In many Asian religions and cultures, the lotus flower has long been associated with purity and beauty. Thai Lotus, a restaurant in a former IHOP that shares a parking lot with a bare-bones strip mall, is definitely not going to be confused with a delicate flower in terms of appearance. The converted chain restaurant has been enlivened on the inside with a little bit of southeast Asian decor, but the outside is still a plain design. Nevertheless, the delicacy and complexity of the food, rather than the aesthetics of the space, are what makes Thai Lotus worth a visit.
fish cakes
The pancake-house-turned-Thai-restaurant is located just a block north of the 19th Avenue / Glendale light rail station. The area lacks bike racks, so a post or pole will have to do for securing two-wheeled transport. The small foyer has a sort of shrine incorporating small figures and toys and a whiteboard displaying daily specials. Booths and tables fill the room in a configuration unchanged from the IHOP days. As one would expect at a former breakfast restaurant, there is no bar in the room, and Thai Lotus does not currently have a liquor license.
chicken satay
There are plenty of shareable starters on the menu, and one standout is the tod mun, or fish cakes. Made of chopped white fish shaped into patties, seasoned with mild spice, and then fried, the cakes have a slightly chewy, but not rubbery, texture when served. This item used to be more common at local Thai restaurants but seems to have gone out of style in favor of more familiar appetizers of Chinese and Japanese origin. Thai Lotus has not only kept them on the menu, but also provides a generous serving of six per order with an accompanying sauce.
papaya salad with salted crab
Egg rolls, pot stickers, coconut shrimp, wontons, crisp tofu, and other fried treats make up most of the rest of the appetizer menu, but for something more interesting, the Thai sausages are worth exploring. In many ways, they're familiar pork sausages, but the blend of spices is clearly differentiated from what one would expect in a German bratwurst or a Sicilian sausage. Among the salads, the tom sum, made from green papayas, is a satisfying version of a benchmark dish with abundant ground peanuts and plump shrimp or an optional upgrade to salted crab.
massaman curry with chicken
Thai Lotus offers the usual spectrum of curries: red, yellow, green, and panang. The restaurant adds a few specialties such as pumpkin curry with chunks of orange squash, shrimp pineapple curry with sweet fruit balancing the spice of the sauce, salmon choo chee with grilled fish and red curry paste, and massaman curry with potatoes and peanuts. The last item is particularly strong here because instead of offering the prospect of any protein added at the last minute, the choice is limited to beef or chicken simmered slowly in sauce for optimal flavor and tenderness.
beef noodle soup
Noodles run the gamut from the familiar pad Thai with thin, stir-fried noodles, chicken, shrimp, bean sprouts, and eggs to much thicker pad see ew with broccoli, soy sauce, and a choice of meat or tofu. Beef noodle soup with both tender stew meat and meatballs, as well as bean sprouts, features a darker broth and its own taste distinct from Vietnamese pho. Other soups are served family style in classic flavors such as tom yum with a sour broth redolent of lemongrass and tom kha, in which the tart notes are smoothed and balanced with coconut milk.
panang cripsy fish
Anything listed under the heading of "combo sets" here means a mixture of a main dish with rice and vegetable not necessarily mixed together in a curry or stir-fry format. That can include tamarind shrimp with steamed vegetables, panang crispy fish with fried catfish in a smooth red curry over shredded cabbage, or a combination of barbecued chicken with papaya and rice. In a concession to American tastes that sometimes lump the diverse cuisines of east Asia into one oversimplified category, classics like orange chicken are also found among the Thai dishes.
crispy basil tofu
Stir fries and fried rice dishes constitute the remainder of the menu with almost three dozen choices available. Pad pak, a mix of napa cabbage, carrots, and broccoli, works best with big shrimp dusted with black pepper, although multiple protein choices are offered with this dish and many others on the menu here. Crab fried rice adds small bits of crustacean meat to a typical mix of rice, vegetables, egg, and soy sauce. The spicy basil fried rice omits the egg but adds abundant minced leaves of the herb to give the dish a pungent and distinctive flavor of its own.
red curry lunch special
Crispy basil tofu contains cubes of bean curd in a dark, complex sauce accompanied by fried leaves of the familiar herb. It's a whole different dish than the typical basil stir fry, which is also available here. While Thai Lotus' dinner menu is extensive and offered all day long, the weekday lunch menu specials are a focused list of crowd-pleasers designed for quicker, cheaper midday meals. Ten selections of popular curries, stir-fries, and noodle dishes come in smaller portions with an egg roll, a crab puff, a scoop of rice, and a small bowl of clear soup.
sticky rice with Thai custard
Dessert choices at Thai Lotus include coconut ice cream, an effective means of extinguishing any lingering burn from extra spicy food, and sweet sticky rice with ice cream, custard, or fresh mango when the tropical fruit is in season. Thai tea with cream is almost a liquid dessert due to its sweet, soothing nature. To be sure, this restaurant doesn't look much like a lotus flower from the outside, but the food and service within make Thai Lotus stand out by offering a nuanced take on the typical American Thai restaurant menu with some pleasant surprises along the way.
7023 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix AZ 85021
http://www.thailotusaz.com
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