So, considering I'm the guy behind a record blog and a food blog, you can imagine I might be interested in combining the two from time to time, right? Well you're correct.
So my family loves Thai food, and we were really excited to hear of a new Thai restaurant opening in our town 4-5 years ago or so. When I heard the word "Rock" in the name, I was confused, until I walked in. It's a tiny little palce with maybe 4 tables and a 5th one that seats two people. And there are records on the walls, hanging from the ceilings....it's got a kitschy little decor thing going on. So I'm like, okay, this is cool, I love records and Thai food. And then I ate the food and realized it was maybe the best Thai place in the area, and it was in my town, and it had records on the wall......well, yeah, my brain exploded right then and there.
So at first no one was coming to the place, as parking is minimal, it's in a kinda crappy location, and it wasn't really well-advertised. Word of mouth obviously quickly spread (my family talking about it non-stop to anyone they knew who would listen certainly helped), and within a year or 2 the place was impossible to sit down and eat at on a weekend, and take-out orders were flying out of there. It's literally ONLY a husband and wife running the place, doing everything, so things get a little hectic, but they somehow hold it down and the quality of the food doesn't suffer. And the husband and wife that run the place are super cool people. We used to go in and they'd hang out and talk to us some days because it was very quiet. It was truly like eating a family meal. We still get the all-star treatment here when things aren't going too crazy.
So, anyway, of course I've taken about a million people (even some girls) to this place, because it's tops. My first meal outside of a hospital last summer (after spending 2 months in hospitals) was here, and I took 2 of my hospital therapists with me. I'd been talking this place up to my friends Frank and Aimee for a while, so they finally made the pilgramage up to my town to see what it's all about. They weren't disappointed.
I generally just find out what people like in general, or can/can't eat, and order for them. I know the whole menu by heart and don't even really need to look at it. We got Chicken Green Curry, pork in a peanut curry sauce (they call it Rama there), Pad Thai, and a massmaman curry shrimp special that day. We also started it off with Tom Yum and Tom Kha soups. The Tom Yum is a little spicey and extremely flavorful, as it should be. The Tom Kha has that coconut base and perfect seasoning that it's supposed to have, with chicken in it....perfect. My friend Sean used to have an unhealthy addiction to this stuff. The Pad Thai here is lighter than other places, with less "sauce" to weigh it down, and thinner, lighter noodles than some places have. Its has just the right amount of peanut pieces in it to give it awesome texture....it's a masterpiece. The Green Curry is the best I've ever had. The peanut curry is a great mix of sweet and savory, and again, not overly heavy like some places. The massmaman curry was also a nice sweet/savory kind of thing, with a darker look and slightly sweeter taste than I'm used to in that style curry. But the shrimp were delightfully crispy, and everything comes over a bed of crispy, lightly cooked veggies (unlike places that just throw a dish of meat at you).
I won't give the name of this place up, as it's actually TOO busy sometimes, and they really can't handle much more business than they already have (and you can easily find it if you search for Thai restaurants in Colonia). If you can squeeze in the place early on a weekend or do take-out, you certainly won't be disappointed here. This place has a special place in my heart for many reasons. This Thai Restaurant ROCKS!
So my family loves Thai food, and we were really excited to hear of a new Thai restaurant opening in our town 4-5 years ago or so. When I heard the word "Rock" in the name, I was confused, until I walked in. It's a tiny little palce with maybe 4 tables and a 5th one that seats two people. And there are records on the walls, hanging from the ceilings....it's got a kitschy little decor thing going on. So I'm like, okay, this is cool, I love records and Thai food. And then I ate the food and realized it was maybe the best Thai place in the area, and it was in my town, and it had records on the wall......well, yeah, my brain exploded right then and there.
So at first no one was coming to the place, as parking is minimal, it's in a kinda crappy location, and it wasn't really well-advertised. Word of mouth obviously quickly spread (my family talking about it non-stop to anyone they knew who would listen certainly helped), and within a year or 2 the place was impossible to sit down and eat at on a weekend, and take-out orders were flying out of there. It's literally ONLY a husband and wife running the place, doing everything, so things get a little hectic, but they somehow hold it down and the quality of the food doesn't suffer. And the husband and wife that run the place are super cool people. We used to go in and they'd hang out and talk to us some days because it was very quiet. It was truly like eating a family meal. We still get the all-star treatment here when things aren't going too crazy.
So, anyway, of course I've taken about a million people (even some girls) to this place, because it's tops. My first meal outside of a hospital last summer (after spending 2 months in hospitals) was here, and I took 2 of my hospital therapists with me. I'd been talking this place up to my friends Frank and Aimee for a while, so they finally made the pilgramage up to my town to see what it's all about. They weren't disappointed.
I generally just find out what people like in general, or can/can't eat, and order for them. I know the whole menu by heart and don't even really need to look at it. We got Chicken Green Curry, pork in a peanut curry sauce (they call it Rama there), Pad Thai, and a massmaman curry shrimp special that day. We also started it off with Tom Yum and Tom Kha soups. The Tom Yum is a little spicey and extremely flavorful, as it should be. The Tom Kha has that coconut base and perfect seasoning that it's supposed to have, with chicken in it....perfect. My friend Sean used to have an unhealthy addiction to this stuff. The Pad Thai here is lighter than other places, with less "sauce" to weigh it down, and thinner, lighter noodles than some places have. Its has just the right amount of peanut pieces in it to give it awesome texture....it's a masterpiece. The Green Curry is the best I've ever had. The peanut curry is a great mix of sweet and savory, and again, not overly heavy like some places. The massmaman curry was also a nice sweet/savory kind of thing, with a darker look and slightly sweeter taste than I'm used to in that style curry. But the shrimp were delightfully crispy, and everything comes over a bed of crispy, lightly cooked veggies (unlike places that just throw a dish of meat at you).
I won't give the name of this place up, as it's actually TOO busy sometimes, and they really can't handle much more business than they already have (and you can easily find it if you search for Thai restaurants in Colonia). If you can squeeze in the place early on a weekend or do take-out, you certainly won't be disappointed here. This place has a special place in my heart for many reasons. This Thai Restaurant ROCKS!
RAMA:
PAD THAI
TOM YUM
Dude, good review but I can never actually get there when it's open. Anytime I try they're closed. I actually went last wednesday and they were closed. Needless to say I was bummed. I didn't know it even existed until I read the Star Ledger do a review on it about a year ago.And since then it never seems to work out. I haven't had solid thai in a long time. That place on inman didn't really wow me.
ReplyDeleteSo, uhhhh yeah, let's go sometime haha.