Friday afternoon, Julie called me at work, checking on dinner plans. I had left work early to go to a retirement party for Les Miller, recently retired from DCFS. I suggested that I could bring home carry-out First Wok, a small family owned Chinese restaurant in Lincoln. Instead, she was hungry for Thai food and anxious to visit a local Thai restaurant so that we could send pictures to Apple. Apple is our soon-to-arrive exchange student from Thailand. She will be coming to live with us next August, attending school at Olympia for the 2008-2009 school year.
I believe there are now three Thai restaurants in Bloomington. Because Bloomington-Normal is home to Illinois State University, Mitsubishi Motors, and State Farm, there is a sizable Asian population in the community. The king of all Asian restaurants is surely Ming's Buffet. It is always packed and as such commands a hefty $12.00 a piece for dinner. While I love Ming's, I hate crowds. Plus, our original intent was to eat Thai. So we chose to eat at Na Na Thai. They are located in what I refer to as Kmart plaza, directly north of Eastland Mall. As a side note, I would expect Eastland Mall will become a favored attraction for Apple. While the Shoppes at College Hills is a much newer mall with a number of upscale shops, its not enclosed. Our only favored store at College Hills is Gordmans. On to the food....
We always start our meals with our favorite appetizer, Crab Rangoon. We are rather convinced in our conversations with Apple that this appetizer is not native to Thailand nor any other region. But like many other foods that are transformed in America to something greasier, higher in fat, or generally unhealthy, Crab Rangoon hits the mark. Their version is slightly different, focusing on smaller portions. As a result rather than the 4 or 5 portions that most other restaurants serve, they offer 8. Additionally, I opted for Thai Eggrolls. They didn't contain the cabbage found in most Chinese eggrolls. Instead, they contained some glass noodles, bean sprouts and minced chicken. If anything, they were simple. Both the eggrolls and Crab Rangoon were presented with sweet and sour sauce.
Since the names were literally in Thai, I chose my entree based on ingredients. I chose a dish composed of wide rice noodles, chicken, and broccoli, sauteed. Julie tells me it was called Pad See Eew.
Julie's was similar, but instead containing green onions, tomatoes, chicken, and jalapeno peppers. Both were served with a scrambled egg on top. She is not sure of the spelling but believes it was called Pad Kee Mow.
Na Na Thai is a hit for us. The service is prompt. Its rarely crowded. And the food is of decent sized portion. But instead of leaving a chinese buffet bloated from overeating, you leave Na Na Thai with a content feeling, being satisfied by a made to order dish.
