A Shameless Plug For Our Favorite Restaurant

We have found one of those "Hole-In-The-Wall" kind of places that when you go inside, you are more than pleasantly surprised by what is waiting for you. The Thai Terrace restaurant, located on North Dale Mabry in Tampa about a mile or so south of the football stadium, serves a 4-Star meal at a 2-star price. While their prices might be a tad higher than the bulk fast-food Asian restaurants of dubious quality you pass by daily on your way to and from work, it is definitely well worth the extra dollar or two to stop in and experience Thai food the way it really should be.

The store front is totally misleading, being nestled in the front section of a Howard Johnson's motel/hotel. But when you step inside, it's like you walked through a time warp.

The dining area is comprised of 36 seats, which is just enough for a cozy dining experience without feeling cramped. The hostess, an Asian woman whom we fondly call "The Dragon Lady", is typically nicely coiffed and attired in one of a large selection of several different silk gowns, the package of which seems to herald from 'the home country' itself. Due to the cozy size of the dining area, this very capable greeter is also your server, plying her skills with a mastery that leaves you wanting for nothing.

This evening, I ordered the Thailand national dish, Phad Thai, which has rice noodles, scallions, delicate bean sprouts and ground peanuts lightly dressed in a tangy peanut dressing, that does NOT in any way hint at being related to peanut butter. Something of a difficult thing to do, in our experience with Asian dining. One of the things I get a kick out of here is the cutlery. I had no idea that there are gold-colored bronze forks, knives and spoons made, let alone coming from Thailand (it is stamped on their undersides).

Luann's favorite dish is the Mongolian beef, of which she has yet to finish the generous portion brought to the table in one sitting. This really isn't an issue because we have found that whatever we take home is still great the next day after a brief visit in the microwave oven. As for libations, there are several styles of carefully chosen wines and select beers to chose from. Luann likes the chilled plum wine, of which the bouquet is fruity, yet is not sweet and overpowering.

Here are a couple of cellphone camera pictures of the inside of the establishment, with the "Dragon Lady" working hard to ensure her guests are well taken care of. As you can see, the decorating theme is treated to a liberal dose of woodwork.

Along with the decor are the fresh flowers, strategically placed throughout the dining area which contribute to the feeling that this place is semi-formal, semi-romantic, yet somehow casual. It is very difficult to pull off this kind of atmosphere without some serious consideration to balancing the effect.

We have dined here several times now, varying our choices from the menu, with not one selection being a dud. The presentation for every plate we were served is crisp and clean without being overbearing or seeming pretentious. Our favorite appetizers are the wonton soup, which is not your Chinese style of wonton soup. The base is a rich, flavorful affair with petite, handmade wontons that are spiced just so in order to lend themselves well to the very broth they are resting within.

Another soup favorite is a coconut soup called Tom Kha with your choice of beef, chicken, or seafood and for you quasi-vegetarians out there like me, a firm tofu is avaliable not only for the soups but can also be substituted for meat in the main dishes as well.

If you are concerned about the stigma of Thai food being spicey, you can order your appetizers and most of the entrees to the heat level you desire by using a heat rating of zero to five, with five being the hottest. They do say that the heat scale is one to five, but you can order most of the items off the menu with no hot spices in it at all.

The main reason for this posting is to show our friends and readers (you know who you are) this really neat gem, seemingly transplanted from Thailand, with ownership and staff that strives to provide a complete experience, rather than to simply 'plunk' a plate on the table in front of you and walk away.

We like this place so well that when Luann graduates with her degree from college soon, we're coming here to celebrate!

Address: 2055 North Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa Florida
Phone Number: (813) 877-8955

Reservations are not needed but can be made for dinner only - Website: http://www.thaiterrace.net/

02/02/12 - NOTE: Unfortunately, ownership of this restaurant has since changed hands and they chose to change the recipes and method of service. The Dragon Lady is gone and the things we ordered simply did not taste as good as before. Oh well, another business falls victim to the times...