Asia Market - Sometimes You Need to Find the Right Things to Order

At Bedford on Monday, Elizabeth and Bao said that they loved Asia Market in the Heights and thought I should give it another chance.

Despite the fact that I am over a month behind in writing anything about restaurants, I wanted to tell you right away that I picked up some great Thai food this evening. As I drove to Asia Market in a surreal (because it is Houston) snow storm (okay light flurries but real snow), I thought this is crazy, but I was driven to go.

I ordered everything medium Thai spicy, which was very much to my liking. I had the Aythaya Pad Thai with tofu, dried shrimp, and chicken. The menu said there were fresh shrimp in the dish, but I never found them, Perhaps they are in the leftovers? Pad Thai use to be my bellwether when it came to measuring up the quality of Thai food, but over the years I have had such lousy, overly sweet Pad Thai, I gave up up on this notion. Asia Market's version of Pad Thai has restored my faith. It was perfectly cooked and a flavorful blend of spices meat,

By the way Aythaya or Ayutthaya was a Thai Kingdom from the 14th - 18th centuries. It incorporated many of the Shan states, including parts of modern day Thailand, Myamar, Laos, Yunnan provence in China, Cambodia, and Malayasia.

For the second course, I had the Kang Ped Nor Mai, a red curry with just enough after burn to tickle my palate. It was a flavorful mixture which included eggplant, bamboo shoots and pork. Next time I need to order the sticky rice instead of the white rice, as I enjoy the consistency of sticky rice for a change and I do nto make it at home.

For the last course I had Som Tum, a spicy shredded papaya salad with tomatoes, dried shrimp and whole peanuts. Tum rhymes with yum and I think it may be a synonym for this dish!

To drink, I decided I did not want tea and instead had my new favorite soda: DRY Lavender. With it's subdued sweetness and slight effervescence, it works very nicely with spicy Asian food.

Once again I over ordered, as I think I have enough left over for at least two more meals.