I'm taking my friend to Sri for the first time and I'm sure she'll order the pad thai. I want to influence her to try something different. What are the board favorites?
moymoy
May 30, 2007 01:15PM
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know this is kinda a standard thai dish, but sri's drunken noodles are delicious too.
i love the crispy watercress salad as an appetizer too!
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ceecee beat me to the punch. the chinese watercress salad, an appetizer big enough - depending on your appetite - to be a main dish, and certainly big enough to share with another person, is layers upon layers upon thickets and labirynths of flavor and texture, with just enough heat to keep your lips tingling. as many delicious things as i've tasted there, this one is always the one that lingers with me.
p.
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I'll third the watercress salad w/seafood as something I cannot not order every time I go. Even the one time, at a prime busy time, when it wasn't as magical as usual, it still was amazing.
Delicious, and good for someone who doesn't like spicy food, is the pork leg over mustard greens - I believe it might be in the "over rice" portion of the menu.
Those are both dishes I discovered in past threads, and there are plenty of favorite dish at Sri threads so a search through those probably would be useful.
Another dish that friends have loved though I haven't been as insanely crazy over it is the green curry w/roast duck. It has pineapple, I think, which I just don't like in savory dishes, but, as I said, others I've eaten w/have proclaimed it their favorite dish.
Board wisdom has always been to stay away from Pad Thai. A friend recently ordered it and confirmed that.
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I agree with you about the green curry with duck. It's delicious. I also like the penang curry as well as the drunken noodles. For an appetizer, the soft-shell crab is the way to go (get the regular, not the special).
Personally, I don't like the watercress salad because it's too greasy. I prefer my greens not deep-fried. But if you like things like tempura, I guess it would be a good choice.
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That pork leg is soooo good. Love the hard boiled egg that's tucked in there, too.
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Get the soft shell crab, especially now that it is in season. I love the Penang curry.
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ditto on both. plus stewed beef tendon dark soup.
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I've also enjoyed their mussel pancake/fritter thing. and their crispy salads are great.
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Agreed on the watercress salad and the drunken noodles. Also, to add to the list: the crispy pork with chili and basil, and the Khao Soy noodles.
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the catfish dish!
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Agree on the pork as well as the catfish salad, would add the fabulous duck salad but disagree about the drunken noodles. I get them every time because I can imagine how great they COULD be, but the noodles are always overcooked and mushy. Perfectly-sauced mush. The sauce makes me drool, but I wish the noodles themselves were better.
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i actually love my drunken noodles to be that mushy-dense chewy texture then pan-fried and crispy on the outside. i like the heat, but i've found that Sri's drunken noodles is way too fiery for me. i'm used to drunken noodles being in a sweet-soy glaze with chunks of soft, sauteed peppers, chili, garlic, etc. in the past, i've found theirs to be almost like a chunky pesto, with a ton of seeds, a lot of heat, but i've had trouble getting flavor beyond the heat (possibly just a short-coming of my palate).
but that said, i got on Tuesday the best meal i've had in a long, long time, and a highlight that will send me back there today or tomorrow (i live next door) is the SOFT-SHELL CRAB WITH CHILI & BASIL. i ordered it mild, assuming it would be that same sauce that was too much for me in the past that comes with the drunken noodles and/or with the crispy pork. but it came out like a dream, of my perfect (in my mind) sauce that should be with noodles of the drunks. and a crispy, pan-fried, translucent and crisp bounty of holy basil.
i'll have to talk to them about this ... because this was perfect to me. and the leftovers were fabulous cold from the fridge.
alekz
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I enjoy the drunken noodles from Sri and it is a regular order for me but I tried the version at Zabb and I have to say that their version was better. I think Sri is significantly better restaurant then Zabb, but for this one dish I like Zabb's version more. It was much hotter then any incarnation of the dish I have ever had from Sri, the meat was identifiable not ground "nubbins" and it seemed to have more herbs. I am loyal to Sri but I have to give Zaab their due.
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so if Sri's is too hot with all the pepper-seeds for me, i should definitely NOT try Zabbs?
i like heat from peppers, but the seeds tend to lend unyeilding heat and also bitterness to my 'buds.
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I ordered a take-out on Tuesday night too - I think we got the same chef. My penang curry and stewed beef tendon soup were superb. And leftovers tasted even better today (should note that I brought them yesterday to work, but couldn't have them due to an unplanned biz lunch - couldn't wait till my lunch today!)
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green curry with shrimp, BUT you have to ask for only bamboo shoots, peppers and coconut milk, otherwise you will get a concoction with either thai eggplant or pineapple, or sometimes both, and tomato...only like it with my first request.....also, ask for it mild, because it's always very spicy...unless you want things extremely spicy of course..get iced tea with milk, coconut rice, --if they're unadventurous and you are trying to suggest other things to your friend, the chicken satay is excellent there, not the peanut butter junk served elsewhere, also, the shrimp with garlic and pepper is great...drunken noodles with beef is great, (ground beef)--also, like the watercress salad, but not too crazy about the papaya salad--
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Sripraphai's green mango salad doesn't get enough love on these boards -- it's the dish we've ordered most over the years. Prepared correctly (and it usually is) the green mango salad is fiery, with a great balance between the acid and sweetness. It's accompanied by squid, shrimp, and chicken. Just be sure to specify you want it "Thai spicy".
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My goodness I love that mango salad. Even the "medium" spicy version my usual dining companion makes me order is deeply delicious.
Really love their fish cakes too. One of my favorite snacks.
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fried watercress salad
catfish salad
soft shell crab appetizer
shrimp and squid salad
green mango salad
bbq pork salad
tom yum soup
jungle curry
duck w/ green curry
drunken noodles
Khao Soy noodles (mild dish)
pork leg with chili and basil
catfish with chili and basil
shrimp with sour curry (very intense) the southern curries are also quite good if you can handle the heat
glass noodles (a good mild dish)
thai iced coffee
bananna sticky rice
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I second many above but have to say my favorite is the Seasoned Pork with Pepper and Garlic. It's really simple compared to many other dishes, but it's just so good, it tastes like candy. I can't drink their Thai Iced Tea within the same week as going to Zabb because Zabb's tea really blows me away.
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BBQ beef salad (warm)
Pad prik king (pork with string bean)
Green curry with chicken
Papaya salad (plain, I think there is a catfish option)
Drunken noodle w/ground beef
Sticky rice
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oh yeah, the Moo Pad Prig Khing (Pork & Long Beans) is amazing.
i like to get it with the crispy pork, because it's extra fatty.
alekz
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two dishes that haven't come up but are popular with my family:
the sauteed chicken with ginger--this is my son's favorite and good for someone who doesn't like spicy, as long as they like ginger.
the ground pork salad with ginger and peanuts--delicious!
also, good for non-spicy eaters is the crispy pork with chinese broccoli, though this is the dish that most often falls down for me on off nights.
also the soft shell crab with green mango sauce, though i would eat nails with the green mango sauce i love it so much.
and about the drunken noodles--these have been less good lately, too. I don't mind them a little overcooked, but lately they've been too mushy. and i like the ground meat version--it's almost like a thai pasta bolognese. i had the version at zabb recently and, while the flavor was good, i couldn't help wishing the meat was ground, like at sri.
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Thai Bolognese? The ground meat just rolls around , it is not integrated into a sauce like a bolognese/meat sauce. It is my least favorite element of the dish and probably the reason I like Zabb's version better.
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it reminds me of some boolognese sauces i used to get in italy, in which the tomatoes and other liquids had been absorbed by the meat and reduced, so that the sauce seemed like nothing but meat.
that said, i agree that zabb's version is spicier and more herbal--i just like the ground meat in sri's.
FWIW, the zabb version is probably more "authentic." despite ordering it many many times, i have never been served a ground meat version in thailand.
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I would gladly eat either version anytime, we are lucky to have such good stuff so easily available.
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My thoughts on drunken noodle with ground beef is that it is the ulimate hamburger helper flavor/version.
Although if you weren't raised in the 70's you may not identify with Hamburger Helper.
Anyway, over the 10 years or so I have been eating at Sri, this dish has morphed many times and I like any version that is put in front of me.
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