We returned to Mai Thai for Happy Hour, 5 to 7pm, where they have specials on House Wine & Beers in Bottles. Also, they've got $5 Appetizers pictured here. (5/14/16).
We tried the Chicken Satay (above) and Fried Calamari (below). The Satay was pretty good, about what you'd expect. Light marinade, peanut sauce, & accompanying cukes & onions. Not much going on with the peanut sauce aside from coconut & a touch of spice. The Calamari was over-breaded for my taste and, even worse, over-cooked. Made me wonder if this was frozen, pre-breaded, from a plastic bag delivered via eighteen wheeler rig or bought at Costco. Sauce was cloyingly sweet, couldn't pick up any chile flavor.
Red Curry Seafood (above). I strongly suspect this Red Curry was made from a mix, because I could only detect the merest whisper of Thai spices such as chillies, ginger/galangal, lemongrass, shrimp paste, cumin, black pepper, coriander, kaffir lime peel, shallot, & garlic. The one thing I could discern was coconut milk and quite a bit of sweetness. I thought the use of Kabocha Squash in this dish was the main thing that stood out. The seafood was less than inspiring--just not much flavor coming from the shrimp and mussels. I suspect spices are in the mix they use, it's just that they've lost their potency, which is why many chefs recommend you throw away any ground spices after a few months, which is usually not an issue for a restaurant, unless they are using a pre-ground mix, in which case, how long has that product been sitting on a shelf in a warehouse?
As to the Drunken Noodle Chicken (below), it was just as good as our first visit, though definitely not on par with the upper echelon Thai and Lao restaurants in the region, such as Sue's Kitchen in El Sobrante. But the vegetables were cooked perfectly, and the chicken was moist and tender, and the overall flavor was what you want from this dish, if toned down on traditional Thai spices. I'd guess much of this is a consequence of the dining public in Benicia, which is similar to Vallejo, most folks around here prefer mild flavors, which might explain why we saw no Thai condiments: dried chillies, roasted chile in oil, or plain thai chilies.
Pictured above: Northern Thai/Laotian Lemongrass-infused Pork Sausage. Benicia, Vallejo's neighbor to the southeast, has a lot going for it, but it's kind of expensive and kind of boring. There's a very under-rated art scene there, as well as several good restaurants. We just checked out Mai Thai today for lunch (our first visit 4/7/16), and were quite pleasantly surprised.
Thai Iced Coffee. Pretty damn good, though Pho King in Oakland's still the best.
Here's another shot of the Northern Thai/Laotian-style Lemongrass Pork Sausage. Fantastic, and as good as the best we've had elsewhere (Chang Thai in San Pablo, Sue's Kitchen in El Sobrante). Roasted to perfection, with a slightly crispy skin.
Drunken Noodles with Chicken (and cabbage, carrots, onion).
Quite a scrumptious version; notice that they served us short noodles. I kept comparing this to one of the other two Thai places in Benicia, Pearl Thai, over by the Raley's, which is great in many ways, but the meat there is a bit bland, as if they cook the meat separately, and added to the noodles, vegetables and sauce at the last minute. But this isn't the case at Mai Thai, as the chicken definitely absorbs the flavor of the dish quite well. Vegetables were spot on.
Finally! Thai-style Duck Soup! This is a dish I loved to get at Thai restaurants such as Madam Mam's and Sap's in Austin, Texas. Duck stock with five spice blend, with roast duck & noodles. Full flavored with a complex aroma. A sublime triumph, yet very simple.
Highly recommended. BTW, all three of these entrees are on the lunch special. We are so lucky to have such a proliferation of Royal Cuisine from Thailand and Vietnam around here--very thrifty.
http://www.maithaibenicia.com/
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