#5 - My Thai - Sam's synopsis

It's a good thing I don't blog professionally, because I am really bad about posting things in an orderly fashion.  To be honest, I used to be really efficient and timely when it came to all things work and non-work related, but nowadays I'm more of the, "ehh, I'll get to it eventually" mentality.  I think it's because I have TOO many things going on, which is both good and bad.  But anyways, before this turns into a livejournal post (yes, those things still exist), let us move on to the actual review.  This is the second-to-last restaurant on the 22nd-23rd stretch of South, so this is very exciting for us as we have been chugging through this block for quite some time.  Our final restaurant on the block is L2, and we may just have some surprise guest bloggers for you, so more reason to keep reading!

This was my second time at My Thai, and I have to say that one of my favorite parts of the restaurant is the decor.  Some people may find it gaudy or mismatched, but it's exactly the type of charm I think a restaurant like My Thai should have - colors everywhere, floral designs and an array of patterns everywhere to match the strange array of menu items (see below for pictures as I am too lazy to write captions tonight).  After perusing the menu, I'm not sure My Thai knows what kind of restaurant it wants to be, because it almost caters too much to the less adventurous eaters out there.

Anyways, moving on... to begin, I ordered a glass of wine which was served in a faux-crystal water glass, which didn't actually bother me all that much but it probably should have because who doesn't serve wine in a wine glass? It was only a little later that I realized they had a cocktail menu, otherwise I would have immediately gone for a rum-filled beverage, but the wine was fine for what it was (who am I kidding I don't really know anything about wine except that I like the taste of it). We decided to order two appetizers, because you gotta go all out when writing a food blog. I chose basil spring rolls, while Sandya ordered some sort of thai-inspired dip.  I enjoyed the spring rolls, they were fried, crispy and not too spicy, but the dip was only okay.  Not super flavorful, and I'm not a fan of shrimp so that made it less appealing in the end.

For dinner, I went with a chicken curry pot.  I think I've mentioned before that spicy food is not up my alley, so I tend to shy away from these things.  This happened to be 2 stars of spicy, and even that was a lot for me.  I am not the person to comment on whether or not the spiciness rating correlated well with the actual spiciness of the dish, but it was almost too much for me.  I ended up eating most of it, but I should have asked them to tone it down.  So I guess that was a fail on my part, because the only thing I can say about flavor is - spicy!  I've used that word too many times now, is there a good synonym for it?  Anyways, taste aside, the quantity was filling and the veggies and rice were fine.  All in all I'd say My Thai was decent - not my first choice for Thai food (that would probably be Lemongrass or Erawan - but then again, are any of these places even close to being authentic?  probably not) but not the worst in the city.  It's in a convenient location for me, but I wouldn't stop in on a whim on my way home from work.

This post wasn't terribly detailed, so I apologize for that.  I'm waiting for an extreme restaurant to go all out in my review - either really, really great or really, really horrible.  So far, most of the places we've hit have been mediocre to above average, so that leads to less exciting reviews.  Either that, or we need to make our experiences that much more exciting.  Perhaps the next review or two will lead to a more entertaining blog post...

My Thai
2200 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146  
(215) 985-1878

#5 My Thai - Sandy's synopsis

So, from Fuzhou house, we move forward to My Thai, coming one restaurant from finishing the 2200 block of South street. This has taken us awhile, it was a busy block. My Thai is on the South-West corner of 22nd and South, but from their exterior, you'd think they were hidden away somewhere obscure. I counted six "My Thai" signs total, so if you are planning to go here, trust me you can't miss it.

The decor inside is mellow with soft lighting and the clientele was mostly elderly people. It reminded very much of A Mandarin, on 21st and chestnut, same clientele, less mellow decor. If you ever go to A Mandarin, you must get the Noodles with meat and bean sauce - it is fantastic. Is it a bad sign that it is only the beginning of this review and I am already talking about the food at a different restaurant - probably.

See. Mellow. 

Well I guess we should talk about the food. I should warn people that lately I've been eating Thai food from Circles. And anybody who has eaten from there will agree with me when I say the food there is fantastic. They have a delivery only place in south Philly and a .... crap...  talking about another restaurant again... god damn it, focus Sandya! So yes, My Thai's food, was okay. There was nothing bad about the experience or the food, but there wasn't anything outstanding about it. It was just boring. However lets try and highlight some good - they have an expansive menu ( that isn't represented well online). I think I ordered the Nam Prick Ong - which is group pork in a sweet chilli sauce with sticky rice. I wasn't too much of a fan, it was fine.

 

For my entree dish, I wanted to order something I hadn't eaten before. Every time I skimmed the menu, I'd linger on the swordfish with green curry, and this bad ass image of a sword fish would flash through my head. Just cause a fish looks bad ass does not mean it tastes good - I understand this on a basic level - but I couldn't help myself. So I got the swordfish! Yeah! Another good thing about the place, they give you a spice level range of 1-3, but if you ask for 4 - they will give you a 4 or higher. Perfect. But besides being at an appropriate spice level, the swordfish was, just fine. The fish was a little dry, but I haven't had swordfish before, maybe that's how it always is - boring. 

Swordfish. Yawn. 

Well it wouldn't feel right if I didn't bring up the toilet now cause its a good thing about this place, and I feel like there haven't been many. They have cozy display on a table you can stare at from the seat with candlelight and everything. 

Oh, and air freshener - thoughtful. They've also clearly had plumbing issues, so, you ladies who menstruate, be warned:

I'm unclear of what a wasted tampon is, cause I figure if it did its job, it was hardly a waste.  

So all in all, My Thai has a large menu, can make things very spicy, is accommodating of anyone with a gluten-allergy, has a great, romantic, cozy toilet and a polite and friendly wait staff. It is possible I just ordered all the wrong things, but the experience left me, you guessed it, bored. Can't say I will be returning. We should all go to Circles instead.