Teak Thai

Neighborhood: Mt. Adams
Cuisine: Thai

Teak Thai is located in the quaintly beautiful (and rather prestigious) Mt. Adams area. (This page offers an "online menu" for Teak Thai, but it really doesn't provide sufficient information or pricing.) Now, Mt. Adams looks, feels and for the most part is beyond me, particularly in terms of price. But Teak Thai's lunches are a wonderful exception to this.

I have tried only one dish -- I find what I like and, unfortunately, tend to stick with it -- but my wife has tried another, and a colleague of mine recommends yet another dish. The holy basil stir fry with tofu is phenomenal: the tofu cubes are crispy on the outside, smooth and creamy on the inside, and they soak up the superb sauce. My colleague also recommends the asparagus stir fry, and my wife enjoyed the chicken fried rice.

(Note: holy basil is an Asian basil more peppery than the sweet basil that U.S. eaters are likelier more used to, from Italian food. The holy basil stir fry also has bell pepper and onion strips, perhaps also mushrooms, along with a "protein" -- that is, tofu or a meat.)

At lunch, the entree is preceded by a small cup of the soup du jour -- I've had mild clear soups (broth with various ingredients) and a very good hot and sour soup -- although this isn't mentioned on the menu. The stir fry dishes come with two very large scoops of rice. In all, you easily receive enough food for two meals (at least with the fried rice and holy basil dishes -- the shrimp asparagus looked a bit skimpier to me). All this food will cost you just a bit more than one of those combination meals at a fast-food joint -- and with greatly superior flavor and ambiance.

Speaking of ambiance, Teak Thai occupies a sort of row house, with multiple levels and various decor from room to room. The effect is eclectic, interesting, pleasant. White tablecloths cover the tables -- a nice place, in other words. By the way, parking is hard to come by on the crowded streets of Mt. Adams -- but Teak Thai has reserved places in a parking lot across the street (the lot is small, though, so you may have to park along a side street and walk a bit).

My understanding is that prices are significantly higher at dinner -- so make it a lunch date! (Not classy, you say? In my world, smart stewardship includes compromising my pride in order to have quality experiences affordably -- and my wife agrees.)

Rating: 13 (4, 5, 4) (What's this?)
Lisa's rating: A delicious hideaway

Thai Express

Neighborhood: Clifton
Food: Thai

Thai Express, located in the old "Hamburger Alley," offers fairly inexpensive Thai takeout (I guess you could eat there, but I doubt many people do). I suggest calling ahead to place your order -- and taking two people, one to drive around the block (to save $ by not parking at meters) and one to run in to pick up the food. (If you do park, there are meters along the street -- hard to get, and off limits during rush hour -- or metered parking in a lot behind Clifton Natural Foods, on the southeast corner of McMillan and Clifton.)

Unfortunately, Thai Express has no website or online menu. We've tried a few different dishes, and I'll give price and "item number" for each (you can get a paper menu with your food to use next time). All entrees listed (other than fried rice) come with steamed rice. You decide how spicy you want the dish, on a scale of 1-10 (we've never gone higher than 8, which is pretty hot; I usually ask for a 7, which is safe no matter who's cooking, while the 8 can be a bit alarming depending on the cook).

• E1 Ginger Stir Fry ($6.50): Choose chicken, pork, beef or tofu for this dish, which is a stir fry with ginger and mushrooms according to the menu (doubtless other things, as well). I like ginger -- but this dish was disappointing. The ginger was left too large for my liking, with its fibrous texture. I found the flavor lacking in complexity.
• E3 Holy Basil Stir Fry ($7.50): Holy basil has a more peppery flavor than sweet basil, which is familiar from Italian food. Again, this dish offers the choice of chicken, pork, beef or tofu. Thai Express's holy basil stir fry is decent -- not the best I've had, but certainly edible and tasty enough.
• E14 Thai Style Fried Rice ($6.50): Our favorite dish from Thai Express, you can get this with vegetables only, with chicken, pork, beef or tofu (you can go with shrimp for $1 more, crab for $2 more or "combination" for $2 than the base price). This is a flavorful fried rice, with a "lighter" taste than typical Chinese fried rice. It comes with onions, tomato, green onions and egg, any of which can be left out by request. A few cucumber slices come on the side. This dish provides a very large amount of food -- easily enough for 2 meals.

Thai Takeout is at 231 W. McMillan, and hours are M-Th 11:00-9:00, F-Sa 11:00-9:30. Their phone number is 513-651-9000.

Rating: 8 (1, 3, 4) (What's this?)
Lisa's rating: Hot mama! (Note: this is a reference to the elderly lady cooking over a giant, steaming wok.)

Chicago Gyro

Neighborhood: Clifton
Food: Americanized Greek

Chicago Gyro (see menu on this page), located close to Mt. Auburn in Clifton, is part of what used to be known (before redevelopment began) as "Hamburger Alley."

For $3.75 you can get a gyro (for the uninitiated, a sort of taco made with a soft, thick pita and stuffed with gyro meat -- a seasoned blend of beef and lamb -- onions, a bit of tomato and tzatziki sauce). Chicago Gyro's version of this Greek dish is a bit greasier and way meatier than other versions I've had. (I'd like less meat and more tomato and tzatziki, personally -- but who complains about getting too much meat in a "sandwich"?

The only other item I've tried (hey, if it ain't broke. . .) is baklava ($1.00 for a piece), a Greek dessert of flaky, layered phyllo dough with honey and walnuts inside. Don't be taken aback by the small pieces -- baklava is very rich and sweet, so it's always served in small pieces.

You can eat (dine doesn't seem to fit this eatery) at Chicago Gyro or get your food to go (call ahead to save a wait). Parking is available catercorner, in a metered lot behind Clifton Natural Foods (12 minutes for 25 cents).

Rating: 9 (2, 3, 4) (What's this?)
Lisa's rating: A greasy yahoo!

Restaurant Rubric

In true teacher form, I'll be using a rubric to evaluate the restaurants I "review" here. So, below I'm providing a copy of my little rubric.

At the end of each review, I'll give the restaurant's total score. Following this in paretheses are the scores in individual categories -- ambience, then food, then price.


Ambiance
5 - May not be luxurious and white-table-clothed, but tastefully decorated, cloth napkins, nice place settings, soft lighting, etc.
3 - Not a palace, but not fast food, either.
1 - Somehow sadly lacking in atmosphere, perhaps in cleanliness. Think “fast food” (or a take-out joint). (Note: a 1 is not an insult for a take-out place -- they aren't supposed to have ambiance. . . .)

Food
5- Excellent, exquisite, delicious, even tasty – and attractively presented, too.
3 - Good food – nothing fancy, but good, plain, old-fashioned food. (Or superb but ugly food.)
1 - Why did we come here, again?

Price
5 - A steal! Are you sure they rang everything up?
3 - Reasonable price for the food.
1 - Overpriced!

A word about coffee. . .

Well, here I am in Kansas City, standing in front of the world's greatest coffee shop. Seriously. The Roasterie is a micro-roasterie in Kansas City whose coffees have done quite well in ratings (see Coffee Review for independent ratings of Roasterie coffees -- scores of 90 and above are superb).

Anyway, the Roasterie opened a cafe not that long ago, so we try to stop by (ideally multiple times) when were in KC. Their mocha made with hormone-free chocolate milk from a small dairy located north of KC is superb. But then, everything we've had from them is. . . .