Ban Thai

I was really bummed to not like this place. I remember as a kid when we would go to Eastgate for groceries seeing Ban Thai and wondering what kind of food they served there. I figured as an adult that if it could still be open then it's not so bad, right?

Well it's not horrible, but it's not great either. I've been having Becky's Sushi Adventures lately. For the most part they're great! But now I know Eastgate is not known for having great sushi for a reason.



I ordered the Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup which you can see above. What is that bobbing in the broth you might ask? Well that is a hand full of raw halved button mushrooms in the bowl then there were 4 decent sized butterflied shrimp. That is all. No tofu, no egg, no bamboo shoot. I try Hot and Sour soup whenever I go to an Asian restaurant that serves it. This one was the weirdest. It looks like literally they threw a hand full of mushrooms at the bowl. The broth was okay, given there was nothing else in the bowl I can't make any excuses for it. I did like that there was cilantro in it, not enough to help. It was too vinegary and too sugary. Sad... because hot and sour soup is one of my favorites. NO amount of hot pepper oil could save it. I tried.



Here we have my rolls.

The Volcano is the long one on the top of the photo. This thing was weird. The whole thing was deep fried - almost always a bad sign. For something called Volcano it certainly wasn't spicy, in spite of the large stripe of mayo on top of it. I am really getting tired of sushi that is only given the name spicy because of their lame mayo. Try some peppers, gentlemen!

The Spicy Salmon is the one on the bottom right. This one was the saving grace out of the 3. It tasted like spicy salmon should. It was cool and spicy and delish. There were even toasted sesame seeds as a garnish on top of the roll.

The Spider is the one on the bottom left. Very awkward to eat. They each fell apart in my chopsticks. They were also greasy. They didn't properly blot the crab after they deep fried it. I accept that with a Spider roll the chef always makes the end pieces extra difficult to eat. It's kind of the price for ordering such a delicious roll. But this one fell apart completely before I could even try to put it in my mouth. So sad.

My server? Well he never even refilled my water glass. The last time I saw him was when he dropped my check and it was too late by then. 

Will I go back? No. I really should have went to Senate instead. Live and learn.