By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com
Hey, everyone! I’ve got to tell you about this really good new Thai place. Open only since early in August, Amazing Thai is living up to its name with fare that’s earning rave reviews from happy diners.
But wait, you say: Didn’t you just review a new Thai eatery last time? Well, yeah! Take Thai on Factory Lane deserved some props too.
But I’ll tell you now what I told you then: Thai cuisine is really good. I’ll dig into a plate full of that any chance I get, and if a third new one opens before the next issue, I’ll probably go there too.
For now, though, I highly recommend a trip to this stylish shopping center dining room on Shelbyville Road just west of Juneau Drive in Middletown. It’s spacious and comfortable, and just about everything on the menu is priced between $10 and $20. Three large screens offer up a variety of Thai cooking videos to keep you occupied, and the food will light up your taste buds.
(For the fearful: Don’t worry if you can’t handle fiery fare. Amazing Thai offers a range of five spice levels, from zero to Thai hot, and in our experience, they’re good at preparing your dish as you like it. They’ll also bring out a handy carrier bearing jars of chile oil, fish sauce and garlic, chopped peanuts, and sugar so you can tweak your dish to your liking.)
And then there’s this: Amazing Thai is one of the few Thai eateries I’ve found around town that will fashion you a bowl of Thai boat noodles. This traditional Thai noodle dish is named after the fleets of boats that line Bangkok’s beloved canals serving street food delights to passersby.
Boat noodles look a bit like Vietnamese pho, and we could place them in the same category as spicy Southeast Asian noodle-and-meat bowls. But boat noodles are pho’s country cousin, full and hearty with rustic broths and, usually, a variety of meat.
Of course we had to try them. Thai boat noodles ($14.99), identified on the menu as item NS-1, come in a big, round, cone-shaped red and black bowl. A mount of translucent skinny rice noodles were surrounded with a rich, dark, and beefy broth laced with ginger (or the similar Southeast Asian galangal), garlic, the gentle scent of star anise, soy sauce. Beef fat is definitely present but the dish is not at all greasy, the gift of fatty beef cubes, thin slices of well cooked beaf, and a couple of dense, grape-size meatballs.
Green garnishes included cilantro, chopped green onion, and a wilted green that might have been Chinese water spinach. It was a spectacular noodle bowl, and came with an unexpected side, a couple of what appeared to be good old pork rinds but were actually Thai-style pork cracklings – fatty pork skin and meat fried crisp – lighter and more airy than the rural Kentucky roadside treat.
If you come between 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday, it’s worth taking a look at the 20 lunch specials, which mirror larger dinner items but still come in generous portions and pack in an extra egg roll and small bowl of tom yum chicken soup. All that comes for a thrifty $11.95 if you get it with chicken, tofu, or veggies, $13.95 for the beef choice, and $15.95 for the seafood option, a $3 saving from the dinner price.
We tried this deal with Panang curry ($11.95 on the lunch menu) and were glad we did. A flavorful variation on Thai red curry, it’s a rich hot-and-sour treat with your choice of tofu, chicken, beef. shrimp, fish, or seafood with crisp-tender, bite-size bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, and basil in a thick, soupy coconut cream. We ordered it at a controlled 3-level heat and they hit a good balance with pleasant but not painful heat. A scoop of perfect rice sat alongside.
The lunch special came with a single egg roll about the size of a breakfast sausage It arrived sizzling hot, stuffed with finely shredded cabbage, packed in ultra-thin pastry fried dark golden brown, grease free, and shattering crisp.
It also came with a small bowl of chicken tom yum soup, served before the meal as an appetizer at our request. It was truly delicious. testifying to the worldwide popularity of chicken soup in all its international forms. The clear broth carried a rich chicken flavor, loaded with umami and complex with garlic and ginger flavors. Tiny red flecks dotted the top, indicating a chile pepper presence, but the heat was muted. Bits of chopped scallion added color to an otherwise simple broth bathing a single, good-size chunk of flattened boneless chicken white meat.
That is a minor complaint within an excellent meal, though. With a tall glass of Thai iced coffee ($4.99), our meal for two came to $33.85, plus a $10 tip.
Amazing Thai
12336 Shelbyville Road,
384-1914
amazingthai.toast.site
Facebook: bit.ly/AmazingThai502
instagram.com/amazingthai502
Noise Level: With the room only partly full, conversation was easy in spite of voices from guests at nearby tables. Average sound level was 69.3dB with only occasional higher peaks.
Accessibility: The restaurant and all seating except for some booths appear to be accessible to wheelchair users.
