Chili Thursday at Thai Cuisine

Stavanger’s iPhone app UrbanKandi was the source of our recent dining experience - Thai Cuisine restaurant is on the corner of Kirkegaten and Øvre Holmegate. The façade is mostly glass so passersby can double back and peak in if something looks tasty on customer’s plates. We had some pre-Xmas errands to run - yes Xmas is not that far away – before we arrived approximately one hour earlier than planned. There were a few guests and table settings seemed to ready to receive a number of guests in larger groups. The owner was very welcoming and led us to our table and we had no qualms about hanging up our jackets as the restaurant was just the right temperature – not too warm and not blasting cold air con either.
There was a faint aroma wafting from the kitchen but not overpowering as spice laden dishes sometimes can do. The table setting was simple but met our needs. As it was the newly launched theme night “Chili Thursday”, red was the main color to be seen. Our plates were adorned with fresh small chilies – not recommended for pre-dinner snacks though. And larger chilies were strewn across the tables. There are 2 separate bathrooms – the ladies room was a welcome site. Clean, with plants and a bunch of blood red roses. There is also a convenient coat hanger – a necessity in colder climate cities.
We had the pleasure of meeting the chef who has varied experience and a background from the SE Asian hotel industry. The owner himself was previously an oil man. Judith was our attentive and friendly waitress. The menu included a variety of dishes to meet every palate – for those who like it hot and the not so adventurous friends that come along with them. The concept of “Chili Thursday” seems to stem from commentary from locals and visitors that have travelled to the East and enjoyed the local food served as it should be. The Norwegian cuisine generally does not include much in the way of curry / spices - certainly not chili – and thus locals are not used to truly spicy/chili based dishes. Having grown up with a Malay/Indian influence on local South African cuisine, Nikki has no problem with hot and spicy. In fact the spiciest dishes I’ve ever encountered was the aptly named Indian Fireball pizza at a local take out place in Johannesburg and then a beef in green curry dish on one of our first trips to Bangkok. In order to meet the needs of the predominantly Norwegian customers, a number of restaurants in Norway tone down the spiciness of their dishes. However, vindaloo is still “put the fire out hot” where ever you go in Stavanger.
As this was the first time we were going to try the Chili Thursday menu we decided on dishes that were on different levels of the hotness scale. We shared spring rolls as an appetizer; beef in ginger (medium) and Chili Tom Yam noodles (red hot) as the main dishes; and rounded off the evening with spicy coconut balls. We were thoroughly impressed with the presentation of all the dishes – a subtle touch of Thai with the styled chili and orchids. Food and plates was served warm and plates and cutlery replaced with each dish. The crockery is plain white – without the customary patterns on the edges – but letting the dishes themselves be the attraction.
We both enjoyed the spring rolls (fresh, firm vegetables; not too sticky/chewy rice paper wrappers; tantalizing tamarind based sauce with quite a kick). The Tom Yam noodles were not as red hot as expected. The soup itself had a sweet taste and the spiciness kicked in a bit later on - making it a multi-tiered taste experience. The stir fried beef was well rounded with a milder sauce but we did think that there could have been a bit more ginger in the dish.
We were pretty stuffed after the meal but the Chili Coconut balls sounded too interesting to be missed. And it was quite a combination as the chili balls were a bit on the spicy side and served on top of sweet fresh grated coconut flesh - a great combination. It is a shame that the Singha beer is 80 kroner per bottle (about 14 USD) as it is refreshing with a cold beer whilst enjoying spicy Thai food. But all in all a great meal and on next chili Thursday we’ll be sure to try out something super hot - if we can handle that ;-) The main dishes cost about 230 kroner in average (about 40 USD)
Regards
Gard & Nikki Http://gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures