| The King and I continues to satisfy
One major difficulty a consistently successful restaurant often faces is how to keep the ideas fresh and interesting without losing the magic which made the place work in the first place. The King and I, Calgary's first upscale Thai restaurant (820 - 11 Ave. S.W., phone 264-7241) was the place in 1988 – diners waited weeks for the opportunity to try fabulous coconut rice, peanut sauce and Thai sticks in a hip, urban environment.
Almost 15 years after it opened, the King and I seems much more stately than it once did. The service remains professional, quick and highly knowledgeable, but the menu seems less sexy and, while the dishes are interesting, there are few real knockouts. The place has turned from a Porsche into a Cadillac. Nevertheless, the sauces on the food are outstanding, and a bit more attention to ingredient quality would really send these dishes into the stratosphere.
We began our meal with the King and I's signature appetizer, rock and roll clams ($9), along with yum pla muk ($9), a squid salad with lime and green chili vinaigrette. The steamed clams came with a thick blend of sweet and hot sauce, which was good, but a little more aggression in the sour, or acid, department would have provided better balance. The salad's vinaigrette was divine – no scrimping on the heat here – and it was beautifully contrasted with lime. I was disappointed, though, because the salad was simply squid, lettuce, cucumber and a freezing cold, and therefore tasteless, tomato – where was the inventive spirit for which this restaurant is known?
This combination of great sauce and indifferent vegetables continued in the Buddha's Delight ($12). I realize that cauliflower and broccoli are used as a substitute for choi sum, a southeast Asian staple, but it's depressing to see these February vegetables featured so prominently in July. The sauce, though, was sweet, salty and totally addictive. The Bangkok noodles ($12) were lovely and hot, and the best dish, by far, was the gaeng keo wan pet, or duck in a green curry sauce, with eggplant ($16). This was Thai cooking at its best – an intoxicating mix of spices, sweetness and heat – and is one of the best dishes I've eaten this year. The coconut rice ($2 per serving) is also first-rate.
We managed to save room for dessert. The banana spring rolls are as I remember them, a chocolate covered banana lover's dream, and the cheesecake was decent, light and slightly sour.
How does the King and I compare with the other Thai restaurants in town, such as Thai Sa-On, Chili Club, Ruan Thai and the Spicy Hut, to name a few? It's clearly more upscale, perhaps safer and on certain dishes they really deliver – maybe more so than anywhere else. Oh, and it's also more expensive, by some distance. Dinner for two, including a couple of beers and tip, was $110, so get ready to buck up.
For a romantic dinner, the King and I is great, but it's probably a bit rich for a Tuesday night Thai food frenzy – for that, Ruan Thai is my favourite. |
