appeThaizing
appeThaizing Review This review was one I was extremely excited about doing. I love Thai food and appeThaizing is where we were going! The restaurant is located on South Crouse Ave., close to the SU campus, tucked back in an alley between Breugger’s Bagels and Hair Trends. Two big green bushes adorn the entrance to one of the best Thai food restaurants I’ve ever visited. Entering the restaurant, you will notice the bright avocado green and warm golden walls on your way down the stairs into the main seating area. The restaurant is large enough to seat at least 95 people at pub tables, and features a little waiting area outside an open kitchen so you can watch the chef at work. Though it’s popular, there is almost never a wait: Thai food is prepared fresh and cooked at high fast temperatures very quickly. My husband and I were warmly greeted at the door by Sam and Rita C. - Sam would be our waitress and Rita C is the front manager of this intriguing establishment. Co-owner and head chef, Kris Ratanaphan, is originally from Thailand and has been cooking professionally for more than 13 years. He has worked at several notable restaurants in the Syracuse area. We were seated at a table in the middle of the room with a view of the entire restaurant. Pictures of different spices decorated the walls all around the room: ginger, garlic, chilies, sweet basil, turmeric, limes, shallot, and kefir lime leaves, all of which are among the ingredients used in preparing this delicious Thai food. Sam brought us over two popular beverages: Thai Iced Tea and Thai Iced Coffee. Both are sweetened to perfection with just enough cream, homemade and delicious. You can also chose from a wide variety of fragrant wines or choose one of their premium beers. It took us a long time to order because we decided to watch the big screen that was hanging over the waiting area displaying actual photos different entrees and appetizers. What a new and fun experience. I wanted to make sure I saw every picture before I made any decisions. We finally decided on the appeThaizing Veggie Rolls for $5.79 (glass noodles, carrot, tofu, bean sprouts, and green onions wrapped in a thin rice paper, fried and served with a carrot sauce). I really had a tough time trying to decide on my entrée, as well, but finally opted for one of the daily chef’s specials - appeThaizing Basket. This dish consists of marinated shrimp wrapped in rice paper and topped with ground peanut and sweet chili tamarind sauce, served on a bed of mixed greens inside an edible crispy basket, $7.50. When choosing an entrée, there are several categories on the menu. It is important to acknowledge that appeThaizing caters to vegan diets and with almost every entrée, tofu can be substituted for chicken or shrimp. Additionally, vegan dishes must be prepared from scratch to avoid the use of fish sauce which is a staple in almost every Thai dish. The first category comprises the very popular Noodle dishes. The most famous Thai noodle is the Pad Thai (which is also the most commonly ordered noodle dish at appeThaizing). Pad Thai is a combination of rice noodles, egg, bean sprouts, chives, and fresh ground peanut sautéed in tamarind sauce with your choice of chicken ($10.99), shrimp ($12.99) or tofu ($10.99). Also, under the noodle section you will find Golden Noodle, Pad Kee Mow and Brown Noodle. All of these noodle dishes can be ordered with chicken, shrimp, or tofu. For our main entrees, we selected the Tofu Pad Prig Pow ($10.99) and the Beef Pad Prig Pow for my husband for ($11.99). We noticed there were several people stopping in to pick up their order to go. During the academic year, appeThaizing delivers to several businesses, hospitals, students, on campus offices and doctors offices in the SU campus area. The delivery charge is only 99 cents as long as you place a $15.00 minimum order. (Please call the restaurant for the exact radius. 295-2200.) An order over $100.00 guarantees delivery throughout the year. Our dinners were served up hot and quickly on colorful fiesta dinnerware. You had to take in how beautiful the dish looked, as well as savor the wonderful aroma of garlic, sweet basil, coconut milk and chili sauce. Our entrees were served with what looked like a huge snowball of perfectly cooked rice. I loved the sweet spicy chilis with the garlic sauce, sweet basil and firm tofu. The fact that the tofu didn’t crumble into little pieces was amazing. I think I could have eaten two helpings - it was that delicious! I almost always have to get my dessert to go because I’m so full from eating appetizers and my meal. But in this case, I had to find room to try the Banana Fritters. This is a coconut battered banana fried to a sweet crispy perfection, served with three scoops of French vanilla ice cream ($4.99). This creates a soft and crispy combination of one of the most popular desserts of the restaurant. Truly a signature dessert you will come back for. My husband indulged in the green tea ice cream ($4.99). Simple but satisfying, it was served with whipped cream and dusted with green tea powder. You will enjoy this restaurant for both the food and the wonderful personalities that accompany it. Enjoy!
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