Thai Kitchen III

In an attractive setting, chilis, lime, basil, lemongrass and curry combine to tempt the palate in dishes meant to be shared.

By: Kate and Tom O’Neill
   Thai restaurants are sprouting up throughout our region, and
with good reason. The cuisine’s combinations of bright, distinctive flavors, such
as lemongrass, coconut, curry, chilis, lime and basil, assure Thai food a broad
appeal. Thai Kitchen III, in Hillsborough Center, offers an introduction to the
cuisine’s characteristic blend of tastes. Despite its shopping center setting,
the restaurant’s ambience is serene and attractive. Green lanterns spaced across
the latticed teak ceiling provide a soft light accented by the glow of a brightly
lit fish tank at the back of the restaurant. Elephant-themed artwork decorates
the soft-hued brown walls, and tables are topped with a white cloth placed diagonally
over a green one. Each place is set with a woven mat.

Thai Kitchen III

Hillsborough Center, 649 Route 206

Hillsborough

(908) 904-8038

www.thaikitchennj.com


Food: Average to good; bland to spicy

Service: Pleasant, well informed, generally efficient

Prices:Soups, salads and appetizers $4.95-$8.95, entrées $8.95-$16.95
(specials cost up to $24.95), desserts $5.95

Cuisine: Thai

Vegetarian Options: Wide choices in every menu category

Ambience: Tasteful, serene

Hours:Lunch: Daily 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Dinner: Mon.-Thurs. 5-9:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat.
5-10:30 p.m., Sun. 4-9:30 p.m.

Essentials: Accepts major credit cards; ample mall parking; wheelchair
accessible; BYO; reservations recommended on weekends; good, detailed Web
site; entire menu and specials available for take-out.

Directions

   We came as part of a group of seven and were able to taste a fair sampling of the extensive menu (more than 80 items, not counting specials and desserts). Several dishes were very good, but overall, we found the food, such as the pad kra pao ($8.95) — a normally assertive chicken dish with basil sauce — to be timidly spiced. Considering the distinctive palette of tastes with which a Thai chef can work, this blandness was particularly disappointing.
   Among the appetizers, a special, soft-shell crab salad ($10.95) was a standout, making converts out of our two teenage companions who had never tasted this delicacy. Bigger-than-bite-sized portions of the crab had been deep-fried, leaving them both crisp and succulent. The dish was served with greens and slices of mango and an intriguing dressing that included peanut, ginger and cilantro.
   Other appetizers included traditional Thai favorites like tom yum koong ($8.95), a shrimp and vegetable soup flavored with lime juice and lemongrass. The delicate perfumes of the lime juice and lemongrass, however, were overwhelmed by the heat of chili paste and the strong flavor of overcooked bell peppers. Mee krob ($5.50), another traditional favorite, was good. Fine-minced carrots in a sweet and sour sauce was served with a blend of deep fried noodles and shrimp, garnished with bean sprouts. The dish skimped on the shrimp and might have been improved by the traditional garnish of zesty, minced scallions.
   The filling in Thai egg rolls ($4.95) — cellophane noodles, cabbage and carrots — was fine and its accompanying sweet and spicy sauce nicely balanced, but the wraps themselves were dry and uninteresting. A Thai salad ($3.25) of tossed greens came with an over-sweet dressing that overwhelmed the desired peanutty flavor.
   Several specials were available, including a shrimp and salmon curry ($18.95) enthusiastically recommended by our server. The presentation was striking, with the entrée served on a large, square white plate that set off the rich red sauce and the rosy hues of the shrimp and salmon. The salmon was perfectly cooked, but the shrimp were small and tasteless. In banana fish ($18.95) the main event was striped bass, kept moist and flavorful during grilling by a banana leaf wrapper. Topped with a mild curry sauce, the dish arrived on a spectacular sea green plate, shaped like an angel fish, with a garnish of shredded coconut and several jumbo, but tasteless, shrimp.
   Curries may be ordered with chicken, pork, beef, squid, shrimp, or combinations of those, at prices ranging from $8.95 to $12.95. Pa nang chicken ($8.95) was exhilaratingly hot — a creamy, sweet, green curry, made with coconut milk, lime leaves, onion, carrot and bell peppers. Less fiery than the green curry was chicken gang dang ($8.95) a tasty red curry made with coconut milk, bamboo shoots, bell peppers, onions, lime leaves and basil leaves.
   The menu does not list desserts, but our server described the three that were available (all $5.95). Our two youngest tasters devoured the decidedly non-Thai cappuccino mousse cake, which may be a nod to Thailand’s expanding coffee industry but was a decidedly New Jersey confection. In the sticky rice dessert, fresh sliced mangoes offered a pleasing contrast to the coconut milk-sweetened rice. Coconut pudding, served on a square black platter, was another eye-catching presentation: three blue and white ramekins containing the pudding in two layers — the top smooth and light, the bottom dense, buttery and intense.
   Thai iced coffee ($1.50) is a favorite that may begin or end the meal. Flavored with cardamom, the coffee was strong and enriched with condensed milk, but the drinks were extremely sweet and the coffee tasted stale.
   Service was pleasant, helpful and competent, an impressive achievement considering the variety of dishes we ordered. But Thai cuisine is made to be shared and enjoyed by groups of diners, so the servers were probably not surprised to be kept so busy. The exception to efficiency was that rice for our table of seven was served in one small serving bowl. The bowl needed to be replenished twice during the meal, and both times, we had to repeat the request several times.
   Thai Kitchen III clearly has the ability to prepare dishes that fairly represent the full range of Thai cuisine at its delightful best. The restaurant can make its mark by serving fewer dull, soft-pedaled dishes and upgrading others to meet the expectations of diners who love the flavor and intricacy of Thai food. In this attractively decorated setting, that combination would be hard to beat.