Lunch, Anyone? Thai Dish

Thai Dish’s pineapple fried rice with chicken, eggs, cashews, scallions, and raisins is served in a pineapple shell. Photos by Cydney Scott

Appearances can be deceiving. And nowhere is that aphorism truer than when it comes to Thai Dish in Kenmore Square. Tucked directly below Fin’s Japanese Sushi and Grill, the eatery has a rather bland exterior. But from the moment you walk in, you are welcomed by the bustling crowd, the fish tanks filled with exotic specimens, the tinkling fountains, and the unique artwork that brightens the walls.

A small group of us found the place crowded when we stopped by for lunch recently. With its reasonable prices and fairly generous servings, it was easy to see why. Despite the crowd, the service was fast and friendly.

The restaurant prides itself on offering authentic Thai cuisine. The appetizer list immediately attracted our attention, and we ordered several, beginning with the fried butterflies ($5.25)—wonton skins filled with ground chicken, sautéed with herbs, ground roasted peanuts, and turnips, and served with sweet and sour or soy sauce. The skins are shaped in the form of butterflies and were crispy on the outside and crunchy on the inside, thanks to the roasted peanuts. The golden triangles ($4.95), deep-fried and stuffed with potatoes, onions, and light curry powder, came next and were equally good. We rounded out our appetizers with one of the Thai Dish soups—the Tom Kha Kai ($3.50)—slices of chicken breast and mushrooms in a light coconut milk, flavored with galangal, chilies, and lime. The creamy and salty soup hit the spot—the lime gave it just the right tanginess.

We employed the same strategy ordering entrées, selecting several to sample as many tastes as possible. Our favorite was the pineapple fried rice with chicken ($7.75). In addition to pineapple and chicken, the rice was loaded with eggs, cashews, scallions, and raisins. It wasn’t just the taste that impressed us, but the presentation: it filled a hollowed-out pineapple. Although usually served this way only during dinner, the day we stopped by it came that way at lunch too.

For our other entrées we chose the mango curry with chicken ($7.75), flavored with red chili paste and yellow curry powder, tossed with mango and onion slices, and the drunken chicken ($8.75), stir-fried ground chicken breasts, green beans, and basil leaves in a spicy sauce. We especially enjoyed the mango curry in the first dish. Unlike many Thai restaurants, where the curry is overwhelmed with other flavors, here the mango remained the main focus. The drunken chicken was also tasty, offering a unique blend of classic flavors. Both dishes were pretty spicy, but the restaurant is happy to prepare most entrées specifically to order, so it’s possible to get milder versions of both.

Thai Dish’s appealing array of salads include duck salad ($11.95), dressed in a spicy lime sauce, and papaya salad ($6.50), featuring shredded green papaya, green beans, crushed peanuts, and tomatoes with a fresh lime dressing, as well as numerous noodle dishes and curries served with a choice of chicken, pork, tofu, duck, seafood, or vegetables.

If you are looking for a tasty lunch at a decent price close to campus, Thai Dish is definitely worth the trip.

Thai Dish, 636 Beacon St, Kenmore Square, is open Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from noon to 11 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m. The restaurant accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover; the credit card minimum is $10.

This is part of a weekly series featuring Boston lunch spots of interest to the BU community. If you have any suggestions for places we should feature, leave them in the comments section below. Check out our list of lunchtime tips on Foursquare.

Andreia DeVries can be reached at adevries@bu.edu; follow her on Twitter at @andreia_dev.

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