Chiu on This

Mom knows best

Last week, my mom and sister tried out a new Thai place, Cafetasia (38 E. 8th St. between Broadway and University Place, 212-529-2363).  Well, technically it's more Thai fusion / pan-Asian, but given their rave reviews of the place, I'm not going to worry about the distinction.  An endorsement from my mom requires me to follow up.

The place was started up by a former employee of the Spice chain and features a $7 prix-fixe lunch.  Here's my sister's run down of the items they ordered, all of which she liked (the first three are appetizers):

• Thai crepes
• Crispy duck and apple salad
• Coconut wraps
• Basil Udon w/ shrimp
• Laotian chicken breast combo
• Baked striped bass with shiitake mushrooms

Rapid format review

Where: Thai Nakorn, 12532 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove in Anaheim County.  Phone (714) 537-5011.

With whom: the Translating Justice staff and members of the Anaheim police department.

Referral source: Van, who grew up in Garden Grove.  Nicole has also raved about this place.

What was ordered: too much.  I misjudged the amount of food people could ingest.  For a group of ten, I got two orders each of tom yum koong (the Thai signature spicy-sour soup with shrimp), tod mun (fish cakes), and chicken satay.  An order of spring rolls appeared at some point.  Then gai yang (BBQed chicken), pad thai, and two whole fried fish dishes - pomfret with chili sauce, and catfish with curry "sauce".  The double fried fish ordering occurred because we wanted a deep fried catfish with chili sauce (highly recommended by Van) but couldn't find it on the menu and we couldn't get a special order.  Why we couldn't find this dish is still a bit of a mystery to me.

The verdict: mixed.  Some dishes were stellar - the tom yum koong was exceptional, the spring rolls and satay sauce jam packed with flavor, the pomfret very tasty (I'd never had this kind of fish before so I was surprised).  Other dishes were good but not memorable (fried catfish, pad thai, tod mun - the size of silver dollar pancakes, oddly) and the gai yang was actually blah.  A bargain of a place, though - all that food amounted to about $16 per person, and I didn't even include the drinks, like the young coconut...mmmmmmm.

I would definitely go back to this place if I were in the area, but maybe it was a little hyped or I got too jazzed about it or I ordered the wrong things.  Maybe I'm just a Thai food chauvinist.  Or perhaps all of the above.

California dreaming

There's just not enough time to eat.  The final installment of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons' road show takes us out to Los Angeles, but this is no junket, no siree.  There's work to be done, no time to check out the sights and flavors of this sprawling metropolis.  But one can aspire.  Colleague Van, who inspired last year's quest for Manhattan banh mi and is the in-house expert on southern California eats, has provided a number of recommendations.  I haven't experienced West Coast Thai food, so I'm hoping that a trip to Thai Town is in my near future.  Van's comments start right...now!

Palm Thai Restaurant
5273 Hollywood Blvd.
323/462-5073
(This restaurant is off the 101 Hollywood Freeway. I can't remember the exit)

Palm Thai Restaurant is in a little strip mall, as are most restaurants worth their salt. The parking lot is normally always full, especially at night. You may have to park on the street, but the food is worth it. I think they make good beef jerky with sticky rice, a crispy battered fish with a mango onion "salsa," and papaya salad. but i don't think you can go wrong with anything there. that's just what i always order when i go. also, a couple of stores down is a thai sweet shop. This restaurant is in what they call "Thai Town" because there are some Thai food stores and restaurants.