So…we had friends in town last night, and I wasn’t in the mood to cook, shoot pictures, etc. We decided to hit the new incarnation of my favorite Thai place, Vila Thai. The original location used to be within walking distance of my office, but they closed it in favor of a much larger and prettier spot downtown. They’ve rebranded quite a bit since the move, and I have to say, I’m impressed with the look. The new location is right at Congress and Stone, tucked in next to a tall building that’s covered in teal tiles. There’s a gorgeous patio alley thing in the back, and they have space enough for a wine tasting room in the main restaurant. It’s very classy, without being uncomfortable. A very cool feature we noticed as we were
leaving – after dark, the restaurant shines a V-shaped spotlight against the wall of the tiled building next door. It reminded me a little of the V in “V for Vendetta.”
We started our dinner with the shrimp & papaya summer rolls: nicely plated Thai basil and other herbs wrapped in a wonton wrapper, topped with green papaya and a small shrimp. Neither DH or I was overly impressed by the rolls themselves; the basil was overpowering and the taste of the green papaya and shrimp got lost. They came served with a sweet chili sauce, which was quite tasty. Our dinner companions, the Gs, started with the spring rolls, which they said were really good. Those, too, were well plated, and came with the same sweet chili sauce.
For our entrees, DH and I both ordered the dishes that were our favorites at the old Vila Thai location: DH got the red curry, and I ordered Rama chicken. Mr. G ordered the Rama chicken as well, and Mrs. G selected cashew chicken.
The plating on both of the Rama chickens left a lot to be desired. It came out with a smallish breast of chicken settled nicely on a bed of sauteed spinach with a rather weird looking glop of brown peanut sauce over the top and a mound of brown rice on the side. My plate also had some sort of grayish liquid around the spinach, which I have to think was some sort of remnant of the grill, but it probably should’ve been wiped before reaching the table. Mr. G commented that the peanut sauce resembled peanut butter both in appearance and texture, and I’m inclined to agree with him. I hate to keep comparing new to old, but at the old Vila Thai location, the dish was much more smoothly combined, with the chicken cut down and the sauce mixed in.
DH’s red curry had a much better looking plate; he had a nice sized chicken breast surrounded by the curry sauce and vegetables, with the same rice mound. He said it was good, but not quite as good as it used to be. I’m pretty sure Mrs. G’s plate was the best presented of the four we received – she said the food was excellent and it looked nice as well.
Our service was decent, though somewhat slow in bringing refills and the check. The owner was around, and stopped by our table a few times to see how we were doing. I chatted with her briefly about the change in location – she’s very approachable, and she really seems interested in talking with her guests.
Overall, I don’t think it’s quite my favorite place for Thai food anymore, but we’ll probably go back at least once; I’mintrigued by their advertised wine tastings and live music on the patio during the weekend. I’ll probably always miss the old Vila Thai location and being able to walk over from the University for an order of Rama chicken at lunch.
(Credit for all pictures in this post goes to TucsonThai.com)
