I don’t know about you, but I find it tough to locate a great Thai restaurant. My mom is an amazing cook, so we rarely eat out for Thai food. When we do, it’s usually just average or, oddly enough, too sweet. That seems to be a common trend at many Thai places around here—everything tends to be overly sweet.
My parents have been in Thailand for a couple of months, so my sister and I have been exploring different restaurants to satisfy our Thai food cravings. There are so many Thai places around us! Many only excel at one or two dishes, while the rest are just okay. But tonight, we discovered a restaurant that we’re really excited about. Everything we ordered at Black Thai was delicious, and it makes us look forward to trying other dishes on their menu.
As usual, my sister and I struggled to decide on an appetizer. Fortunately, they offered an appetizer sampler that included most of what we wanted to try.
The sampler included fried gyoza, fresh spring rolls, crab rangoon, fried spring rolls, and curry puffs. Everything was hot and freshly made, straight from the fryer. It wasn’t reheated food, which made everything taste even better!
You can’t truly enjoy Thai food without Som Tum or papaya salad. I know that’s not entirely accurate—I never order Pad Thai at Thai restaurants—but hear me out! Black Thai had several Som Tum options. They offered the typical Thai and Laos versions, but they also had Som Tum with blue crab (feature image), which I’ve never seen on a menu before. This dish featured raw blue crab that absorbed the umami richness of the sauce, making the experience of extracting the meat truly unforgettable. And by extracting, I mean really sucking out the meat!
We also ordered shrimp in fish sauce, which is essentially raw shrimp marinated in Thai chilies, lime juice, and fish sauce. Not every restaurant offers this dish, but it’s my sister’s favorite, so we always order it when we see it on the menu. Black Thai prepares theirs beautifully by adding a thin slice of bitter melon and fried shallots. It’s so delicious, but incredibly spicy!
Black Thai also offers a rare item: Tom Yum noodle soup. I know what you’re thinking—that can’t be true since most Thai restaurants have it. But unlike the version with chili paste, this one doesn’t feature the signature reddish broth typically associated with Tom Yum. Instead, it has a clear broth infused with lime juice, Thai chilies, and roasted peanuts. This bowl is loaded with porky goodness, including pork balls, char siu pork, sliced pork, ground pork, and even crispy bits of pork fat. Did I mention that this dish had pork in it? And as if that weren’t enough, they also throw in fish cakes! The wedge of lime adds a nice touch, giving it an extra kick of flavor.
Since there were just two of us tonight, we couldn’t try everything we wanted on the menu. That’s why my sister and I are so excited about Black Thai—we get to go back and sample a few more dishes. While not all Thai restaurants are created equal, sometimes you discover one that really hits it out of the park.
