For many years now, Thai House in Tel Aviv has been a favorite among locals and tourists, dishing out the most authentic and delicious Thai food available in Israel, at least this is what we think, and many foodies will agree.
Like almost all restaurants, Thai House (Habayit Hatailandi) now concentrates on its delivery menu, and it is better than ever. So knowing that a trip to Thailand is definitely not going to happen any time soon, we opted for the next best thing and ordered a meal from them. We were not disappointed, to say the least.
The menu here, unlike other Asian restaurants in Israel, does not begin and end with versions of Pad Thai.
We asked the restaurant’s manager to suggest dishes she thought will travel well and to write on the boxes which dish goes with what sauce. It worked. We arranged a beautiful spread, poured ourselves the cocktails, which came in glass bottles, and dug in. It was heavenly.
The cocktail – Bangkok Mule – is based on Ketel One vodka steeped with kaffir lime and shaken with home ginger syrup, lime and ginger beer. Sweet and sour, tangy and fresh – the bottle, supposedly for two – was for us enough for refills as well (NIS 58).
We opened with a dish we love to order here, with Pesa Pla – a slice of fried sea bass, Khanom chin noodles, mint, coriander, dill, lemon zest, crushed peanuts, sweet and spicy tamarind sauce, wrapped in iceberg lettuce leaf (two pieces). This dish is heavenly, and I would love to start every meal, Thai or not, with it.(NIS 44).
Steering away from Pad Thai – since rice noodles may end up stuck into a ball by the time a delivery makes its way to you, we continued with a fish dish Yam Pla Khem (NIS 56), amberjack slices cured in sea salt, ginger, purple onion, hot chili and coriander. Again very light and tasty – another perfect starter that is recommended for deliveries since it is served cold.
From the main dishes, the Naam Tok (NIS 82) grilled and sliced rump steak, purple onion, coriander, mint, leaves, dried chili, crushed roasted rice, lemon and fish sauce.
Together with the dishes arrived sticky rice balls and regular rice. This dish was paired with regular rice. It was good but less than the other dishes, if we had gotten it from another Asian it might have been the top of our meal, but it did not rise to the level of the other dishes. Maybe it was our fault, since when asked how hot we wanted the food we answered – “Hot for white people, not Thai hot,” which translates to Thai cooks as not hot.
Our next fish dish was an absolutely delicious green curry. Gaeng Kiao Waan (NIS 122). Green curry and coconut milk stew with fish, Thai eggplants, kaffir lime and basil leaves. It was rich and wonderful and really took us back to the beach restaurant we loved on our last visit to Thailand, which was a very long time ago. If you love curry – this one is delicate and full of flavor.
Another meat dish, the Sikhong Moo (NIS 128) consisted of crispy ribs topped with gravy and served with bok choy and green papaya soup. We ate that with the sticky rice – not being completely sure if this was the right way to serve it – but it soaked up the delicious sauce and it worked for us.
Very full and our mouths bursting with flavors, this last dish sealed the deal.
Thai House really delivered.
Thai House (Habayit Hatailandi)
Not kosher
8 Bograshov St., Tel Aviv
(03) 517-8568
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.