some time.
Plume was serving two different stuffed naan. One was filled with potato and cauliflower and the other with rabbit. They were both really good and reinforced my desire to check out the full experience.
I believe the time when we can go back to dining out without fear is close at hand. I’m looking forward to it. I have never been a fan of crowds and I have criticized places for being too crowded but I will be happy when I have the chance to complain about being in a crowded restaurant, if that makes sense?
