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Thai Kitchen, "No Soup For You" Would Be A Disaster |
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Greater Baton Rouge Area
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Written by Rachael Lundy
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| Thai Kitchen |
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| Tom Yum |
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| Goong Op Mor Din |
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| Chicken Green Curry |
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| The River Kwai |
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Almost lost amongst the many businesses located in the Southdowns area on Perkins, Thai Kitchen is a find to be revisited. This Baton Rouge food find, however, is not a well kept secret, by any means. The growing customer base, discovering this spicy cuisine and traditional Thai ambiance, led Sam - the owner of Thai Kitchen - to expand his restaurant, offering a larger venue for its food and services, including both a karaoke and sushi bar.
A mid-week evening was the perfect time to take a break from both work and cooking to dine on Thai Cuisine. Upon arrival we were seated near the sushi bar, overlooking the karaoke area.
Coming to our table right away, the very attentive wait staff took our drink order and offered the specials for the evening. The specials, an assortment of sushi rolls, sounded delicious, but I decided I wanted to stay with ordering traditional Thai cuisine for this review.
My associate eater and I, very hungrily, decided that we would like to sample several items off the menu. For starters we ordered the Steamed Dumplings and a bowl of the Lemon Grass Soup, also called Tom Yum. This soup was absolutely delicious and was, by far, my favorite part of the meal – which says a lot, because all of what we ordered was delicious. It is described as having shrimp and mushrooms in a rich, hot and sour broth. I selected the medium seasoned option for this, but you can select the spiciness level according to your tastes. Upon tasting this delicious soup, I instantly wished I had ordered only soup for the evening. My companion and I took turns enjoying every last bite of it.
The appetizer was also tasty and all was delivered to us in quaint, blue and white china, which very much added to the aesthetic enjoyment of the meal. The steamed dumplings order, as described in the menu, came with four seasoned ground shrimp and pork dumplings, which are wrapped with wonton skin, then steamed in an Asian manner. Served on the side was a thick soy sauce for dipping.
While enjoying our appetizer and soup, the owner - Sam - came to our table to ask how we were enjoying the meal. He was very attentive to his patrons, as was his staff.
For my entrée, I ordered the Goong Op Mor Din, which is described as baked large butterfly shrimp with silver noodles, garlic, ginger root, cilantro, white pepper and scallions in a clay pot. I loved the presentation of this dish! It was a beautifully colored entrée, which was perfectly presented in a little brown pot. The dish was flavorful and perfectly seasoned. I could taste each of the individual flavors, especially the Louisiana favorite – garlic.
For the second entrée, we chose to taste the Chicken Green Curry, requesting the ‘Hot’ spiciness level. This is similar to red curry, but it gives you a light and clean taste, according to the menu. This dish was absolutely surprising, as I thought I was not too keen on curry. It wasn’t as flavorful as my dish, but the simple, spicy broth was quite satisfying. I found myself reaching over for extra tastes of it. You can choose from seven different types of curry, including the traditional Indian style, yellow curry, to please your palette.
I noticed that the fresh herbs added to these dishes made them more flavorful than other types of cuisines. Both of these entrees were served with a side of Jasmine steamed rice, which tastes only subtlety different from plain white rice. The slight flowery undertones complimented the spicy, naturally seasoned Thai Cuisine giving off a sweet aroma.
After enjoying all of this seasoned Thai cuisine, we decided to top it off with the final course. For dessert we selected the River Kwai, which the menu describes as stuffed bananas served with homemade Coconut ice cream. Again, prideful care was taken to artfully present this delightful dish. Drizzled over this sweet treat was a rich chocolate sauce, beautifully arranged with a sprig of fresh mint as garnish, for the perfect finish.
Everything I ordered from Thai Kitchen was absolutely and surprisingly delicious! I didn’t realize I enjoyed Thai cuisine quite so much, as there was not a morsel of food left on our plates. I would definitely revisit this food establishment, as I am still thinking of the Tom Yum soup.
4335 Perkins Rd
Baton Rouge, LA 70808
(225) 346-1230
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