Sailing the wine-dark asphalt can give this pandanaut a mighty hunger. As satin-tressed Night covers the sky, our driveabouts inevitably end with feasting to celebrate our heroic adventures.
(Lighting the darkness.)
We discovered Thai Bamboo Bistro at the end of one such journey. It had been a long day, and I honestly had very low expectations when we pulled into a darkened shopping center in Irvine's Shady Canyon neighborhood. The Quiznos, Starbucks, and Sharky's Mexican Grill did little to reassure me. Fortunately, there were a few interesting dining options available as well. Thai Bamboo Bistro seemed to be the most promising amongst them.
(Panda Math: posh digs == 20% markup)
With muted tones of wood and gold, the decor of the restaurant was highly appealing and somewhat unexpected, given the other inhabitants of the strip mall. The suspicious bastard lurking inside of me immediately adjusted the expected cost of the meal upwards by 20%.
Our server was a very friendly and very knowledgeable young Thai man who was amusingly obsessed with my cell phone. He added a light-hearted note to our dinner that I found quite enjoyable.
(Hard to eat.)
Shockingly enough, the prices on the menu were very reasonable, although there was still a slight markup. Cat and I shared a chuckle over some of the typos, which were even funnier given our server's self-avowed interest in cell phones.
(A little off.)
Cat decided to order a Pink Lemonade for her beverage. She found it serviceable, but remarked that it tasted a little funny. I tried some and advanced the theory that the restaurant used palm sugar instead of cane sugar as a sweetener. The lemonade was tasty enough that we didn't bother checking.
(You put de lime in de coconut...)
All the bamboo decorations had me feeling a bit tropical, so I decided to order the Young Coconut Juice. Since a number of Southeast Asian restaurants purchase this beverage canned or jarred, I was expecting it in a glass with ice.
(Pandanaut + Coconut = Pandanut)
Instead, I was thrilled to receive a chilled, fresh, neatly decapitated coconut with a spoon that I could use to dig out the tasty flesh. I was thrilled. I was also a dork and had Cat take my picture with my new best friend.
(Strange shrimp.)
As Cat had graciously decided to buy me dinner, I let her order for us. True to form, she chose the Traditional Pad Thai, which is also one of my Thai food favorites. How can you go wrong with shrimp, chicken, pressed tofu, eggs, rice noodles, and raw and cooked bean sprouts stir-fried in a sweet and spicy peanut sauce? It's even topped with more peanuts! Decadent.
Thai Bamboo Bistro's rendition was very good, although I could tell that the seasonings had been adjusted for Western tastes. All of the classic components were there, but the balance was skewed. In addition, Cat complained about a slightly chemical taste to the otherwise plump and juicy shrimp, which I was also able to pick out.
Consuming the off-tasting shellfish didn't have any detrimental effects later that evening. The portion was large and I liked the taste of the sauce. Based on that, I would probably order it again. However, if the shrimp tastes strange during my next visit as well, there probably won't be a third one. Food doesn't have to be 100% authentic in order to be good, but it needs to be fresh.
(Beefy goodness.)
At our server's strong suggestion, Cat also ordered the Black Pepper Steak. This proved to be a simple stir-fry of bell pepper, steak, and onion in a savory black peppercorn sauce. Cat and I loved the tender steak, although I would have liked more black peppercorns in the sauce. As with the Pad Thai, this dish had obviously been adjusted for the Western palate, but was enjoyable nonetheless.
(No charge!?!)
Thai Bamboo Bistro scored additional points by not charging us for our rice. This Taiwanese panda grew up with steamed rice in restaurants offered gratis, and has always been annoyed by Thai or any other restaurants that charge per bowl of rice. I was happy to see that Thai Bamboo Bistro offered its diners as much rice as they wanted free of charge. That's the right way to do it.
Thai Bamboo Bistro - It may not be authentic, but it's pretty good. A nice place to take the family if you're in the neighborhood and want a change from the usual dining rotation.
The Bill (for two):
Pink Lemonade - 2.00
Young Coconut Juice - 3.00
Traditional Pad Thai - 11.00
Black Pepper Steak - 17.00
Tax - 2.56
Tip - 6.00
Total - 41.56
Flavor: B
Ambience: A-
Service: A
ROI: C+
Overall: B+
Thai Bamboo Bistro
6715 Quail Hill Pkwy.
Irvine, CA 93603
1-949-509-4771
18 comments:
I *almost* walked into there once, but got this sinking feeling that I was going to spend more than $10 for my lunch, so I turned around and went into Nalu's. Nice to know it ain't half bad...and the rice is free!
That looks like yummy Thai fare. And the restaurant itself seems like a nice place to eat. Jackpot on the free rice! I'm sure I've gotten free rice at restaurants, but I don't eat out at Asian restaurants enough to remember when or where.
Mmm... sounds delicious! I love the idea of your driveabout adventures. MS and I do that on occasion, often ending up at places we like though. ;) LOL!
Free rice = fabulous!!! I hate having to pay an extra two bucks for a bowl of rice! BAH!
Good find!
I wonder if cellphone noodles have a lot of fiber?
Hopped over from tigerfish's blog, mmmm cellphone noodle, must try some LOL
Yay for free rice - you hardly see that in Thai restaurants anymore! it's only a dollar or so more, but for the cinese cheepie in me, it makes a big difference to the overall experience, hehe! mmm, you have me craving pad thai...almost enough to order delivery from that horrid mixbowl place in claremont! :)
I have yet to find a decent Thai restaurant in Irvine, sad very sad. You know, that strip mall has a Chinese restaurant Crystal Jade...I think their dim sum is pretty good.
Haha, I love how excited you got over the coconut drink! But I am even more pleased by the delicious cellphone noodles! There was a Chinese place in Monterey Park that actually had its menu featured on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I used to go to that place all the time, and I never thought that the menu names were Engrish worthy!
Ha! We both reviewed Americanized places that weren't half bad yesterday. :)
BTW, I think those cellphone noodles would go perfectly with Saigon Bistro's phone grenade (pomegranate) drink. Unfortunately, when they updated their menu, they fixed the spelling too.
First visit to your site which I love! Great review and I wish we could get fresh coconut (in the shell!) over here!
charging for rice seems to be the new Asian restaurants' equivalent of the "water trick" (except, it's pretty much obligatory -- most of the time dishes are necessary.) Not pleasant, but something I see all diners having to deal with more frequently with time. However, I don't mind shelling out a little extra for brown rice, as un-Asian as it is :P
Nice review. I'm always skeptical about restaurants that aren't French but that use the word "bistro" in their names (P.F. Chang "China Bistro" is the first one that comes to mind), but it's good to hear this place wasn't half bad.
But, now I have "you put de lime in de coconut" stuck in my head! :)
Hahhah...cellophane cellphone noodles? Lucky it's PAD thai and not PDA thai :)
Pandanut or Cocoda (crocodile)!
Sorry, the cellphone noodles just tickled me till I can't stop.
I haven't made it inside yet..glad to read you review. Don't you think there should be an unspoken rule that rice should always be free?!
That's gotta be the best asian menu typo i've seen. "For the adventurous ones, try our pork shank with fish sauce served over CELLPHONES. It's an electrifying dish." many more good typos here at engrish.com .
Elmo,
I remember your Nalu review, particularly the choice words you had to say about the poke. =/ It's one of the reasons we went with Thai Bamboo Bistro, although I'm planning on trying Nalu at some point in the future.
Yuzu,
Most Chinese and Indian restaurants give you free rice. Japanese restaurants are more inclined to charge you, and getting charged for rice is almost a sure bet at Thai and Vietnamese places. It's just what the customs are. Annoying, but oh well.
BoLA,
Yeah, Cat and I end up at old favorites a lot as well. It's all a matter of where we happen to be when one of us says, "I'm hungry".
Urban Vegan,
I'd say more minerals than fiber. Good source of copper, nickel, and cadmium. =)
Firehorse,
Thanks for dropping by. The cellphone noodles seem to be a crowd pleaser.
Kathy,
See? I told you that you'd go crawling back to the mix bowl place. =D
Rasa Malaysia,
I agree. The Thai food in Irvine is mediocre at best. Why did Thai Nakorn have to burn? =(
I remember your Crystal Jade recommendation. I'm definitely going to try it. Email me if you wanna go together some weekend.
PE,
I love that site! So many happy memories...
WC,
I wonder if you could somehow combine the two to make the ultimate Engrish dish. Food for thought.
Freya and Paul,
Thanks for dropping by. I like your site as well and have added you to my blogroll.
HC,
Brown rice I'll pay for. It's a pain to cook. I'll even happily pay for a tub of steamed white rice as long as there are free refills. But rice by the bowl? There ought to be a law against that. I didn't get to be a chubby panda on one bowl of rice per meal. (^_~)
Eric,
Spot on. I was thinking of making a comparison between this place and P.F. Chang's, but I didn't want to be mean.
Tigerfish,
Please keep going. You're cracking me up. (^_^)
Deb,
Yes! Sing it, girlfriend! Testify!
ED&BM,
Oh, there have been better. How about General Chaos Chicken or Chicken Quarterback? Both at Red Onion Cafe, which has sadly since closed.
I love Engrish.com. Good stuff.
- Chubbypanda
Getting charged for rice is not a VNese custom. Hmph! And I've never been charged for rice when I've eaten in Little Saigon. Come to think of it, I've really only been charged for rice in Thai and Chinese restaurants, or the more upscale Asian places.
Really? I get charged for rice at Vietnamese restaurants all the time. Try going somewhere for com tam and asking for more rice. =D
On the other hand, I *never* get charged for my rice at Chinese restaurants. (^o^)
Oh, and in response to "VNese", I'm sorry, but I just have to do this:
AZN Pride, baby! w00t w00t! =b
- Chubbypanda
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