First Taste: Sala Thai

Sala Thai -- in the Eastern Market -- continues to serve authentic Thai food at an affordable price. There's also a full bar, with a full selection of liquor, beer and wine.

The food equally lives up to the authentic atmosphere. Here, tradition is most important. Dishes made, are only those that could be found in southern Thailand over a century ago. The staff takes pride in the fact that their menu has not been adulterated and only uses recipes that have been handed down through the generations, “no exceptions, no Americanization,” says Tom Pellegrini, Sala Thai’s manager.

Many of the items found on the menu are typical of Thai restaurants, but what sets Sala Thai apart from the rest is their ingredients and preparation. All dishes are made to order in a wok over a very hot burner. That means that no orders sit under a steam table, becoming rubbery as they wait to be served. In fact, Sala Thai does not even have a steam table.

The menu has many options. Noodle dishes with assorted sauces and fried rice dishes come accentuated with fresh herbs and vegetables.

An interesting feature are the Thai salads, which differ from common salads of lettuce by using cooked meat, such as beef, chicken or one with mussels and squid, and mixing it with green onion, fresh herbs and citrus juice.

In the last few years, Sala Thai’s owners added a sushi bar. The sushi menu has some unique items like the Oh My God Roll filled with cream cheese, salmon, tuna, white tuna, crispy rice with eel sauce and spicy sauce with mayonnaise. 

Ingredients change as the seasons do. When we visited Sala Thai, our waitress, Star, was ever excited to tell us about the Bangkok roll, a seasonal roll with asparagus, shrimp, cream cheese, avocado, cucumber and pureed mango sauce with sliced mango on top, which is only in season for a limited time.

“We can get mangoes all year, but we only use them when they are in season and are the best,” says Pellegrini.

Most things that you wouldn’t expect to be homemade in fact are, like the plum sauce, which beats any of the bottled stuff around. All of the sauces are made in house as well as the coconut ice cream, made with only cream, sugar, salt and coconut.

Another great thing about Sala That is the pricing. Most entrees are under $10 and are big enough for two people.

Get the full dish on Sala Thai