Now that the news of the Governor’s stay-at-home extension has confirmed what we undoubtedly already knew, we can press on and seize the opportunities the next 18 days can offer, as you hopefully have with the previous 50.
We are all creatures of habit, albeit to varying degrees, but we still have our favorite places we can’t shake. Our haunts, our homes away from home. But now, there is no getting away from home, and we are presented with an opportunity to buck habit and try new places.
Now that the excitement and fascination has passed, and we here at the Fitzmorris house have had our fun experimenting with the take-out-ability of Galatoire’s, chargrilled oysters, fish fry, and GW Fins biscuits, we can use this time to try a few new places.
I’ve become aware of Rakong Thai, a new place restaurant in Covington, set back from 190 next to Zea that opened last year. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d never know it was there. I love Thai food, as does Tom, but with the lack of interest from Mary Ann, and my perennial disinterest in eating large piles of carbs, it’s something we rarely eat.
But yesterday was a special case. For me, the morning began with a warm English Tea Room scone so we could execute our strawberry shortcake shenanigans, followed by a necessary taste test of the cookie dough I’ve been selling by the quart these days. (merrilycakeco.com/shop) It was a successful taste test, so I had two. I was already deep in the hole by 9:30 AM, so I figured I may as well end the day’s diet failure with a Pad Prik Shebang.
I counted down the minutes until their 4:30 opening and headed out a bit before, intending to couple the trip with an errand. My cake business has delightfully expanded during this time, but accepting orders is a bit like Russian Roulette. I never know when I’ll walk in the store to find the shelves picked clean, and shopping trips for ingredients generally now involve one store per ingredient. Today’s trip required only cream though, as the last of mine had been sacrificed in the name of said shortbread shenanigans. Fortunately, it seems that no one has yet cracked up a way to cause a cream shortage, and we as a society do not seem to have stooped to levels of desperation so low that we’re drinking heavy whipping cream straight out of the carton. That’s good news.
After agonizing whether it’s better to go order food, cross the street to Walmart while I wait and risk a line and cold food, or just make my and then call to order, I settle on the latter. I try to call from the store parking lot. No answer. I call six more times. That’s the procedure right? I don’t know. So I just drive over there.
I walk into the smallest of the three storefronts in the strip mall, previously home to Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt. It’s hard to get a read on an atmosphere with all the tables and chairs stacked in a corner, but the place seems clean and bright, and they did an impressive job of converting the space from a frozen yogurt storefront to a full service restaurant.
Someone walks out from the kitchen and my heart pounds. No matter how many times I do this, I still don’t know how to procure food in this new world. Everyone is providing the same service, but in a million tiny different ways. The rules are always different and I feel like I should already know them all. He probably thinks I’m picking up. But I haven’t ordered yet. Am I allowed to be in here without an order?? I COULDN’T GET ANYONE ON THE PHONE IT WASN’T MY FAULT! AM I EVEN WEARING THE RIGHT COLOR SHIRT FOR TO-GO ORDERS IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT??
He says, “Hi can I help you?” Seems normal.
Composed as a bank robber, I say, “I wanted to order food.” Nailed it.
“It’ll be about 40 minutes if that’s ok with you.”
Damn. Should’ve rolled the dice on Walmart.
I assure him it's fine and order the seafood Panang Curry and, after an asinine inquiry about whether the veggie pad thai had a different taste from the chicken, got the veggie. Scientific Property of Carb Cancellation.
I popped back in about 30 minutes later and he appeared from the kitchen nearly immediately with a box full of food. Either I have spectacular timing or they’re exceptionally efficient, and prescient. I fled home with goods and gleefully unpacked the boxes on our little outdoor dining/office/recreation table.
Both portions were incredibly generous, particularly the Panang Curry, nearly swimming over the brim of the container with abundance. Their “Seafood” option describes a medley of shrimp, mussels, scallops and squid, and there was no question of it here. Shrimp were a good size, with the tails still on, and the chunks of squid were large and numerous. The presence of scallops escaped me, but their absence was made up for by at least 6 very large mussels in their shells.
The broth itself was spectacular. Personally, I like curry just fine, but not really enough to order it for myself. It takes a lot for me to stray away from the mainstream spicy noodle dishes, but I would stray for this. The flavor was so rich it bordered on smoky, and was a perfectly balanced mix of spice, sweetness, and classic curry flavor.
The pad thai was good enough, a standard version of a standard dish, although it was a bit too sweet for my taste. I did like the veggie option though, and, like the seafood, they didn’t skimp on those either.
Overall, a promising start for another option on the Northshore. Hopefully the blow of the lockdown won’t be too tough for them so early on, but then again, maybe it will help. It took forced takeout to get us over there, and based on the wait time, we may not have been the only ones.
