Orem’s Bangkok Grill cooks up delectable Thai dishes
Bangkok Grill in Orem puts on quite a spread. Clockwise from upper left: Gyoza, Chicken Satay, Pumpkin Curry and rice, and Sweet Rice Mango with ice cream. Read our review at bit.ly/1xuHl1I.
Bangkok Grill's Gyoza, with sweet chili sauce, is among the best of its kind in Utah Valley.
The Pumpkin Curry at Bangkok Grill is made with yellow curry sauce, coconut milk, Asian pumpkin, pumpkin, bell pepper and your choice of meat.
I’ve been eating food for — oh jeez, let me see here — for years now. At this point you’d think I’d have the basic action down. Utensil to food, utensil to mouth, chew, chew, chew. Simple enough.
How foolish I was.
A few friends joined me at Bangkok Grill, a Thai restaurant in Orem, last week. It was here that we reevaluated everything we thought we knew about our eating skills.
We started off with a few appetizers, opting for the Gyoza (potstickers) and Satay Chicken. My friend — for the sake of anonymity, let’s call her “Jessica” — really struggled with the Gyoza. These potstickers came with ground pork, ginger, onion and celery wrapped in a wonton skin and pan fried, served with a scrumptious sweet chili sauce. Truly the best Gyoza I’ve had in a while. Still, Jessica struggled. Her first Gyoza erupted when she took a bite, squirting juices onto her surprised face. She grabbed another, this one with the wonton skin already ripped open slightly. A risky proposition. Same result as the first.
Jessica said she’d been to Bangkok Grill about 80 times. Perhaps she was exaggerating.
She wasn’t the only one who struggled. I nabbed some Satay Chicken, which is marinated in coconut milk, Thai herbs and soy sauce, grilled, placed on little wooden skewers, then served with peanut sauce. Leveraging my fork against the chicken, I tried to remove it from the skewer. This went poorly. It wasn’t coming off the skewer that easily and I used a little elbow grease. I miscalculated, and the chicken sailed off the skewer and down into a dark crevice where the bench, floor and wall met. The five-second rule seemed ill-advised here. Good news: My next attempt was successful. It’s a good thing, too, because the Satay Chicken was delectable, especially with the smooth yet potent peanut sauce. Food doesn’t belong on the floor, it belongs in the mouth. I realize this now.
On to the entrees. We ordered the Pad Kee Mao, also known as the “Drunkin Noodles,” according to the menu. I think it may have meant “Drunken Noodles.” Perhaps the alternate spelling caters to the LDS clientele: “No, it’s ‘Drunkin Noodles,’ not ‘Drunken Noodles.’ ” The menu says the Pad Kee Mao comes with wild rice noodles, eggs, bell pepper, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, onions and fresh Thai basil stir fried with chili sauce and your choice of meat. We didn’t feel drunk after eating it, for what it’s worth.
This dish was savory and just the right amount of spicy. Kudos to Bangkok Grill for not drenching this dish in soy sauce. Admittedly, I didn’t spend too much time with the Pad Kee Mao. The other entrees commanded my attention.
The Pumpkin Curry was my personal favorite. This had yellow curry sauce, coconut milk, Asian pumpkin, pumpkin, bell pepper and your choice of meat. I opted for the beef and was not disappointed in the slightest. The chunks of pumpkin really took this curry to the next level. Bangkok Grill has a lengthy and diverse menu, but it’ll be hard not to choose the Pumpkin Curry when I come back.
Because we’re adventurous, we also got the Honey Ginger Duck, one of the chef’s specialties. The bird was first roasted, then deep-fried and covered with a layer of honey ginger sauce and cilantro — all served on a bed of steamed vegetables. At $17, this duck wasn’t cheap, but it was worth it. The skin was perfectly crispy and the meat wasn’t dry. The ginger sauce occasionally packed a punch, and we wish it would’ve come with some more vegetables. It’s a lot of bird, so it’s probably best to share with someone else.
For dessert we followed our server’s suggestion and got the Sweet Rice Mango. It’s a layer of sweet rice pudding, covered in a half a mango, covered in coconut sauce and ice cream. At this point in the meal you might be full, but power through that fullness for the Sweet Rice Mango. It deserves to be eaten.
These entrees and dessert were enjoyed without any “eating malfunctions” — proof that change really is possible. Though I did spill water in my lap at some point, so I clearly still have a ways to go.
BANGKOK GRILL
Where: 338 E. 800 South, Orem
Hours: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Saturday 12:30-9 p.m. Closed Sunday.
Prices: Starters $4-$7, soups and salads $7-$14, entrees $10-$17, desserts $2-$6
Info: Bangkok-grill.com, (801) 434-8424