Naam Thai Cuisine: Larb Gai on a Daybed

When I think of Thai food I think of comfortable, no-frills cuisine in less-than-spectacular dining environments often tucked into strip malls in the South-end.  I do not think of contemporary furniture and techno, but maybe that’s just me.  I understand the desire to transcend the traditional Thai hole-in-the-wall that Seattle is actually pretty good at; unfortunately Naam Thai Cuisine spent too much time making aesthetic decisions and not enough concentrating on quality.  I had such high hopes given the ferosh decor complete with modern daybeds but sadly, I was crushed like Icarus falling from the Sun. 

The menu is absolute standard Thai fare, which I think is great. Just because you call Pad See Ew Tiny Angel Grasses Growing Between God’s Toes, doesn’t make it anything more than plain old Pad See Ew.   I always evaluate a new Thai place based on the quality of their Pad Thai and their curry- in this case Panang.  That way you can tell which category they fall into and therefore know what to order in the future. You see, in information gleaned from speaking with countless Thai aficionados, I have come to discover that 99% of Thai places worth returning to fall into either the good-at-noodles category or the cooks-a-mean-curry category.  You can test this rule in the future by making sure someone in your party orders a curry and someone else orders Pad Thai- the standard by which all Thai noodles must be judged. 

Between three diners we ordered Larb Gai and Tom Kai Ga soup to start, then Pad Thai, Panang Curry and Tofu and Spinach with Peanut Sauce (Don’t recall what they call their Swimming Rama, but this is basically it).  The first really alarming red flag to go off occurred when they brought our food- every single item- to the table all at once.  The tables are average sized, but between all that plus rice plates, soup bowls and drinks, there simply was not enough room for all the dishes without some serious stacking and cramming.  I have experienced the deluge of appetizers and mains all arriving at the same time in Thai joints before- no big deal when you’re at a Thai dive in the Rainier Valley.  When you attempt to posh-ify your environment and land yourself smack-dab in the middle of Madrona, however, your increased prices should lead to increased awareness about proper timing of courses. 

Because I pretty much had to taste everything at once, it all blends together in my head as a saccharine mélange of over-sweet, under-spiced average food.  The larb gai was decent, the Tom Ka Gai was the best of everything, but then how hard is it to screw up coconut milk and lemongrass?  The curry, Pad Thai and Tofu Peanut Sauce were all embarrassingly average or below-average, breaking with Thai tradition in falling into either the noodle or the curry categories.  The tofu was not fried as requested, and it tasted like they threw half a Thai Iced-Tea in the peanut sauce because they ran out of coconut milk or something. 

During the entire meal I was eyeballing the cushy daybeds with jealousy.  Our one-year-old and his penchant for food-smashing kept us away, but they sure looked comfy.  Halfway through scarfing down too much tepid food I wondered if my experience might have been better had I chosen to dine in bed, and I think perhaps the answer is yes.  In fact, as a watering hole Naam wouldn’t be half bad- the drinks arrived promptly, were poured with a generous hand, and priced reasonably.  I just may give it another chance sans bebe over cocktails with a group of already-fed friends.  Who knows- after a few cocktails we may screw up enough liquid courage to try dessert?!