Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Sa La Thai

Oh, glory of glories.  There's a good Thai place in town!  Okay, I guess I don't mind Lemongrass that much, but heading down on 462 all the way to the Outlets doesn't even cross my mind.  Oddly enough, I'll drive 40 minutes to Harrisburg for good Thai, but I can't recall the last time I drove half the time to Lemongrass.  Guess it didn't impress me that much...  And you know how I feel about Sukhothai.  So enough said.


Now there's Sa La Thai on North Queen St., right next door to Gusto.   The interior reminds me EXACTLY of Gusto, so much so that I swear it was the same place and that Gusto had too much room and thought they should lend one side out to the Thai cooks.  A little too knock-off-ish, ya know?  If there were a copyright for decor, they'd be guilty of infringement.


But the food is quite delightful.  Lemongrass soup was just the right spiciness and piquantly flavorful.  The chicken was nice and moist, and I appreciated their authenticity in keeping it simple.  



The Thai Beef Salad was pretty darned delicious and struck a relatively good balance of sweet and tart.  On the whole, I thought the dishes might be overly sweet, but not distractingly so.  However, it's enough for me to possibly mention the next time I'm there to take the edge off.  Look at how lovely the visual is! Great contrast of color, some caramelization on the beef.  Pretty stellar.


Alas, I did not take a picture of my Drunken Noodles.  They were so good I demolished the plate even though 2/3s of the way through, I was feeling the satiation, much to the chagrin of Eric, who was hoping for some leftovers he could enjoy.  I do think they were a little wetter as compared to the noodles of the Harrisburg restaurants.  But the flavor was still nice.  I had ordered the same level of spiciness as the soup, but the dish was decidedly mild. 

And then there is the Mango and Sticky Rice.  I've never seen green sticky rice before, and I wish I had remembered to ask, because I find it odd and unappetizing.  The taste, though, was fine.  What a surprise it was for all of us, especially for the ones who had never had this before, but were willing to try it after I talked it up so much.  I can still hear it, "Soooo, what's the green stuff?"

Last, but not least, it's BYO.  Yay for BYO!  

I'll be back again soon...

Sa La Thai
337-339 N. Queen St., Lancaster
717-509-4850

4 comments:

Kelly S said...

Hmmm...I'm going to have to put it on the list of places to check out. What are your favorite Thai places in Harrisburg?

I also want to know which Asian restaurants in the Hbg area are most authentic vs Americanized.

~ Kelly S

Lina Bierker said...

Thai in Harrisburg - Kanlaya and Bangkok Wok. Bangkok 56 is pretty good, but you don't get as much food, so I like the other places for the value. :-)

I have, as of yet, to find a good authentic Chinese or Japanese place, but the Vietnamese is really stellar. My faves are in the Lancaster area, but haven't tried the place across Kanlaya. Could be pretty good.

Anonymous said...

What wine goes well with Thai food...?

Lina Bierker said...

I'm partial to a nice Gewurtraminer or a Riesling, myself, particularly if the dishes are really spicy. The sweetness really contrasts against the spiciness. But that might be too sweet for some, in which I would go Sauvignon Blanc. If red is the only option, then Pinot Noir.