Spicy Thai serves up great variety and flavors
Pad Thai with pork is pictured from Spicy Thai in Provo.
Sweet Rice With Mango is pictured from Spicy Thai in Provo.
Honey and Ginger Chicken is pictured from Spicy Thai in Provo.
Veggie Fresh Rolls are pictured from Spicy Thai in Provo.
Sweet Rice With Mango and Coconut Ice Cream are pictured from Spicy Thai in Provo.
“If the cake is bad, what good is the frosting?”
Such is the wisdom found in the fortune cookie I got from my latest visit to Spicy Thai in Provo. The value of that advice is still in question, but there’s no wondering about the value of choosing Spicy Thai restaurant: That is clear from the first bite of curry to the last bite of mango and sweet rice.
And there were so many good bites in between.
Full disclosure: Reviewing Spicy Thai for me is like reviewing an old friend. Located about halfway between my house and my fiancee’s, Spicy Thai has long been our go-to for takeout or for a sit-down meal that will both be reliably delicious and avoid making our bodies regret everything we’ve ever consumed hours later.
The food feels light and delicious and filling: the perfect go-to place.
Sometimes we have called and placed an order on the phone only to arrive seconds later at the restaurant, to the puzzled (though always friendly) reactions of the servers at the door. We seem very enthusiastic to eat at Spicy Thai when this happens, and that’s because we are very enthusiastic to eat at Spicy Thai.
Now to tell you about the food.
We started things off with a Veggie Fresh Roll — a little bit like a salad wrapped in a blanket of rice. It comes with a flavorful peanut sauce to dip it in, and you can also get it with meat. It’s a great appetizer: it’s refreshing and it takes the edge off the hunger while not ruining the rest of the delights still to come. Plus it’s probably already ready to serve, so there’s not much of a wait.
This was the first time I ordered a fresh roll instead of the pot stickers. I am happy to say they did not disappoint, though the pot stickers are never — ever — a bad choice.
The entrees are where you really have to make some choices. All are pretty different, so I suggest you choose wisely — and come back often to catch them all. Speaking of, I didn’t even think to see if there were any Poke-stops nearby, I was so eager to eat my food. Astute readers will kindly report back if any can be found — thanks.
The choices consist of curry entrees, noodle dish entrees, fried rice entrees, soup entrees, thai salad entrees or — simply — “entrees.” Let me introduce you to just a few of those choices.
The pad thai was the standout from our most recent visit. It’s a richly flavored noodle dish that we chose to include pork. It had a hint of egg, which is hard to make sound appealing, but hard to not find delicious once it’s in your mouth.
We also went with the red curry entree, with chicken. Apparently the name “red” comes from the chilis that are ground to make the flavor. It’s the best curry on the menu — I know because I, well, actually I pretty much always get the red curry. It’s really, really good.
The final entree we tried was the Honey Ginger Chicken. This was a fun new dish. The name is much more descriptive than “red curry,” and those flavors couldn’t be better suited for each other. A hint of sweetness made the hot ginger bring just the right juicy flavors out of the chicken.
And now for the dessert. I can report that two hungry adults can easily share a single dessert and be satisfied, but we went with two, and I can’t say I regret anything. The first dessert we had was a coconut ice cream with cashews sprinkled on the ice cream (and hidden like easter eggs inside). It was great.
The standout dessert was the Sweet Rice With Fresh Mango and drizzled with sweet coconut milk. The fruit was perfectly textured, and the dessert was both light and intensely satisfying.
A great dessert is, in my opinion, always worth a trip to a place, but it really helps that the main course is worth the trip. After all, if the cake is bad, what good is the frosting?
SPICY THAI
Where: 3230 N. University Ave., Provo
Prices: $1.99-$13.95
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday
Info: spicythairestaurant-provo.com