The Taste of Thailand in Tucson

Before I moved to Tucson in 2004, I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for four years. Surprisingly, this small Alaskan city spoiled me rotten with its abundance of amazing Thai restaurants. With a population of 40,000, Fairbanks has four breath-taking places to get amazing Khao Na Ped, Kang Pa-Nang, and Pad Thai. These restaurants were always clean, fresh, and the chefs, being from Thailand, making authentic meals from their home country. It surprised me that Fairbanks had this, especially since the interior of Alaska couldn't be any farther away from Thailand.

Naturally, I was addicted and wanted more after moving to the desert. I was sorely disappointed. Restaurants in Tucson, which claimed to have Thai food, failed miserably. One restaurant, which will remain nameless, actually had the gall to put BBQ sauce over butter noodles and call that Pad Thai. I was shocked and started to miss Fairbanks, the frozen city full of spicy curry.

Luckily, I finally found what I have been looking for...coconut milk, lemon grass, and peanut sauce...and it's all at the Bangkok Cafe (2511 E. Speedway Blvd., 520-323-6555).

My girlfriend and I were out driving down Speedway Ave. looking for a restaurant to eat at after a long day of classes, meetings, and work. On the left side of the street was a small building that said “Bangkok Cafe, Authentic Thai Cuisine.” We both got extremely excited at the prospect of a true Thai restaurant, especially since it is close to campus. So, we pulled into the parking lot and decided to give it a try.

Immediately walking in, we were amazed by the beautiful interior of this restaurant. The walls are painted a cool and calming light green color and there are carefully painted pictures of Thailand and Buddhist imagery everywhere. There was traditional Thai music playing over the speaker system and the waitresses were dressed very brightly. After we were seated, we couldn't help but admire the beautiful chairs made out of bamboo and loved the fact they were padded perfectly for a comfortable dining experience. My girlfriend looked at me and said, “Ooooh. Good choice.”

At this point, we began to peruse over the menu. We were excited to see a wide variety of choices with may different soups, noodle dishes, rice platters, and all the curries you could ever want. Bangkok Cafe's menu is extensive and also have wonderful explanations of each menu item that explained what exactly a “Tom Jued Woon Sen” is to the average diner that does not eat Thai food on a regular basis. After a few minutes, my girlfriend decided to order the “Pad Khing Sod,” which is a ginger, skitake mushroom, and onion dish with your choice of chicken, beef, or pork (she chose chicken), and I ordered the Chicken Pad Thai, which is rice noodles, chicken, egg, bean sprouts, and tamarind sauce. Both of our dishes were $7.95, which is such a good price considering the portions.

While waiting for our food, we couldn't help but admire how well decorated this restaurant is. The music wasn't overpowering, the light brown tile floors weren't cold or slippery, and the waitresses were always smiling and attentive with filling our water glasses. It truly was beautiful here. Even the massive bar on the right side of the restaurant fit in with everything else and wasn't too obtrusive.

Shortly after we ordered, our food was quickly delivered. I was skeptical about the restaurant's food at first due to Arizona's track record with Thai food, but also because of the review the Tucson Weekly gave this place a couple years ago. Reviewer Jimmy Boegle said, “The majority of the dishes we sampled were inexplicably bland, which is a terrible shame." However,something must have changed over the past couple years because this food was so flavorful and left you wanting more. My Pad Thai was sweet, not overbearing with the tamarind sauce and all the vegetables cooked with the rice noodles were still crisp and obviously fresh. My girlfriend's Pad Khing Sod had a strong ginger flavor with the Shitake mushrooms still having the original consistency and not cooked to mush at all. Both of our dishes had chicken with them and they were cooked perfectly as well. Nothing was too salty and it truly felt like I was back in Fairbanks again eating the curries and the bean sprouts and trying to survive the cold through it all.

Synopsis: I can't recommend Bangkok Cafe enough. The portions are huge for the price you pay and the flavor can't be beat. This is truly authentic Thai cuisine and with it in a central location of Tucson, you can't pass this restaurant up.