Thai Cuisine Restaurant

We are sort of cheating on this one. Though, since we have no rules and no goals to this blog, we can't really cheat. What I mean is that we had actually visited this place the week before we came up with the idea to do this blog, but it was still fresh in our minds. It was a special trip for me (Mom) and my two girls (Julie and her older sister), since I and my husband had been here several times, but the girls had never been.

Lunch is the best deal, so I promised the kids, on a day off from school during spring break, that I would take them. For lunch, the price is lower than dinner entrees as is typical because of a smaller portion, but comes with a small bowl of soup and a fried eggroll. At 29 Maple Street in Potsdam, NY, this is a pleasant stroll through downtown and across the bridges of the Racquette River.

My oldest girl is a finicky eater extraordinaire. She makes Morris the cat seem like an uncritical gourmand. It is with great trepidation that we dare to take her anywhere to eat that is not the most tried and true, bland fare imaginable. Even then, she can decide that there is something wrong with her order. And that is why there could never be an "MJ/Mom Project" in the spirit of this current blog.

MJ ordered the Vegetable Lo Mein, a fairly safe bet since that is what she usually gets from Chinese restaurants (any sort of meat creates a 90% chance of observing her face scrinch up to look like a chicken's behind, as my husband puts it). Julie has a great variety of tastes and even a fair edge to the degree of spiciness she can handle, but I was still looking over the menu trying to figure a good choice for her. The waitress/manager suggested a basic shrimp and broccoli stir fry. Upon hearing that, I asked if it could be spiced up (yes) and ordered it myself while Julie chose the "Crazy Noodle" with beef off the menu, no doubt due to the funny name. Crazy Noodle is a spicy dish and we ordered it mild for Julie, while I asked for as spicy as possible with my own shrimp and broccoli. MJ, needless to say, thinks salt is "hot" and cannot even have the slightest amount of anything as basic as black pepper added to her food.

Our soup came out and surprisingly, Morris, I mean, MJ actually liked it! Maybe she is more like Mikey from the Life cereal commercials... doesn't like anything so we'll test it out on her... she likes it! Anyway, it is a typical southeast asian style clear soup with a few shreds of blanched cabbage and carrot in it, seasoned lightly and with rice vinegar for a subtle tanginess. The vegetable eggroll came with the entree, a small sample with a thin crispy fried wrapper. MJ questioned me later why we did not order the spring rolls, which I had praised before. These are lovely, unfried, larger rolls of cabbage, sprout, carrot, cilantro and other miscellaneous goodness and served with a tangy dipping sauce. I explained that I wasn't going to order something that she would certainly not eat no matter what her sincere earnestness in wanting to try. I suspect Julie might like them, but this was a small experiment for them, not a grand one. Frugality is a lead motto in eating out these days, so maybe some other time.

All of us had at least a few carrot slices in our dishes that were fancifully criss-cut. Mine was excellent served on rice and as spicy hot as I like it without making it inedible. MJ ate all her food, save a very few larger pieces of delicious green bell pepper and onion. Julie's fried noodle dish was slightly spicy and very tasty to her. She gave MJ half of her eggroll. I asked MJ if she wanted mine, but she declined. After we left she declared she was still hungry. She must be going through a growth spirt.