Thai NW Express simply fine
Utilitarian setting belies excellent quality of offerings
Tuesday, February 3 | 9:23 p.m.
BY JAKE TEN PAS
FOR THE COLUMBIAN
Thai NW Express’ Mussamun Curry, a stew of potatoes, carrots, onions and peanuts, is served with steamed rice. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)The Yum Nue Yum, or beef salad, comes with a lime dressing. (The Columbian/Zachary Kaufman)Why: Thai NW Express isn’t much to look at. Even if you pulled into the gas station that sits directly in front of Thai NW Express, you still might not notice it because it blends that well with its utilitarian surroundings. But like the neighboring burger joint, Gorilla Grill, the unassuming surroundings belies the dining experience.
Thai NW Express delivers the basics of the cuisine with fresh, well-spiced simplicity from its curries to its pad Thais, from the salad rolls to the Thai appetizer staple, chicken satay.
Atmosphere: If the outside is unassuming, the guts of the restaurant are straight-up casual, verging on the kind of familial vibe that results from having the kitchen near the seating area and a TV droning on somewhere in the background. The seating area is filled with no-nonsense tables and chairs that would feel at home in a fast-food joint.
The service is fast, but also friendly. As an extra touch, the restaurant provides diners with a complementary Thai iced tea, a sweet tea-and-condensed milk concoction that cools the palate between bites of your favorite, often spicy fare.
Food: I have a theory that it’s tough to convince Thai restaurants that you really want to order your food very spicy, or five on a scale of zero to five. Perhaps such places have been burned one too many times by customers with egos bigger than their actual tolerance for heat.
But at Thai NW Express, they delivered on my request for “five” Mussamun Curry, a stew of potatoes, carrots, onions and peanuts simmered in curry sauce with coconut milk and served up in a clay pot to be ladled over steamed rice. Mine was certainly spicier than some I’ve had in my favorite Thai restaurants in Portland.
Although it could perhaps have used a bit of salt, the classic combination of the sweet, cooling curry and the peppers hidden inside was in full effect.
The downside of this is that when my girlfriend attempted to order her Yum Nue, or beef salad, at a zero spice level, it ended up being a bit fiery for her timid tastes.
I found the tart lime dressing to be the perfect complement to the red pepper flakes dotting the pieces of medium cooked steak. The crisp lettuce and thin carrot spear bed it was served on completed a textural dynamic that was both pleasing to look at and eat, so long as the spice didn’t scare you away.
My partner found her chicken satay to be delicious, served golden and marinated in garlic powder. It was accompanied by a sweet salad sauce of finely chopped red onions and cucumbers and a small bowl of mild but flavorful peanut sauce. Cracking into one of the mini egg rolls, it burst with glassy noodles and fresh vegetables and was enhanced by its subtle, sweet dipping sauce.
On a previous trip, I’d sampled the Pad See Ew, wide rice noodles stir fried with egg and broccoli and flavored with special sauce. The noodles were soft and dense, but light enough that I could eat a whole portion myself, although I was a bit stuffed when done. The salad rolls served their purpose, bringing together noodles, fresh cucumber, carrots and either shrimp or tofu in translucent paper-thin wrapping.
Price: The appetizers ranged from $4 to $6.50. Most of the entrees ran between $7.95 and $11.50.
The restaurant also offers house specials that include Ginger Basa Fish, Sweet and Sour Halibut and a variety of fried rices all in the same price range.
And just like the Thai iced tea, the staff will bring you out a communal plate of sweet rice drizzled in coconut sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds for free.
Hours: The lunch menu is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and dinner is served weekdays from 4-9 p.m., except Fridays, when Thai NW Express stays open until 9:30. Hours are noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Where: 7107 Vancouver Mall Drive, Suite C, Vancouver.
Contact: 360-718-8054 or www.ThaiNWexpress.com.
Health score: Thai NW Express received a score of zero on Jan. 12. Zero is a perfect score, and Clark County Public Health closes restaurants that score 100 or higher. For more information, call 360-397-8428 or see www.clark.wa.gov.
