Gastronomique: What's that Almodovar Movie Again?
Let's take a look behind the scenes at the Gastronomique production studio. The question that we get all the time (email us your questions, comments, or suggestions here, btw, we want your input) is: how do you pick the places that you review? Well, that's easy: we read the free weeklies, and if a restaurant advertises with "grand opening" and "take 10% off your meal with this coupon," we are in.
Consider Thai Chef, for instance. Oh, we could make up a story of visiting the new De Young museum after some highly sophisticated event, like, say, Opera in the Park, and catching sight of Thai Chef's sign from the top of the tower, catching a whiff of their kitchen's fumet through a crack in the window and being forcefully drawn there by some powers beyond our control. But then we would not be able to share with you the 10% discount, and we're all about the cheap stuff.
Cross this cheap stuff out: we're all about value, this elusive feeling of getting more than what we pay for. And for those who say we are cheating, that it is easy to get better value if you just go in the Sunset, we say: Touché. Thai Chef is on Irving at 22nd, and you won't find overpriced chichi places there no matter how hard you try. We also say: So what? Ain't the Sunset part of SF, a buck fifty muni ride away? We also tried the Castro location of this little chain (there is a third chinatown location as well): prices are very similar, and they swear ingredients are the same.
Castro-wise, Paul Reidinger's review is pinned in the window, so we won't linger there too much. Basically we agree with him anyway, why re-invent the wheel? Cool hip lounge vibe (which contrasts with the cheap and definitely un-trendy looks of the sign outside), black clad waitstaff, and tasty food. Paul hasn't been to the Sunset location, so let's head there.
The space has more of a coffee-shop vibe. Maybe it's due to the family atmosphere, with kids chirping around; maybe it's due to the fact that our visit there took time during the day. What?!? Only one visit?! Feel free to take our review with a grain of salt, but we count our Castro trip against our self-imposed two-visit quota, due to the fact we could have exactly duplicated our order at the Sunset location. It is a long narrow space, previously another Thai restaurant, with tables lined against a wainscoted walls sided by a long bench. A few Thai-looking works of arts hang on the walls, providing a gilded touch. We haven't seen the place crowded, but we surmised it might get loud then.
We had a superb calamari salad ($7.95), with the squid skirt's hem thinly sliced and prettily curled as if by a delicate hairdresser. The curls have the perfect chewiness, not gummy at all, and catch in their folds thinly chopped bits of red and green onions, mint leaves and lemongrass. The whole is seasoned with a lemon dressing which adds a kick to the combination. The generous serving disappeared quickly. We also tried the fried corn cake ($6.50 sunset, $6.95 castro), where some unfried corn is mixed in a batter, the whole is fried, and served with a refreshing cucumber salad. We enjoyed it, but felt more of the cucmber salad was needed as the corn cake was a bit boring to our taste. We had a version of the angel wings ($7.95) at our favorite, Thep Phanom, so we are biased for these stuffed chicken wings. Here, the stuffing is made of mushrooms (shiitake we believe) and minced chicken, and served with a sweet-and-sour dipping sauce.
We tried another salad, only available in the Sunset location: BBQ pig's neck salad ($6.95). Salad is a misnomer, as the meat outnumbers the greens and red peppers by a 2 to 1 ratio. We are happy we tried it: the pig's neck had a stronger but not unpleasant texture, and a slightly stronger gamy flavor. The "special" sauce it was served with was potent, spiced with chilis and laced with vinegar, probably to counteract the meat's forcefull taste. It was served on the side and we left it there.
Regarding the entrees, we had two curries and a vegeratian dish. We absolutely loved the red duck curry (gang ped yang, $7.95S/$8.95C), some roasted duck simmered in coconut milk, with tomatoes, bits of pineapple, string beans, basil leaves and chili. Just like a fuzzy navel or a white Russian, it starts all sweet and innocuous, then it hits you in the back. The crisp duck skin adds a fatty dimension between the sweet and spicy axes. The green chicken curry ($7.95) did not have all these layered textures and tastes, basil was the dominant note. But was pretty good nonetheless, if in a more straightforward manner. Whoever curled the hair of our calamari must have peeled the zucchini in the green curry, to make such nice parallel ridges. Dreadlocks?
We chose Thai Chef in particular to accommodate a vegetarian, and the pad ma kuer ($7.25) was intended for her. The eggplant was sautéed with garlic, chili and of course basil. All in all, we had a lovely time, with fresh food with bright flavors and speedy execution. It had us wishing we ate Thai food more often.
Thai Chef
Castro location: 4133 18th street @ castro
551-2433
Sunset location: 2123 Irving st @ 22nd.
753-3347
The location we haven't tried: 631 broadway @ columbus
291-8089