I eat a lot. A whole lot of f Thai food that is. I have an obsession with Thai dishes. If I was on death row for committing a capital crime, my last meal would be Kra-pow gai. That's basil leaf chicken for non kon-thais (thai people)
A long time ago my ex and I would always giggle whenever we heard people say "Can we order the FAT Thai. I know sometimes the menu reads FAT thai, but really you should pronounce it phut thai or pad thai.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Pair Thai
So Finally I’ve come to review Pair Thai on the corner of Gale and Fullerton Rd. Let me just preface by saying I admit to having a love affair with Thai food. If the different world cuisines were women, I’d have this weakness for Thai. Automatically bias. So last week, I went to Davis and I got hooked on Mexican food. It had been so long since I had Cal-Mex. Californian style Mexican different from real Mexican and not the same as Tex Mex. And to say the least, it was a welcome departure from Thai. Having said that, I went to Pair Thai with a clean pallet. I had removed myself from Thai food for awhile and could now objectively compare the different Thai cuisine in SGV.
Pair Thai’s Papaya Salad is a 5/5, a perfect score. Here it goes, the reasons why: the papaya was shredded thicker than other places giving it more crunch; the base sauce is nowhere near the level of sour and tart of other places, the prominent flavor is a refreshing lime, not overdone; The salad isn’t drenched in juice just about 1/4 inch. The pieces of dried baby shrimped played well to contrast the lime flavor with a sharp savory bite. Overall the salad wasn’t just one flavor, like other places. The other restaurants could be, if you’re simply in the mood for lime juice, but Pair Thai is 100 percent bold flavors. It’s also a place of pure spice. I love chili and have a heavy hand, but I was absolutely shocked when I took my first bite of the salad. Pure Fire. So much that even my main dish seemed spicy. Do yourself a flavor, if you ask the papaya salad, ask for little spice (nit noy) or no spice (mai pet).
I’ll be coming here again. Hurray. Armed with less spice.
