REVIEW Fit To Be Thaid A pad Thai addict searches in vain for a fix. BY JEAN WENZEL 243-2122 EXT. 336

I go through episodes--pesto panics, granita emergencies--of not being able to shake a craving for something I've tasted. When I returned to the United States after living in Thailand, I went crazy with desire for pad Thai. I found it easily in San Francisco, and it was good. In Portland, however, my luck turned: If pad Thai is my addiction, Portland has been my Antabuse. After one too many carelessly prepared wads of gummy noodles, I nearly stopped thinking about pad Thai altogether. The Thai national noodle dish is an absolute basic and should serve as a barometer of a restaurant's skill. A Thai restaurant that can't produce a decent pad Thai is like a carpenter who can't saw a board in half, and any itinerant street vendor in Bangkok can produce one that would put Portland's to shame. I'm looking for a plate of rice noodles mixed with a little scrambled egg, fish sauce and hot pepper and served with bamboo sprouts, shrimp, roasted peanuts, grated carrots and some pickled mustard greens or cabbage slaw. The warm give of the noodles (which shouldn't be stuck together) contrasts with the crunch of the salad, and the sweetness of the shrimp against the salt of the fish sauce. A squeeze of lime over it all rounds out the flavors, each fresh and distinct. Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is. Maybe the prevailing sentiment in Portland is that you can sling noodles like so much hash, as long as they're peanutty rice noodles with a raw something, anything, thrown in. It's the kind of thing about which customers are either uneducated or endlessly forgiving. Or perhaps, like me, they've had great pad Thai and are always hoping.

	NOODLES	SAUCE	AMBIENCE	FIRE	PAD THAI GRADE	OF NOTE	BETTER BETS
BAI TONG Saturday Market, Southwest Front Avenue and Ankeny Street	nondescript	Strong on lemon grass and, if you order satay, curry	Crowded, littered, outdoors - in a word, authentic	Very mild, but chili sauce available	B+	Full complement of crunchy sprouts, rough-cut green onions, cabbage and carrots	Pad Thai works, but there's a multitude of choices at the other booths
BANGKOK KITCHEN 2534 SE Belmont St., 236-7349	gummy	Zippy	Due for a spruce-up	To order; this is no place to show off	B	Nothing stands out	Whole fish with chili sauce
BEAU THAI 730 NW 21st Ave., 223-2182	nondescript	Mild	Japanese restaurant overlaid with Siamese decor	Mild	B-	The life-sized mannequin dressed in Thai clothes	Stick with the Pad Thai
LAMTHONG ON BROADWAY 213 SW Broadway, 223-4214	gloppy	Warm and peanutty	Bangkok bistro	Very mild	C	Reminds one of a moderate Bangkok restaurant.	Pad Thai is the way
LEMONGRASS 1705 NE Couch St., 231-5780	loose	sharp	Arts and Crafts gilded with Thai exotica	Ha cha cha- but they'll tone it down on request	B+	Tiger prawns with the pad Thai; refined decor	Phad Prik Gaeng Gai (chicken in chili paste)
MISOHAPI 1123 NW 23rd Ave., 796-2012	nondescript	Tastes vietnamese	Groovy accoutrements in echo chamber	Mild	D	Ear-splitting noise, the light fixtures, the owner's charm	Anything Vietnamese
THAI THAI 4604 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 236-1466	loose	Mild, slightly peanutty, to order	Blinding white interior with operating-theater lights	Mild	B	Friendly staff	Stay with the Pad Thai
THAI TOUCH 4806 SE Stark St, 230-2875	loose	Thick and peanutty	Pleasant; not a dive, but not Typhoon!	To order	B-	Blinding light	Pad Thai is the Choice
THAI VILLA 340 N State St., Lake Oswego, 635-6164	loose	Chile predominates	Appetite-supressing mish mash that no amount of tourist board souvenirs can disguise	Scorched-earth policy	B+	Soup served in moats that shoot fire from the center	Any of the soups
TYPHOON! 2310 NW Everett St., 243-7557; 400 SW Broadway, 224-8285	wadded	zingy and bright, a la chef Bo Kline	Striking and sophisticated	Medium	B+	Sauces sing- pad Thai and otherwise	Anything from the Special board

 

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Willamette Week | originally published December 9, 1998