Help... Yelp! We Yelp For Help!

I guess reading Hop on Pop a million times over the past 5 years paid off... I wonder if that's why they decided to name the site Yelp...

The Guys got to experience a rare day of "summer camp" for 4 hours!  I got to experience the rare day of a day to myself.  Which means a chance to eat out!  At a real place!  That isn't Red Robin!  Woo hoo!

Restaurant name: Noodle Boat Thai Cuisine
Food type:  Uh, THAI!
Category: First time!
Location:  Issaquah, Washington
Reason for dining out:  Lunch on my own!
Bonus features:  Pleasant little salad, discovering a new curry I like, a chance to eat without having to cut up someone else's food into tiny pieces or hear about how it has "stuff" on it
Food ordered:  Chicken Panang (1 star), which came with a garden salad and rice
Items of inspiration: You know, maybe I should give curry a try...
Chance of repeat visit:  Next to none

Tasty Little Green Salad

Chicken Panang Curry

I knew I would have 4 glorious hours to myself while The Guys were entertained by someone else and that these 4 glorious hours would span the lunch hour.  What I didn't know was where to eat in Issaquah.  It's not that I've never been, it's that I don't just spend countless hours there.  And besides, I was in the mood to try something new.  So I needed some help... and I Yelped for help.

The first name that came up with the particular search I did popped up the name "Noodle Boat Thai Cuisine".  I'm still not sure what the criteria for this search was, other than restaurants in Issaquah, but it came pretty highly recommended.  I searched the location and it was a stone's throw from the place where the kids would be.  And it's Thai.  It's THAI!!!!  What's not to love???  Some of the Yelper comments that intrigued me... "Best Thai food in the greater Seattle area, hands down."  "I don't even like Thai food, but Noodle Boat is down right amazing."  Even one who claimed west-side friends will trek across the lake simply to get this amazing food.  I was in, hook line and sinker! 

I found it easily enough, thanks to the Yelper comments which said it was hard to find at the end of the strip mall.  True enough.  One also mentioned it was pretty cluttered, so when I stumbled behind it in the "parking lot" which looked like a Thai family garage sale, I was pretty sure I had the right spot.  Bonus hints at the delights that were to await included zero parking nearby as well as TWO people pulling in and asking for a table before me.  Gleefully, I was ready to wait to be seated but was actually seated right away.

It's a TINY place.  And, yes, it has a ton of knick-knacks everywhere.  Part of it's charm to be sure.  The menu featured all the standards and I had all but decided on the ever popular Phad Sie Ew until my eyes fell on the curries.  I looked for Mus-Sa-Mun curry but didn't find it.  Boo.  Two intriguing options though, red curry and Panang curry.  So I asked the server.  She said she loved them both but recommended the Panang.  I tried to ask how similar it was to Mus-Sa-Mun but the translation between us was a little lost at this point and I just went with it.  I think this is why most people I know are intimidated by Thai food.  It's not a place where you ask a lot of questions.  If you want Thai, you need to know what you're doing.  So if you are going to try Thai, I suggest going with someone who has eaten it before.  Anyway, I settled on the chicken panang at one star for the spice level.

The lunch included a delightful little green salad.  Really, nothing special about the lettuce but the dressing was yummy and had very bright flavors.  The Critic can't eat salads and I often enjoy them when I dine without him, but I like them to be special.  In a simple way, this one was.  A great start to the meal!

Then came the chicken panang.  It was really beautiful!  It smelled incredible.  Again, to quote a Yelper, "It comes in a freakin' boat!"  My server said she'd be right back with my rice and I eagerly looked forward to eating.

<screeeeeeeeeeccchhhh>   Did you hear the record scratch to a halt?  Yep.  Here's where the raving ends boys and girls.  The rice was awful.  Truly truly awful.  Completely overcooked.  How is that possible?  It's a Thai restaurant!  They have rice cookers!  I was seated right next to them behind the little gold statues of Buddha on the shelf!  But it was truly bad. Jasmine rice does one of two things when it over cooks... it gets mushy or it gets dried and burned.  This was somehow both.  The problem is that the curry was actually very tasty.  And it was a nice similar flavor to the Mus-Sa-Mun I was hoping for.  But sadly all I could think about was that awful, horrible rice.

And so for the rice alone, I must disagree with those Yelpers.  And I must encourage them to get themselves to Bai Tong as fast as their cars can drive (hey "West Siders"... it's much closer than Issaquah).

I do look forward to the leftovers... just as soon as my rice cooker finishes cooking some rice.  Correctly.