“The yellow curries smelled savory and left bright yellow stains on our lips and plates. Even the rice by itself smelled sweet and served as the perfect companion to the curry.”
Kristine Xu
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With the stress of midterms fast approaching and school work piling up, going out to eat was the perfect excuse to take a break. I invited a group of friends to enjoy a warm and filling meal before we dove into another busy week.
Directly across from a small coffee shop named Sally Loo’s Wholesome Cafe, MyThai sits in a large white building reminiscent of an old hotel. After taking the bus from campus, my friends and I walked the short distance from the bus stop, eager to treat ourselves to delicious Thai food.
It was lunchtime, but MyThai was not as busy as expected, and we easily seated ourselves at a plush red booth near the door. The interior of the restaurant was heavily accented with red furniture, tropical decorations and high ceilings, giving the restaurant a clean and open feeling. The large windows also let lots of natural light into the spacious restaurant.
Because of our past experience with Thai food, my friends and I unanimously agreed to split two yellow curries and an order of chicken satay skewers. This turned out to be more than enough food to feed three hungry college students.
Our waitress first brought us a plate of chicken skewers, paired with a small dish of peanut sauce and cucumber salad. Dipped in the creamy peanut sauce, I could taste the mixture of smoky flavor from the chicken skewer as well as the light sweetness from the peanut sauce. We instantly wanted more as soon as we were done with the six skewers, falling victim to the trickery of appetizers.
Photo by Kristine Xu
I also sampled the cucumber salad from a shallow bowl and noticed the slightly sweet and light flavor of the vinegar. Hardly enough to be considered a salad, the cucumbers were chopped into small cubes and drenched in the sweet vinegar, which acted as a palette cleanser for our next course.
Not long after, we were served two deep bowls of curry with chicken and tofu. I grabbed a bowl of jasmine rice, scooping some on my plate and pressing it down with a fork before pouring the fluorescent curry on top. I then topped the rice with a mixture of carrot strips, cubed potato pieces and grilled onions. The vegetables in the curry were cooked until slightly tender, and paired deliciously with a thick layer of sweet coconut curry.
Photo by Kristine Xu
One of my favorite things about Thai food is how aromatic and colorful the dishes are. The yellow curries smelled savory and left bright yellow stains on our lips and plates. Even the rice by itself smelled sweet and served as the perfect companion to the curry.
MyThai also offers vegan choices and makes sure to cook each dish without the traditional fish sauce in order to accommodate all diets. As for dishes with meat, the chefs still use the fish sauce for more flavor. Minus the heaping piles of jasmine rice, Thai food is a relatively healthy cuisine because of the fresh vegetables and herbs that have immune-boosting and disease-fighting power. Additionally, the chicken satay skewers were grilled instead of fried, bringing out more flavor with less fat.
Split between three people, the total came to less than $12 per person — an affordable price for the amount and quality of food we received. Leaning back in our seats, we all collectively sighed in agreement at a great meal well spent. The food left us comfortably full without the risk of a painful food coma after. As we chatted afterwards to the pleasant mixture of sizzling from the kitchen and classical music murmuring from the speakers, the stress of the upcoming week didn’t seem as overwhelming as before.