The whole family has been anxiously awaiting the re-opening of Thai Thai Bistro. We used to love to go back when it was downtown in the very pretty Nicholaus Building which is now sadly all cattywhompus. In fact, we were fans back when it was Bangkok Bistro (which still has its other location in Colonie), and back then, Cute W used to mutter about how they needed to get rid of that awful, run-down mattress store. Now the former mattress store is a big ol’ pit with the building appearing to teeter on the edge of it. But anyway.
Needless to say, we were super-psyched at the prospect of Thai food within walking distance of us at the ShopRite Plaza, and it felt like construction went on forever. Since it’s opened, we’ve actually eaten Thai Thai Bistro twice.
The first time, just J and I went out to dinner there before going to see Moana as part of our mother-daughter extravaganza while Cute W and M were away at a soccer tournament. The restaurant is smaller than I expected: basically one large room, bigger than TCBY but not as large as Smashburger, if you’re comparing it to its nearby neighbors. But it’s nice inside. The wait was a bit long, and it was easy to see why. The place was packed, plus they were doing takeout orders. Service was friendly. In fact, it was almost too friendly, since the young man who refilled our waters seemed to feel compelled to try to make polite conversation every time he filled our glasses. It became so comically awkward that I started saying “No, thank you” to water just so that I wouldn’t have to talk to him! And if you know me, you know that hydration is very important to me.
The food was all yummy. J and I ordered Crispy Crab, Coconut Shrimp, and Chicken Potstickers for our appetizer round:
J and I were particular fans of the Crispy Crab and the dipping sauce that went with it and the shrimp.
We followed that up with one main dish of Yellow Curry with Chicken because that is the family must-have when we go out for Thai or Vietnamese. We love yellow curry and this was delicious.
We ate every single bit of food that was placed in front of us. No leftovers! I was a little sad about that, but it was tough to judge how much to get with only the two of us, and we were glad to do appetizers to get some variety.
Over the weekend we placed a take-out order and it was all pretty delicious again, although the service for take-out was slow and Cute W ended up lingering at the restaurant an extra half-hour waiting for his food. Both times we went, they were out of Chicken Satay, which was a bummer. I always recommend Chicken Satay for meat-eating families who want their little kids to try something beyond chicken fingers and fries. Kids love it when something’s on a stick. And our family still loves it.
We are so, so happy to have Thai Thai Bistro back on our restaurant shortlist, and I love having it so close, too.
Claire
Isn’t it great having restaurants in walking distance? We have a neighborhood Thai restaurant which opened up a few years ago which I have not yet gone to because I’m not a huge fan of Thai. But we also have a great Chinese restaurant in walking distance which we go to at least once each summer. I feel like I have the best of both worlds, because I live in the suburbs but also can walk to things.
Katie
Not a big fan of Thai?!? Say it isn’t so, Claire! For us, it’s Japanese food. We love Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai, but Japanese food does nothing for me. Still, it’s nice to have options nearby (we can walk to Japanese, too, although we hardly ever do).
Claire
I’m pretty boring when it comes to cuisine. My favorite is Mexican, but I also love Italian and Chinese. I should probably try Thai again, though. It’s been ages since I’ve had it, and I don’t even remember anything about it.