Article By David Lee
Glorious Block (Gao Xin Da Du Hui), Keji Road.
科技路高新大都荟
(029) 8885 5577
11:00am – 2:00pm
5:00pm – 10:00pm
Average Price per Person /人均消费: 150RMB
PROS: Some of the best food in Xi’an, English menus and service, price
CONS: None
This restaurant is simply incredible.
Part of a gleaming new plaza in Gaoxin, this Thai restaurant impresses at every step. With its elegant take on classic Thai dishes and reasonable prices, I cannot recommend this place highly enough.
The building looks absolutely beautiful, even from the outside where the monochromatic gray prism is lit up to reveal the emblazoned restaurant name. The interior is incredibly warm and wooden but unmistakably modern. There are knick-knacks and old memorabilia placed all over the restaurant that give it a very lived-in vibe without feeling cluttered or busy. It is sophisticated without being the least bit pretentious.
As with any good restaurant, the experience is structured around the food. The consistency was remarkable. I was lucky enough to taste a very large assortment of dishes, from the mango sticky rice and various curries to salads and fried potatoes. The dishes might look simple at first but there are incredibly rich and complex flavors. For example, there was one dish that simply looked like sliced apples on a plate. As soon as I ate it I quickly realized it was a symphony of cumin, fish sauce, apples, olives and who knows what else that worked perfectly together. Or the sandwich that looked like the premade PB&J sandwiches I had in elementary school with the crusts cut off. But when I bit in, it was an odorless durian jam.
Although you cannot go wrong with any dish, there were certainly a couple standouts. The salt encrusted whole fish comes sealed in a rock salt casing and is peeled open tableside. It was the most tender meat I might ever have had and goes perfectly with the accompanying green chili sauce. The red curry is a Thai classic done perfectly and should be on every table at the restaurant. The coconut jelly pudding served in banana leaves was the perfect cap to the meal alongside a draft Singha beer.
During my time in Xi’an, I’ve been lucky enough to go to more than my fair share of nice restaurants. In the city’s increasingly crowded fine dining space, Thai Food Show manages to feel special. Not only is Thai food itself a treat, but the atmosphere and the ease of the experience leaves it in your memory and makes it worth repeat visits.
David Lee is a reviewer for Xianease hoping to eventually write something as good as “real g’s move in silence like lasagna.” He can be reached at reviews@xianease.com