Bangkok Sala Cafe:Farmington Hills

One source for Thai food near Marshall's home is Bangkok Sala Cafe and he had me drive out there today for a taste of that store with his son. When I first spotted this place from a distance a few weeks earlier I wondered about the exterior look of a strip mall pizza shop for a thai restaurant. Once inside it made a little more sense as it seems to have kept many of the tables, chairs, benches, and even color scheme from a Bellacino's I would have to assume to have been the prior tenant. Marshall ordered his normal Chicken Kow Pad (FR1) while I ordered the normal Chicken Gang Masaman (P29). Their prices were inline with most of the stores we've recently visited, then a coupon printed from their website dropped it into toward the low-end. Each order came with Hot & Sour soup (which wasn't very spicy, had a fairly plain taste, good vegetables, but Marshall and his son found it's taste to be awful) and shrimp chips (which none of us eat). As the main dishes arrived the aspect which struck us immediately was the freshness of the ingredients (in which they take great pride based on the sign in their front window). The taste and texture did not disappoint with Marshall and Jr. rating this the best Kow Pad they can recall eating. I was very happy with mine, but the Masaman had a sweeter flavor than I'm accustom and was a little light on the spices. I would guess that Marshall and his family might be in trouble given their overwhelming good reaction (save the soup), but it is a little far for me to visit often. I was very happy and will return to try other dishes but wasn't as impressed as were they. We do give it a very high recommendation and they have very friendly and prompt service.

Darryl: 7/10
Marshall: 8/10
Jr: 8/10

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Sunny Thai:Madison Heights

While looking for Thai food near the Madison Heights MicroCenter store, we found this site through Google. Apparently it goes by different names, now Sunny Thai (the old Nak Thai Cafe name being a previous incarnation), but it's location in Google Maps was incorrect and not as close to Oakland Mall was we were lead to believe. We were a little surprised by the look of the business once located and these little strip-mall storefronts can be some of the best finds. The interior was more utilitarian that most restaurants we visit but the decorations kept us entertained in the short time we waited on the food. The most welcomed surprise was their prices were on the low side of what we normally find. Tied with the good reviews we've seen on the various site we looked forward to placing our order. As usual I started with their Ma SA Mun and Marshall the Chicken Kow Pad. Each came with their Hot & Sour soup which Marshall loved (very unusual) and nearly finished (even more uncommon). My impression was good though I thought it a little thick. As our waitress delivered our main dish we were impressed with the portion size (not overly generous but a good lunch size) and quality. Once we actually tasted our dishes we were happy to fins that it was a good taste, not as rich as we find from our top rated finds. Perhaps the most notable thing about the meal however was the fortune cookies which arrived with the check. Overall Sunny Thai provided us an excellent value and we will be returning when in the area.

Darryl: 8/10
Marshall: 8/10

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Thai Fresh:Novi

Marshall and I visited a place he spotted off I-275 at 8 Mile Road for lunch this afternoon. Thai Fresh was a nice looking diner-style Thai restaurant reasonably busy though we were able to quickly get a seat. The menu appeared to be pretty full but common, and the lunch prices about average for most Thai restaurants of its style. We quickly ordered and received our complimentary egg-drop soup. This was terrible and I wasn't able to tolerate more than a single spoon as it had more salt than I could take (it tasted as if it might have been enough salt to exceed the suggested intake for an adult male for an entire week). The chicken massaman curry I ordered (with brown rice) was presented well though with more onions than others typically include and in a smaller portion than most. Again I found it to be heavy on the salt but not as spicy as I like from my "medium" heat. Marshall on the other hand ended up with more food than expected from his chicken fried rice but wasn't impressed by it's flavor either. In both cases the rice hadn't been cooked well and we were generally disappointed. While the food wasn't good, we've had worse. The service was much the same. The icing came when we received the check and were charged an extra $1.50 for brown rice (20% the price of the entree)! This is not a restaurant to which we will be returning.

Darryl: 2/10
Marshall: 1/10

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Sala Thai IV:Troy

Sala Thai is a well know Detroit option for Thai food with four stores, the most recent occupying a former Quizno's Sub Sandwich Restaurant at 15 Mile Road and Coolidge near the Somerset Collection. Our trip for lunch on Tuesday would be our first to any of these store (at least that I could recall). The store had only been open for about a week at that point, and their website still had not been updated to include the new location, nor has the location appeared in Google Places, Urbanspoon, or Yelp. The store had been closed on and in the process of remodel for months but the Quizno's underpins were evident in the remaining bench seating, chairs, dividers, and even the empty menu board. The result is an uncomfortable mash-up of styles. I ordered the Chicken Gaeng Mud-Sa-Man while Marshall ordered the Chicken Kow Pad, both with the Tom Kha soup. I enjoyed my Tom Kha but it wasn't a flavor Marshall liked. My Mud-Sa-Man was a most unusual take on the recipe with a significant cinnamon taste and what I considered to be an Indian flavor. Marshall was pleased with his Kow Pad but didn't find it to be above the average. Overall this store deserves another trip once they've been open for a more than a few week to see how they've progressed.

Darryl: 6/10
Marshall: 7/10