In the past month Ms. EC and I have made two visits to the highly-regarded Spoon Thai on north Western Ave. (Not to be confused with their sister restaurant "Silver Spoon" on Rush, or "Thai Spoon" near the South Loop, neither of which I have visited). In the past, Spoon has been called out as one of the best by the Trib, and has been lauded on message boards like LTHForum.com.

Another reason Spoon has become well-known and well-liked is because of their "other" menus. Many Thai restaurants in and around Chicago offer Thai-language menus, primarily for their Thai patrons. Besides having a well-known Thai language menu, Spoon offers a menu supplement of a handful of interesting items not found on their English menu. (This is not to say that there isn't gold on their regular menu).

The Thai-language menus around town, obviously, offer more authentic Thai fare that is considered more exotic to the American palette. Serious foodies have blazed a trail of and posted translated menus online. Check the "Useful Stuff" section of LTHForum.com for a post called "Translated Menus" for a list. Special mention goes to Erik M of LTHForum.com for doing the lion's share of work. (Keep browsing and you'll find some of Erik's top-notch food-porn photography). Shame on Metromix for not giving credit where credit is due in their recent article about "secret menus".

Many Thai restaurant owners believe that the items on their Thai menu won't sell to Americans, so they limit their English menus to the standard pads, satays, tom yums, and simple curries. The interesting thing about Spoon is that they manage to find some middle ground between the exotic and the everyday by offering a supplement, and the stuff on their everyday menu is pretty darn good too.

In our two recent visits we tried a handful of items from the standard menu and the supplement (not feeling quite ready for the Thai menu just yet). I was rolling my watering eyes with every bite of the spicy pork neck larb, a spicy pork-meat salad that I quickly declared to be one of the finest, most complex Thai dishes I've ever tasted. On the less-complex-but-more-comfort-food end of the spectrum was Spoon's fried chicken, which will make you forget about any other bird you've tasted before. I also loved the banana blossom salad and the chive dumplings (be sure you like chives before ordering these, they're chock-full of fresh chives). On the not-so-great side of the menu were the curries. We tried two and weren't overly impressed by either of them.

During our first visit there were two men sitting next to us, attempting to gain access to the Thai menu, and they were surprised to be met with some resistance. This is one of the potential pitfalls of gaining access to the exotic fare. Depending on the kitchen staff, time of day, or mood of the owner/waiter, you may find some push-back. Nevertheless, I like the fact that Spoon has taken the step towards making the authentic more accessible, and they are not alone: I have a very long list of Thai eateries and dishes to try. Stay tuned.

Check out Spoon Thai at 4608 N. Western Ave., 773-769-1173. BYOB. Get the larb and fried chicken. Seriously.

i highly recommend thai pastry as well (4925 broadway).

Posted by: jeff at March 6, 2005 8:57 PM

i strongly recommend that you not go to thai pastry. hands down the worst and greasiest thai food i've ever had.

Posted by: foo d at March 7, 2005 5:38 PM

so where do you eat good thai, foo d?

Posted by: jeff at March 10, 2005 9:10 PM

sadly, not to thai pastry, which is in my 'hood. the close-by thai avenue is much better. for cheap, reliable, close by thai, i go to thai avenue, joy's, and tac quick. it's pretty hard to find at-best-mediocre, let alone bad, thai food, imho. that's why i'm so amazed by thai pastry. i just think it's terrible.

Posted by: foo d at March 17, 2005 9:30 AM

I live in the area of Thai Pastry. Their food is delicious, but they have bad service.

Posted by: Yvette at November 22, 2005 7:47 AM