When you get tired of the restaurants in your own neighborhood, it's refreshing to venture to other neighborhoods and explore theirs. This was the case with a recent evening at Ruthai's Thai Kitchen, just off Mount Lookout Square.
Ruthai's is a cozy Thai restaurant like many that came before it. Inside you'll find the same ceramic Beckoning Cat figurines, Thai wall hangings and elaborate napkin folds that typify most Thai restaurants. To any Thai food aficionado, the menu is a familiar affair of chicken, beef, pork, seafood and vegetarian rice and noodle dishes with varying herbs, spices and sauces.
The scene is set in two intimate, narrow dining rooms, with a sushi bar in one and take-out counter in the other. Though the dining rooms, which seat about 50, were half-occupied, the din of conversation was a low hum. The exception was a loud foursome at the sushi bar who brought a few six-packs of Miller High Life (Ruthai's has no liquor license). The lone server, dashing here and there to spread her attention equally among the guests, gracefully tucked her annoyance behind a pleasant smile as our BYOB neighbors tried to steal her attention from our water glasses.
Though we kept to the regular dinner menu, the sushi menu is extensive and affordably priced.
Along with Nigiri and Maki sushi and combination platters, there are a few entertaining creations, such as the "Cincinnati roll" ($5.50), with cooked salmon, BBQ and avocado — let's call it sushi with training wheels.
While waiting to order, my friends and I chatted over a round of Thai iced teas ($1.75), the pale orange hue of a creamsicle and just as sweet. One of my dining partners, who is half-Thai, was telling us she spoke the language until she was 3. In Thai, the same word can have five different meanings depending on how it is pronounced. Like the language, the cuisine is built around basic flavor components — sweet, spicy, salty and pungent — and their harmonious integration is what makes the food so soothing.
I was won over by the tart and spicy ping of our Green Papaya Salad ($5.95). All you see is a mound of shredded papaya adorned with a few tomato wedges; what you get is an intricate complexity of flavors playing off the juice and texture of the papaya, which is laced with finely ground peanuts, squirts of lime and spicy, clear dressing.
The vegetarians at our table found a varied selection of vegetable and tofu entrées. Vegetable Thai Spicy ($8.50) is a stir-fry of bamboo shoots, broccoli, bell peppers, mushrooms and snow peas in a red curry sauce. Spicy and a little sweet, Panang Curry ($8.95) pairs peppers and coconut milk with herbs, balanced out by a refreshing side of steamed broccoli. The richest was Massaman Curry ($8.95), with Idaho and sweet potatoes, onions and ground peanuts all simmered in coconut milk with a homemade curry paste. Both curries were topped with large tofu triangles, fried to perfection — firm on the outside and soft in the middle.
I had Shrimp with Spicy Green Beans ($12.95). The aromatics of kaffir lime leaves collided with a hot red curry paste. Hot jumbo shrimp were perfectly cooked. Green beans were joyfully hot and crunchy. Jasmine scented rice completed the flavor spectrum. Four spice levels range from "mild" to "extra spicy," and my friends and I were happiest with the unobtrusive but assertive kick of "medium."
I can't say I raved about my dinner the next day, but I did stop back for a lunch portion of Pad Thai ($5.50) and a Thai iced tea to-go the following week. I recommend Ruthai's to anyone looking for a quiet meal in Mount Lookout or anyone exploring area Thai restaurants. ©
Ruthai's Thai Kitchen
Go: 3164 Linwood Ave., Mount Lookout
Call: 513-871-7687
Hours: Lunch: Tuesday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Dinner: Sunday and Tuesday-Thursday 5 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Friday 5 p.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m.-10 p.m.
Prices: Moderate
Payment: All major credit cards
Red Meat Alternatives: Vegetable and tofu stir fries, curries and noodles.
