Panang

At the risk of this becoming a theme site, I have a new review for you today. It’s Thai food again. I’m sorry if anyone is getting tired of this, because I love it, but I will make a deal to lay off of it for a little while so we can talk about something else. After visiting two other Thai restaurants so recently, which were very good in their own right, I felt a need to have my favorite. Panang Restaurant in South Oklahoma City, at SW 89th and Penn., in my opinion, is the best around and nothing’s gonna ever keep them down. Sorry about that, I had to.

The last two places I reviewed are decent, but they cannot compare to the quality, flavor, and wide-ranging menu of Panang. From their extensive list of curries, to many different stir-fry options, to Pad Thai variations, to varieties of Thom soup you won’t find anywhere else in town, they do it all the best. The prices are the best of all three as well. You can start off a meal here with flaky spring rolls or peanut chicken sates and move right into several varieties of both Thom Yum and Thom Kah soups. Where Yum is known for chili, citrus flavors, and Thai spices, Kah is a thicker broth with coconut milk, spices, and galingale root (similar to ginger, but with hints of citrus and pine). Both are very good options.

For main courses, you may be overwhelmed by all of the options. I prefer to stick to curries and stir-fry, but I have friends who come here for the fried rice alone. Everything that is listed as an entrée is big–this is a warning. Unlike Chinese food where rice or noodles might be seen as a side, I wouldn’t suggest viewing them that way at Panang unless you are planning to share between three or four people.

Their Pad Thai, with a home-made peanut sweet and sour sauce, is great, but you can get that just about everywhere. If you are coming here to try something really different, I suggest the Pad Kee-Mao: flat noodles with chili sauce, basil, and vegetables. If noodles aren’t your thing, they have a separate section in their stir-fry menu consisting of meat and veggie mixes that are more akin to Chinese food options and may be a little safer for those who fear adventure. This isn’t to debase the noodle-free stir-fry options in any way however, and I would point you toward the Pra Ram peanut chicken or the spicy ginger stir-fry.

They also five different curries that are all delicious, although I would hesitate to recommend anything other than their namesake, the Panang curry. They wouldn’t name themselves that if it wasn’t good; that’s bad business. They also offer many seafood dishes at dinner time ranging from sweet to spicy, and from common fish to exotic squid dishes. Many Oklahomans think that the only way to eat catfish is corn-battered and deep-fried, but Panang is out to prove them wrong with several catfish dishes on their menu that aren’t even close to what you have tried before, such as stir-fried catfish with lime and basil leaves in a spicy sauce. Try it and you will think you are eating a completely different animal.

All of their spicy plates have a customizable spiciness level which they will ask you for when you order. If you don’t like it hot, don’t be ashamed to try it at a one or a two; I prefer mine in the three to four range. If you are stupid or have something to prove, then by all means order a five, but remember that while they can always make it hotter for you, there is no backing down from a five and there are no refunds for bad  decisions.

Also, I don’t know if they have dessert or not. There is no way that I am hungry enough to eat anything else when I get done with my meal here. That is not to say that I haven’t talked a group of friends into driving half an hour in the opposite direction of home after dining at Panang just so I could get a particular ice cream. Thirty minutes are plenty of down time to make room for gelato. Of course the drive might have been quicker if not for bad directions, but I call that a win in my book as I had a lot more room after thirty minutes than I would have in fifteen. Any excuse is good enough for a double serving of ice cream. I’m sure I’ll be posting more on this particular gelateria later.

If you are the kind of person that freezes up when faced with grave decisions, such as what to have for dinner, then come by Panang for lunch. Their lunch combos change daily, but also consist of four options that equal out to a whole lot of food. The first option is always Fried Rice, Steamed Rice, or Pad Thai. The second is spring rolls and you can choose between vegetarian or pork–simple enough. The third and fourth options change each day. Option three is between two curries. Option four is stir-fry dish, such as ginger garlic chicken, or cashew chicken. All of them are good options and you get a heaping portion of each, as you will see in the photo below, so you get to try a little of everything. And best of all, the lunch combo is only eight bucks. For me, it’s not a hard choice between a giant plate of delicious, fresh, and hot food, or some boring, nutrition free, fast food. I won’t say that anything here is expressly claiming to be health food, but it has to be better than a hamburger from any fast food place. Open every day for lunch and dinner, always reasonably priced, and only a block from the highway, you don’t have any excuse not to go.

Top Left: Evil Curry Chicken. Top Right: Pad Thai. Bottom Left: Cashew Chicken. Not pictured: Spring Roll. Definitely Pictured: Deliciousness.

Panang Lunch Combo

Thai Stop

So my second Thai food review in an apparently ongoing series is for the North side favorite Thai Stop. Situated on North May, just West of Quail Springs Mall, in a shopping center alongside several other trendy spots, such as Cool Greens, Cafe 7 Delicatessen and Pastaria, and Gigi’s Cupcakes. It’s a good place to sit down for lunch or dinner, or to pick up to go. They don’t have the biggest menu, but what they do have is good; a mix of five or six stir-fry items, classic Pad Thai, and a rotational curry of the day, along with a few side items, makes decisions easy, and you can rest assured that you won’t make a bad one.

My favorite here is the red curry. A simple coconut milk-based red curry sauce with chicken, bell peppers, onions, and a heaping side of fluffy white rice. Best of all, all of their dishes come with a deep-fried sweet bun; built-in dessert. You won’t find much innovation in their menu, but sometimes it’s nice to know what is going to be on your plate when it gets to you. One interesting surprise, however, is their egg rolls. Not the typical spring rolls to be found at most Thai establishments, these are big, hearty egg rolls filled with spiced chicken, julienned carrots, onions, and thinly shredded cabbage. Don’t confuse these delights with your typical Chinese buffet fare.

The place is midsized with about fifteen tables inside and with all of the businesses to be found nearby they can fill up quickly at lunch, so I suggest going early or being ready to wait in line both for food and a table. Most of their lunch meals are in the seven to eight dollar range, and expect to pay three or four dollars more at dinner. I had no camera available at the time, so again I am unfortunately lacking photos to tell of these spicy feats, but I have remedied that problem for the next few places you will see. This place has been good enough to keep me coming back repeatedly in the last few years and, if you give it a try, I’m sure you’ll feel the same way.

On only my second visit to this place I made the brave decision to go accompanied only by my, at the time, eleven month old son. He did remarkably well with his introduction to such foreign fare, performing at his cutest to earn himself a free plate of one dozen sweet buns. He has not stopped this act either, and is often able to pull off similar feats of discount gastronomy at many of the places we visit now. It is one of my passions that my son be willing and able to eat like me. There are so many small children who survive only on hot dogs, chicken strips, and boxed mac’n’cheese™. Not to chastise, ostracize, or to say that this upbringing is a crime by any means, but I find that many people brought up this way build a box around themselves and continue those eating habits later in life, supplemented only by fast food and frozen meals. I feel sad for these people, because many of them have developed an inability to experience food the way I do, or even a willingness to try. So, I will give my son all the experiences I can find for him and let him decide for himself. Perhaps one day he will grow to love only the bland things in life. But so far he has bested all challenges I have put before him, eating bleu cheese as his first semi-solid food, drinking straight black coffee, devouring entire plates of steamed vegetables any time he is able, and just the other day, consuming half of a jicama root as if it were apple slices; and these are all things he likes, because believe me that if he doesn’t like something he lets us know. His budding palette makes me proud to see he is already more adventurous and experienced than many of the adults I know.