The Order:
With AnnMarie out of the office today, I panicked a little when it was time for lunch. Could I really order alone? Would I have enough food for three photos? Or too much food to eat all by myself? Luckily, before I could get too nervous, Alyson offered to pinch-eat and my problem was solved. After getting her to agree to the complicated Today’s Order contract terms, we were off and running. We decided on Thai food, and flipped a coin to choose between the two closest Thai places: Chada and Talent Thai Kitchen.
It came up Talent and we went for the Som Tum (Papaya Salad) appetizer, along with the Chicken Kee Mao (Drunken Noodle) lunch special for Alyson and the Chicken Massaman Curry for me.
The Meal:
I walked it out to 34th street and came back energized and ready to eat. If you follow the posts here, you’ve probably noticed that I love Pick Up orders. It’s just great to get out of the office/house (probably half my orders at home are Pick Up) for a walk in the middle of the day/any time it’s nice outside. It doesn’t hurt that it’s always cheaper (no tip) and usually faster also!
As far as the food goes, there was a bit of messy leakage with the Massaman Curry and the Som Tum, so that was frustrating, but on the plus side, the lunch specials were fairly cheap and each came with a free soda and spring roll. The Som Tum was a good refreshing starter as always and it was a large portion. My one complaint is that it was a bit too limey for my tastes. The Massaman Curry did what it was supposed to do and was basically an endless mountain of chicken, potato, onions, and coconut milk.
The Kee Mao (better known as “Drunken Noodle” to many) has earned “order again” status from Alyson, but next time she might ask them to tone down the spice a bit. She had to go through one and a half spring rolls just to keep her mouth from catching on fire!
Talent Thai Kitchen doesn’t have much Thai competition in our neighborhood, but it was good enough that it could go into the rotation and stack up well against other cuisines too.
FYI – We’re located near Bryant Park in case you want to try Talent Thai Kitchen for yourself or give us recommendations for future orders!