Tiny Thai Essex Location

      As we are in the midst of our annual triple H heat wave (hot, hazy, humid for those of you not from the South, or June, July and August for you Southerners),cooking on Friday night was the furthest thing from our minds. After a brief, what do you want, I don't care what do you want, I don't care what do you want, (if your married, you know exactly what I mean).  It was decided Thai food would be perfect, and if its going to be Thai, we only visit one place Tiny Thai in Essex.

      A quick phone call, revealed some intriguing specials, Skewered meatballs, and dim sum (OK really not a special, as its ALWAYS a special) for appetizers, Volcano shrimp for an entree. Yes, we will take all three and for wifey her one and only meal ever, Masaman with chicken and shrimp. I swear, if she could only eat one thing for the rest of her life, this would be it. I took a bit of a chance,with volcano shrimp as A)Deep fried doesn't usually travel well, but as we live pretty close and we would be eating as soon as I got home I thought I'd be fine and B) Ordering something called "volcano" at a Thai restaurant can be living on the edge. The nice person on the phone informed me it was two flames which is right at my threshold for pain. Sometimes 2 flames is OK, sometimes its ear ringing , throat burning hot. BUT he also said he could put the sauce on the side so I said go for it. Phew, disaster averted as the sauce was quite hot and a little went a long way.

      I got home in record time and as we were both hungry, hungry, we unpacked and started eating. Unfortunately, this would of been a good time for picture taking but was the furthest thing from my mind. It won't happen again, (well until the next day,as you will see later in the week, that's called suspense, kids).The Dim Sum proved once again why its our favorite appetizer, fluffy clouds of steamed dough filled to bursting with minced chicken, pork and spices, served with a side of soy based sauce. YUMMY. The other appetizer though didn't cut it for us. 3 skewers with three tiny meatballs, each looked great but the taste and texture left alot to be desired. the taste was very bland and the texture quite rubbery, as meatballs should be neither bland nor rubbery, we pass on this one.

      The entrees on the other hand were great. You really can't go wrong with the masaman curry, a nice blend of spice and coconut milk, with potatoes, carrots and your choice of meats, this never fails to satisfy. Ask my wife, its her go to meal every time.  My shrimp was great, a light crispy batter, (still crispy even after traveling, with beans, carrots and broccoli) and the before mentioned spicy volcano sauce, which tasted of chille's and tamarind. I was glad the masaman comes with alot of sauce as it was perfect on my rice.

      And what to drink with Thai food. Well, my suggestion would be a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. The perfect combination of fruit and crispness to cut through the spicy and sweet food. So which of the many incredible New Zealand wines did we choose...ummm oops the pantry is currently empty so we had to make do. We had opened a California Chardonnay, one of my least favorite wines actually, as they usually are too oaky, too much alcohol, too buttery, too hard to match with food but, I say BUT, on our recent trip to Paso Robles we happened too stumble upon (we had visited ALOT of wineries that day) a really cool, small family winery called Oso Libre, and lo and behold a shining golden moment. a chardonnay made from the grape and not the barrel.(really people, some Chards, you should just dump in the sink and suck on an oak branch same flavor profiles). Now this is wine to have with food, the bright flavors and crisp acidity complemented the flavors of the food perfectly. Alas ( does anyone say Alas anymore) we only had a half bottle, so into the wine fridge to find something else cold and out came a California Sauvignon Blanc, should be perfect right?  Not so much, one of hundreds if not thousands of generic California wines , this particular brand while not offensive was bland, I would say its flavor profile was..........cold. Pull off the label and this could of been any white wine you find in your local grocery store, not bad but certainly not good. So if you can find Oso Libre, buy it , Groth not so much. As Oso Libre is such a small winery, you may be better ordering online at;

http://www.osolibre.com/



                                                          Good, Yummy Wine

No so good but cold wine

In Conclusion;

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.

Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing 

Price,                 And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4 One appetizer wasn't ...well appetizing, but the rest Excellent !.

Beer and Wine,    No rating Tiny Thai is strictly BYOB.

Service,                 5 The staff here is great whether you eat in or take out.
Ambiance,             4 I know this was a take out order, but if you eat here it's a nice relaxed space.

Price,                     5 Two appetizers and two entrees for less than $35.00 DEAL !!.

Overall;                4.5 One of our favorite restaurants in Vermont, Always consistent, Always good.