May Thai Restaurant

[hungry_moose]

The new May Thai Restaurant in Wallingford sounds great. I just read Mamster's review in The Seattle Times (gotta love his reviews!). Check it out at:

Mamster's May Thai Review

With a cup of oatmeal, tall decaf vanilla latte & a donut,

hungry_moose

[mamster]

Thanks, moose. This place really is great; the menu is small, but if you're looking for a Thai restaurant with genuinely different stuff, this is it.

[little ms foodie]

too funny! While driving home last night we passed this and both wondered about it and when it went in as we hadn't noticed it. Definately on the list to get in and try!

[tighe]

Nice review mamster, sounds good. Would you give it the nod over Noodle Boat?

[seacrotty]

Nice review mamster, sounds good.  Would you give it the nod over Noodle Boat?

←

Anita and I have been to May Thai, and it's hard to compare directly to Noodle Boat. May Thai is not your typical USA Thai place, with family-style plates of meats and veggies served over scoops of rice from a communal bowl. It's more like a mid-to-high-level restaurant with a chef working in the Thai idiom. Think the recently departed Fandango v. Taqueria Guaymas or Rositas. The comparison isn't perfect, because May Thai isn't as high-end as Fandango aspired to be, but it's close enough.

There are a couple of items that you can order to share, but May Thai is more appetizer-entree oriented. And the menu is short with specific dishes, not a matrix of sauce/meat combinations.

Having said that...

Mamster's review is bang on. The dishes are fresh, flavorful, and well-balanced (hot-sour-sweet-salty). Some of the food packs serious heat. This is a good thing. I'm looking forward to a return visit.

c

[Sleepy_Dragon]

One of the chefs there is a former Thai SCCC culinary student, he came to our class to give a talk on Thai food and how it evolved differently in the US compared to Thailand and how he's trying to cook it as it's done back home. Very interesting stuff, I'm glad his place did right by mamster.

Pat

Edited January 14, 2005 by Sleepy_Dragon (log)

[tamiam]

After seeing the beautiful building and reading all the news here, Rick and I had to go to May Thai. The place is very attractive. The drink menu is interesting....wish it didn't take so very long to get one, but it was quite a wait. Glad we ordered an appetizer, a grilled octopus dish...it was presented in a lovely way, perfectly cooked, fresh, with distinct flavors. Left us wanting more, which was a feeling that lasted quite a while, as the rest of the meal was truly slow to arrive. We were OK, enjoying our conversation and all. The server was kind and apologized many times, even without prompting. The food when it did show up was very good, again presented artfully, though one dish had lost its temperature during the wait. Loved the food and the atmosphere, and hope May Thai is aware and working to solve the service issues. They missed turning tables, and we left not as happy as we would've been otherwise. We will definitely give them another chance, and we really hope they get it together.

(edited to emphasize that it was really really slow, as in about 45 min between ordering and getting a drink and forever for dinner)

Edited January 31, 2005 by tamiam (log)

[jrt]

(edited to emphasize that it was really really slow, as in about 45 min between ordering and getting a drink and forever for dinner)

←

Yikes. I plan to try them as well, but this is the kind of thing that I think of as absolutely intolerable. I literally could start pouring myself a cocktail at home, realize I was out of some kind of booze, go to the liquor store, come back home, pour it over again, and get halfway through drinking it in less time than that.

I don't fully grasp the relationship between this place and Peso's, but it's interesting to me that Peso's service is horrifingly slow or otherwise apparently apathetic on any given day.

[jbonne]

hadn't seen mamster's review but we went last night, and almost entirely concurred. (my dining companion found some scallops slightly overcooked; i found no such thing.)

we were very bummed that the yum pug boong was off the menu, but somewhat relieved that they explained it by saying it wasn't in season. i don't know enough about Siamese watercress to verify that, but appreciate that they're not trying for ingredients that won't survive the winter.

the broths and sauces are the real winner -- tom yum comes with those endless layers of flavor, but May's version manages to be delicate and aromatic amid all that heat. the mushrooms are long and tender, a far fry from the usual sliced crimini that serve in most joints. best i've had in years.

service was a touch flighty, but not badly so. very friendly, but not chatty. and wasn't slow -- with the exception of getting a check.

needless to say, the decor is stunning. so are the hours: late night in Wallingford? party on!

extra plus: a really nice, if brief, wine list. and very modest markups. a bottle of Sancerre went for about $25, not much above what I think is about $18 retail.

[mamster]

I believe one of the owners of May is also one of the owners of Peso's.

I went four times for the review and ate twice upstairs, twice downstairs, and service was slow both times downstairs and fast both times upstairs, but that could have been luck.

[LaurieA-B]

Nice review mamster, sounds good.  Would you give it the nod over Noodle Boat?

←

As Cameron said, it's really a different style of American Thai restaurant. But I like them both and they're both "authentic" in different ways. What may be pertinent for you, tighe, is that Noodle Boat is the one that's a family restaurant (there were little kids there, including girl chow's son on one visit, every time I ate there), while May is really for adults.

[mamster]

Oh, I think Iris could totally demolish the gai yang. But admittedly she might poke some of the artifacts.

[little ms foodie]

FINALLY stopped into May last night with Della. we started downstairs with drinks and a few plates off their happy hour menu (chive pancakes and spare ribs both great with awesome dipping sauces!)

Upstairs we had pad thai and grilled chicken with a green papaya salad- both were great as was the wine we had with it- nice mosel riesling. But the service hasn't picked up- it was slow!! downstairs and up. So go for the flavor but be patient I guess- no quick meals here.