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A good restaurant is one that maintains the consistency of its food quality and offers you value for the money you spend. By this measure, Spicy Thai Noodle Place fits the bill.
The same dish I ordered twelve years ago when I did my first review of Spicy Thai Noodle Place was pad ka praow, or minced chicken with basil for $7.95, which now costs $8.95. I had my lunch with an avowed vegetarian, Arin Greenwood, who was at the time working in the AG’s office. She has since left Saipan and written a novel (“Tropical Depression”) about Saipan and is now working with the Huffington Post.
I haven’t been able to update the last review I did (2007), when they were still located in San Antonio, until now. Waree Bracken is still the owner and she has converted this corner house in Garapan into a dining compound, with outdoor seating on verandas and indoor dining in several rooms. There is a strong sense of home-style cooking and eating when you are inside this eatery. This is as casual and informal as it gets.
I ordered a thai iced tea ($2.00), and spicy soup (tom yam) with shrimp ($7.95), and pad ka praow (minced pork spicy basil – with egg for $8.95). The menu descriptions are almost generic, rarely using the Thai names for the dishes. They do have great color photos (same ones they’ve had for years) that showcase their menu very nicely. You don’t have to say anything correctly, just point to the picture and nod!
The tom yam has that aroma you can’t resist – sweet, sour, spicy and pungent. I ladled some of the large prawns into a smaller bowl to eat. This comes with a very large scoop of white rice. The pad ka praow had a pile of rice, too. I could only eat a nominal amount of this to balance out the spicy chilis. This time the egg on top wasn’t fried with crispy edges; it was egg-white white. Still, I enjoyed it.
I also wondered what it would be like to eat outside on one of the decks, like in a small Thai village. It’s charming. I noticed a couple of cats sleeping. If a cat can sleep, this must be a peaceful environment. Come to Spicy Thai Noodle Place for a relaxing time eating your favorite Thai food.
