This past spring, Thai Bangkok Restaurant opened a second location on Milwaukee’s Northwest Side, named Thai Bangkok Express. Primarily for carryout, customers order at the counter, and it takes about 15 minutes for the food to be prepared and bagged to go. There are also eight tables if you choose to eat in. Décor is sparse, save for a large decorative fan and a couple of pieces of artwork throughout the small space. There’s a poster near the counter that pictures the restaurant’s more popular dishes.
The menu of Thai entrees and dishes is extensive; every option is numbered, which helps when ordering. The helpful employees behind the counter will make recommendations for customers who are not familiar with Thai or Hmong cuisine. Appetizers include spring rolls, chicken wings, tofu tod ($6.25), in which breaded tofu pieces are drizzled with a zesty sweet and sour sauce and topped with peanuts; crab wonton, and there are a couple of different Thai salads, which are similar to garden salads and topped with Asian-inspired dressings. The vegetarian spring rolls ($1.50 each) were flavorfully spiced and fried crisp. They came with sweet and sour sauce, but they were good enough to stand on their own.
There are five soup selections, including egg drop ($3.50). Other categories on the menu includes entrees, curry dishes, fried rice and noodle dishes, and most can be made vegetarian with tofu, chicken, beef, pork or seafood. You can also choose your preferred spice level—mild, medium, hot, xhot or “on fire.” We chose medium, which had quite a kick. Proceed with caution if you go with hot, xhot, or certainly “on fire.”
The gang pad pak curry dish ($9.25) with tofu had a flavorful, creamy, red Thai curry sauce that was balanced with stir-fried pea pods, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, celery, mushrooms, carrots, baby corn, eggplant and cabbage. I couldn’t really taste the eggplant, but the dish overall was delicious, and the tofu was cooked just right—crisp on the outside and not mushy or dense inside.
My husband enjoyed the pad kee mao, also known as the “drunken noodle” dish with chicken, stir-fried rice noodles, scallions, peppers, broccoli, bean sprouts and egg, topped with a hearty brown sauce. In both dishes, the vegetables still retained a slightly crisp freshness.
There is a small section on the menu with fish and duck dishes ($9.25-$13.25) and five Hmong dishes ($8.25-$12.25), including sausage, laj ntses (fish laab) and fried tilapia in a special Thai Bangkok tangy sauce. You can get additional vegetables, meat or tofu for a small upcharge. Beverages available include Thai iced tea, Thai coffee, coconut water and Coke and Pepsi products.
Thai Bangkok Express is tucked into a busy intersection near a strip mall, so it might be easy to pass it up, but don’t; the quality food, good portions and pleasant, helpful staff make it a must-stop for quality Thai and Hmong food.
