La Thai Cuisine. Uptown: 4938 Prytania. 504-899-8886 .

Written by Tom Fitzmorris October 17, 2010 03:54 in

4 Fleur
Average check per person $25-$35
 BreakfastNo Breakfast SundayNo Breakfast MondayNo Breakfast TuesdayNo Breakfast WednesdayNo Breakfast ThursdayNo Breakfast FridayNo Breakfast Saturday
LunchLunch SundayNo Lunch MondayLunch TuesdayLunch WednesdayLunch ThursdayLunch FridayLunch Saturday
DinnerDinner SundayNo Dinner MondayDinner TuesdayDinner WednesdayDinner ThursdayDinner FridayDinner Saturday

La Thai Cuisine

Uptown 3: Napoleon To Audubon: 4938 Prytania. 504-899-8886 . Map.
Casual
AE DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
La Thai reversed a trick that hip New Orleans-style restaurants played for years. It incorporated Asian ingredients and techniques into local dishes. Here the base menu is Thai, and the fusion elements are Cajun. While those looking for the Thai standards will find them, the unique and most interesting parts of the menu are the hybrids.

WHAT'S GOOD
No-borders creativity informs the kitchen, and first-class ingredients and polished preparations complete the job of making this the city's best Thai restaurant. Particularly in the dishes involving local seafood--oysters, crawfish, and soft-shell crabs--the combination of flavors and the look of the plate are tremendously appealing. The oysters encrusted with pecans, set on a nest of artichokes and leeks, zoomed up with a Thai chili sauce is the perfect example of what they do well here.

Crab cake..

BACKSTORY
La Thai is the latest work from the family that opened the first New Orleans Thai restaurant--the Mai Tai in Gretna, back in the early 1980s. Punnee "Mama" Semiesuke--the matriarch and genius of the family--went on to operate a number of traditional Thai restaurants around town, most notably Bangkok Cuisine. The more recent ones also involved her children Merlin and Diana Chauvin, who are literally Thai Cajuns. The first iteration of La Thai Cuisine was on Metairie Road. It moved to its present Uptown location in early 2008.

Dining room..

DINING ROOM
This long-time restaurant space (I can recall over a dozen eateries who came and went at this address) was most recently Felix's, which left a long, wide dining room behind. La Thai performed a substantial renovation, but like its Metairie Road original location, this one is sleek and modern rather than frankly Asian. A little on the loud side when it's full, but otherwise an elegant spot.

ONLINE MENU LOCATION

Thai-style mussels..

Thai scallops..

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Starters
»Vegetable spring rolls (fried)
»Summer rolls (steamed, cold)
Shu-mai (chicken & shrimp dumplings)
Skewerless chicken sate
Crispy coconut shrimp
»Crispy calamari
»»Oysters, pecan crust, artichokes & leeks
»Mama’s stuffed chicken wings
»Mussels, spicy green curry broth, pommes frites
Soup
»Mama’s hot & sour soup
»Tom yum goong (shrimp, mushrooms, lemongrass)
»Tom kar gai (chicken, coconut, Thai herbs)
Salads
Lettuce & tomato, mango-peanut dressing
Asian chicken salad
Naked shrimp salad, mixed field greens
»Pecan-crusted oyster salad, spinach
»Jumbo lump crabmeat, pecans, grapes
Spicy beef salad
»Tuna tataki salad
Entrees
»»Thai-Coon (shrimp, crawfish, veggies, spicy garlic basil sauce, fried eggplant, jasmine rice
»Crispy soft shell crab, lump crabmeat, lemon basil garlic butter
»Duck delight (crispy fried, shrimp, asparagus, mushrooms
»»Merlin’s jumbo lump crab cake, sweet chili glaze
Sea scallops, shrimp, asparagus, mushrooms, spicy basil sauce
Ahi tuna, sesame crust, soy-ginger glaze
»Seafood curry (fried soft shell crab, spicy green curry)
Chilean seabass, panko crust, crabmeat, veggies, coconut green curry
»Filet Diana, crabmeat, mushroom duo, haricots verts, garlic-oyster reduction
»Pad thai
»Pad woon sen (glass noodles, shrimp, veggies)
Drunken noodles (wide rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, veggies, spicy basil)
Mee krob (crispy egg noodles, chicken, shrimp, veggies, Mama’s sauce
Pineapple fried rice, shrimp
Thai fried rice shrimp or chicken
Stir fry chicken, cashews, vegetables
Chicken with garlic, shrimp, vegetables, mushroom, onion, bell
Pepper, carrots
Curries:
Masaman curry (coconut milk, sweet potato, peanut, red onion)
»Panang curry (coconut milk, green beans, basil)
»Red or green curry (coconut milk, bamboo shoots, bell
pepper, eggplant, basil)
Desserts
»Fried banana fritters
Sweet sticky coconut rice
»Key lime cheesecake
»Lime custard, blueberries
Chocolate du jour
Red velvet cake
Creole cream cheese, berries
Ice cream or sorbet

FOR BEST RESULTS
The best food here is made with seafood. What they do with soft-shell crabs and crabmet in the warm months is fantastic. Split an appetizer. The entrees are too large to permit preliminaries heavier than a soup. The restaurant gets busier as the night goes on, with a younger crowd.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
They ought to get rid of the Chilean sea bass in favor of a local fish.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

  • Dining Environment +1`
  • Consistency +2
  • Service+1
  • Value +1
  • Attitude +2
  • Wine & Bar
  • Hipness +2
  • Local Color +1

 

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
  • Sidewalk tables
  • Romantic
  • Many private rooms
  • Open Sunday lunch and dinner
  • Open some holidays
  • Unusually large servings
  • Quick, good meal
  • Good for children
  • Easy, nearby parking
  • Reservations accepted