For something new, my friends and I decided to check out Natalee Thai in Palms. The building isn’t exactly decorated in the Thai style and is rather some sort of a postmodern mash-up. Nonetheless, Thai food awaited within.
I first set eyes on the drink menu. In it, there was a crazy-looking flaming drink that seemed to be like a Hawaiian shark bowl. I ordered it with a friend and we proceeded to be amazed as the flame burned and we imbibed the alcohol.
For the meal, we got two kinds of curry. The first was Massaman Beef, which was made with curry,
potato, peanuts, onion and coconut milk. I crossed my fingers that the onions were simply a flavoring and that I wouldn’t have to be pulling big chunks out of my food. As an aside, I’ve always felt that Massaman is a curry that is ripe for musical parody. Think “Macho Man” by the Village People. Anyway, we also got the Chicken Panang, which is just supposed to be curry and coconut milk.
When the food came, the Massaman looked just as I had hoped, with no sign of onion. The
Panang, however, had red peppers floating around. This was most disappointing, as I had to maneuver through the curry to find the good chicken bits. Both curries ended up tasting alright. They were nothing amazing, and even though the place had a trendy look, the prices weren’t terribly high. There is surely better and cheaper Thai food to be found in LA, but for something a little upscale, Natalee Thai is not a bad bet.
