Thai Passion, Revisited

It has been years since we last ate at Thai Passion. No particular reason, except that perhaps we just don't think about it. Perhaps we live too close to Thai Kitchen and Madam Mam's. But last evening we decided to venture down to 7th Street for a little passion. Thai Passion, that is.

Frodo greets us at the door, which is to say that Elijah Wood appears to have consented to a photograph with someone from the restaurant, and there it is, blown up, right in the front. Hello again, Frodo. I mean Elijah.

The place is mostly empty, but we somehow get seated next to a couple of loud sorority girls, one of which is giving a joke by joke recount of last night's Bill Cosby show. All we can say is, it must have been funnier in person. But we are glad she had a good time.

We order the Pud Cashews, a dish with mixed veggies and a dark, sweet sauce. We choose the tofu as a companion meat. Our dining companion orders the Larb, which appears to be a pile of ground meat over a pile of lettuce.

Our appetizer--passion rolls (vegetarian egg rolls) arrive fast and hot. They are a little too greasy for our liking, but we enjoy them all the same. The main dishes also arrive in good time. We admire the decorative heart shaped carrot slice sitting atop the balls of rice.

Our dining companion says the Larb is average. He is pleased to have ordered a signature dish, at least. Perhaps Larb just isn't his thing. Though he eats every last bite.

We find our Pud Cashews to be hitting the hunger spot, although it could do with less sauce. We do not think food has to drown to be tasty.

The nice thing about Thai Passion is the good selection of vegetarian options. Also, it can't be beat for a moderately priced nice dining experience with great service and a pleasant atmosphere. And now they are open till 3am, apparently making an appeal to the after bar and party crowd. IHOP or Thai Passion, it's a wonderful choice to have.

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By Alison Coffey in Food on May 10, 2005 7:37 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

glutton

I used to go to Thai Passion until I ate at Thai Tara. Holy mother. I haven't been back to TP even though it is adjacent to the lovely One American Center where I work.

Thai Tara--6th and Rio Grande, prices comparable to TP at lunch, freaking delicious, instead of iceberg with peanut sauce for the appetizer, you get a (vegetarian) soup. Plenty of options for both the vegans and carnivores in your life... mmmm, green curry with tofu, I can almost taste it. Thank goodness I already have plans to go for lunch today.

Here is the menu: thai tara, droooollll

Bre

You had me at "Frodo."

Alison

Rock On, Trei! Thai Passion is icy hot. Or is it ice cold? whatever.

Trei Brundrett

Why people got to be hating on Thai Passion? That place is one of the primary reasons I enjoy working downtown. I basically live on their daily curries. I'm talking the Panang red curry with tofu and green beans, the just right greasy Garee yellow curry with peanuts and then the sweeter than thou Musmun yellow curry w/ cooked right potatoes. And then of course there is their perfectly prepared Pud Kee Mow noodles with those stewed tomatoes. All at prices that are competitive in the context of downtown lunch. You want over-priced asian? Rock some take-out at Noodelism. And slow? They never let me down on speed of cooking and if things are busy I just chill on that lobby bench and read the always available Chronicle. All of this AND the staff is crazy friendly to us regulars. So the Thai Passion player haters need to step off. You obviously haven't worked downtown long enough to remember when our Thai options were limited to Thai Soon where they put catfish in our pad thai.

alison

I agree on the overpriced part, but have yet to have bad service. Maybe lunch time is different?

Madam Mam owns my Thai food he

I work next door to Thai Passion and have eaten there three times. This is only because I forgot how awful the first and second time were, or maybe I just hoped I'd ordered badly. I've vowed, despite it's proximity to my office, to never go back. It's overpriced, slow and definitely NOT passionate.