Out to Lunch: Thanee Thai

Note to self: When going out for Thai food for lunch, be sure to eat breakfast that morning so you'll have something to line your stomach — Thai food is spicy!

You may have walked by Thanee Thai, located at 24B Main Street, a hundred times and not noticed it. The modest storefront is narrow and the window in front is usually rather dark. Their hours are limited – lunch is only served on Thursday and Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. However, if you are looking for authentic Thai food in a town replete with Japanese, Chinese and Italian restaurants, Thanee is the only game around.

The space is small and narrow, although mirrors helped to create a more spacious appearance. It is decorated with wall art depicting elephants, Buddha, and other Thai symbols. There are about a dozen tables, most big enough only for two diners, however during lunch it is never overcrowded.

The lunch menu is interesting. You are given a choice of shrimp ($10.95), beef, pork or chicken ($9.95) or mixed vegetables or tofu ($8.95) with eight different cooking styles/sauces to choose from. This actually provides a lot of flexibility in the dining experience. You can basically get any type of meat (or non-meat) in one of eight different styles including: Thai Basil, Ginger Chili, Thanee Thai Cashew Nuts, Bangkok Peanut, Pad Thai, Garden Tofu Mixed, Green Curry or Red Curry. Plenty of choices, even for those who prefer milder dishes (only half the dishes are marked with the hot pepper indicating spicy). Lunch is served with the house soup (Tom Yum soup), a Thai salad, and white rice (except if you've ordered Pad Thai – a noodle dish).

The waitress gave us a choice of chicken or shrimp in our Tom Yum soup, and she asked me how spicy I wanted my lunch dish, the Green Curry Chicken. The Tom Yum soup arrived in generously sized bowls. It was both steaming hot and spicy hot, and filled with slices of white meat chicken, string beans, basil leaves, and red and green bell peppers. The soup was quite hearty. Red chili oil dotted the surface, and the soup itself was somewhat reminiscent of Chinese hot and sour soup. It was both spicy and sour, flavorful, but actually a bit too hot for my taste and that of my companion. We could only eat half our portion before giving up and drinking copious amounts of water.

Our main dishes arrived with the Thai salad and rice on the same plate. The salad consisted of a base of iceburg lettuce (a bit hard to manage as it was mostly one huge chunk), topped with bean sprouts, shredded cabbage and carrots, and drizzled with a delicious peanut dressing. My companion, who is new to Thai food, ordered the mixed vegetables cooked with Thanee Thai Cashew Nuts. The dish was flavorful but not spicy, the vegetables sliced decoratively and cooked in a rich brown sauce with bits of cashew.

I ordered the Green Curry Chicken medium spicy. I'm a particular fan of green curry chicken – that coconut-based, spicy yet almost creamy sauce, swimming with green beans, bamboo shoots, basil, peppers, and thinly sliced chicken breast. This green curry was quite good, but again, quite spicy. I think in the future I may order it less spicy than medium … or perhaps I was just burnt out (so to speak) from the Tom Yum soup.

The waitress was attentive and refilled our water glasses frequently (a necessity). The restaurant was quiet enough for a business lunch, and you can easily be in and out in an hour. Lunch for two, including tax and tip, was $25. If you are looking for something different, Thanee Thai is a great choice, but keep in mind that lunch is only served on Thursday and Friday.