Thai Wild Ginger

Over these past few weeks I feel like I've been (in the words of Curly) a victim of circumstance. Normally I won't go to the same type of restaurant this many times in a month, but I just happened to plan meals with people who were craving Thai food. Last weekend the Professor was staying over while he attended the North Coast Music Festival during the day. On Sunday when he got back, the two of us and Ricky decided we'd get food, and I tried lots of places that ended up being closed on Sundays. However, I remembered seeing some Thai place next door to Pequod's. Now Ricky was throwing a little bash at our apartment, and we didn't have time to go out before people started arriving. So I picked up the phone and called in our order to Thai Wild Ginger.

Logistics
As I said, we didn't have time to eat there, and it wasn't too far away so I decided to pick it up. After calling in the order, I was told it would be 15 minutes. I got there about that time and the order was ready and waiting. I got a nice glimpse of the restaurant while I was there, and it's basically a quiet little one room restaurant. I thought it was funny that they had lots of autographed pictures on the wall from the ABC 7 News Team. Interestingly though, they were missing the only picture that you usually see (and the only one that matters), Steve Dolinsky (The Hungry Hound).

The cost was right around the other Thai places I've been at recently. Each of our entrees was close to $7, and they also threw in some free crab rangoons with our order. The portions were probably the best for the money of the past places I've been. One thing that wasn't appreciated was that the Prof got shrimp which had a $2 up charge that wasn't all that clear on the menu.

The Food
We didn't order any appetizers, but as I said they gave us some free Crab Rangoons. They were very good and had a nice balance of cream cheese and crab. Also, the wrapper was a the right combo of doughy and crispy.

 The Crab Rangoon

For our entrees Ricky got the Spicy Basil Chicken, the Professor got Shrimp Pad Thai, and I got the Chicken Pad Khee Mao. It was very appreciated that neither of the Chicken dishes were overcooked, and there was still some juiciness. The Spicy Basil Chicken had lots of veggies and a tasty brown sauce. The Pad Thai was a little bit dry and could've used more sauce. Still, the flavor that was there was great and better than both Silver Spoon and Dao. The Pad Khee Mao had a lot of veggies and chicken as well, plus the sauce was a nice combination of sweet and spicy. The noodles were a little bit soft and could've probably been crisped up some more.

 The Shrimp Pad Thai

The Chicken Pad Khee Mao

The Spicy Basil Chickn

Overall
Of the past 3 Thai places, Thai Wild Ginger was definitely my favorite. The cost and the food were both the best. I think it says a lot that I thought the food quality was the best even after taking it to go. I think what made this the better place was that the flavors weren't muddled and the dishes maintained their textures. Even though this was my favorite, there were still some improvements to be made to a few of the dishes. I'm giving Thai Wild Ginger 3.5 out of 5 Pearls.

 Some of you may have noted the new logo at the top of the page. I'd like to extend a special thanks to Josh Finkle for putting that together.