February 6, 2009

We wanted Thai for dinner and normally would go to Siam 21 or the new place we visited a while back, Rama Garden. But we do sometimes try to be adventurous and try new restaurants. So tonight we went to Tida Thai Cuisine in Chesapeake. It was in a shopping center and from the outside did not look like much. But on the inside, I was surprised to see that it was actually painted and decorated in a pretty classy manner (aside from the bathroom, and I have no idea whose grandma's house they got that from). The service was terrible, taking forever to even get our drink order taken. When the waiter finally came over, we were ready to order our drinks, appetizer and entrees. We ordered fresh Summer rolls ($3.95) and were super disappointed to find that they were only 2 small rolls cut into halves, and that the ingredients were mostly iceberg lettuce. I don't even recall any fresh Summer rolls that we've had in the past even having iceberg lettuce in them. The sauce was a sweet n sour sauce that was actually spicy - pretty good and made the Summer rolls more tolerable. For our meal, we decided on two entrees to share: 1.) Thai Garden (sauteed mixed vegetables in garlic sauce) which was $7.95 with added cashews ($1.50); and 2.) Pad Thai Veggie (sir-fried thin noodles with assorted vegetables and peanuts - we nixed the egg). Steph enjoyed the Thai Garden more than the Pad Thai, and I didn't really love any of it. It wasn't bad, it just tasted sorta fishy to me. I definitely don't think it was bad, just don't think we'll go back again.

Below is a list of Vegetarian options at this restaurant in case you decide you'd like to try it yourself (which I encourage you to do, because everyone experiences things differently):

Soup: Veggie Soup (mixed vegetables and mushroom in a vegetable consomme)
Salad: Papaya Salad (shredded green papaya tossed with tomatoes, string bean and peanut in a spicy lime dressing)
Salad: House Salad (mixed green salad, tomatoes, red onion, carrot, cucumbers and served with choice of peanut or ginger dressing)
Appetizer: Summer Rolls (stuffed with noodles, tofu and vegetables served with sweet and sour sauce)
Appetizer: Sapphire Jumbo Tofu (deep-fried triangle tofu until perfection accompanied by special peanut sauce)
Appetizer: Spring Rolls (stuffed with cellophane noodle, mushroom, vegetables then deep-fried served with sweet and sour sauce)
Entree: Thai Garden (sauteed mixed vegetables in garlic sauce, served with steamed rice)
Entree: Eggplant Pad Ped (sauteed eggplants in spicy black bean sauce and fresh basil, served with steamed rice)
Entree: Kapaw Tofu (fried tofu sauteed with chili garlic and fresh basil, served with steamed rice)
Entree: Ginger Tofu (fried tofu stir-fried with ginger, onion, scallion and fungus mushroom, served with steamed rice)
Entree: String Bean Tofu (fried tofu stir-fried with string bean and garlic, served with steamed rice)
Entree: Prik King Tofu (fried tofu stir-fried string bean in our homemade chili paste sauce, served with steamed rice)
Entree: Pad Tofu with Bean Sprout (fried tofu sauteed with bean sprout and scallion in garlic sauce, served with steamed rice)
Entree: Panang Tofu (fried tofu in curry peanut sauce, bell pepper and fresh basil, served with steamed rice)
Entree: Green Curry Tofu (fried tofu in green curry with bamboo shoot, bell pepper and fresh basil, served with steamed rice)
Entree: Red Curry Tofu (fried tofu in red curry with bamboo shoot, bell pepper and fresh basil, served with steamed rice)
Entree: Pad Thai Veggie (stir-fried thin noodle with assorted vegetables, peanut and egg)
Entree: Pad See Eaw Tofu (fried tofu stir-fried with flat noodle, broccoli and carrot in our special sauce)
Entree: Lad Na Tofu (fried tofu stir-fried with flat noodle topped with broccoli, carrot in delicious light brown gravy sauce)
Entree: Fried Rice Veggie (stir-fried withe gg and vegetables in our chef's special sauce)