An important entry into the panoply of restaurants that populate any neighborhood is the reliable Thai joint. It's nice to know that there's a place in town where you can get quality Pad Thai, quintessential crab Rangoon and an orchid with every entrée. And, if you're really lucky, delivery.
Enter Thai Coconut.
This eatery has been dishing up noodles and curry in a struggling Belleair strip mall for years, but several months ago they moved into a larger, more prominent building on the busy Clearwater thoroughfare of Missouri Road. During my visit, an egret haunted the door of the restaurant like some sort of guardian spirit, and Buddhist monks in saffron-colored cloaks blessed the sign out front to give luck to the restaurateurs in their new location. It was definitely an entrance to remember.
The interior of Thai Coconut is done in the standard style of dark wood paneling, Thai-themed carvings, gold and ceramic figurines and trails of orchids as far as the eye can see. Even the wooden, leaf-shape fan paddles got in on the action, adding to the uniformity of the "Oriental tropics" décor.
And to all this, Thai Coconut added another, more unusual touch. A flat-screen television in the corner played a news show upon my arrival, and it wasn't until I was halfway through my first sweet-and-savory Thai iced coffee ($1.75) that I noticed the report seemed to center on a political problem taking place in Thailand. The coincidence of the piece and my choice of restaurants caught my attention, but after a few moments it became clear that the TV was showing some sort of English-language Thai television station. The station ranged from covering the environmental concerns around Bangkok to a crime spree outside of Phuket. The staff of the restaurant occasionally paused between rounds of spotless service to check out the happenings back in Southeast Asia, and the all-Thai news gave me a vague sense of displacement, as if somewhere in the midst of all that paneled wood and orchid pots sat a wormhole that had shot me straight to Siam.
But the food at Thai Coconut is geared to appeal to the predominantly Western palate of its customers. Most of the favorite dishes are represented on the menu, although there was a notable lack of Pla Rad Prik, the famous Thai crispy-whole-fish-in-chili sauce that I've been known to cross state lines to eat. All are eminently affordable and appropriate for either a reasonably priced night out or a casual nosh at home in front of the idiot box.
I tried a variety of appetizers from the menu, and though I had no complaints with the fat, crispy spring rolls ($2.95, including a side of sweet plum sauce), I preferred the strong curry element in the crab Rangoon ($4.95). Though not usually a fan of this dish, I liked Thai Coconut's version, which featured more prominent crabmeat flavor in the curried cream cheese that fills the crunchy, golden brown fried wontons. I sampled a cup of tom khar soup ($3.95), which had a good consistency in its coconut-milk-and-chili base, but contained fewer chunks of chicken and straw mushroom and a more prevalent tang of lemongrass than I like. Better was the daily soup special, a rather unusual take on Thai hot-and-sour soup ($2.95). Rather than clear broth with bits of scallions and shrimp, Thai Coconut's version is more like a hot-and-sour egg drop, with dark brown, thick broth and bits of chicken. Definitely different, but worth a look.
Of course, no review of a Thai eatery would be complete without a taste of the slightly sweet, slightly savory national noodle dish, pad Thai ($9.95). I enjoyed this restaurant's take, though my dining companion said there wasn't enough of a peanut taste for his liking (I noticed no particular dearth). The pad Thai was tossed with chunks of chicken and shrimp, ground peanuts and bean sprouts. My dining companion preferred another excellent choice, the spicy noodles ($8.95), which had an intense chili sauce gusto tempered by hints of fresh basil leaves and peppers.
I also sampled an order of crispy duck topped with a peanut and coconut "panang" sauce ($15.95). Though I liked the crispy skin and the mix of veggies that accompanied the dish, a few of the duck pieces were a tad on the fatty side, and the sweet sauce was a bit too overwhelming. I also experimented with one of Thai Coconut's frog leg dishes. It offers the crispy little buggers with garlic sauce and mixed veggies ($10.95); with basil, carrots, onions, scallions, bell peppers and zucchini ($10.95), and with red curry ($10.95). If you like amphibians, these dishes are worth a try (especially the delicious red curry), but I couldn't see what they had over a nice piece of chicken.
My favorite menu item was the intriguingly named prick king ($7.95-$14.95, depending on your choice of chicken, beef, pork, squid, shrimp and scallops). Prick king (is this a Weekly Planet name or what?) included my choice of meat sautéed with green beans, carrots and bell peppers in an extraordinary red curry sauce. Though spicy enough to make your sinuses squeal, the red curry possessed an array of subtle flavors from sweet to savory that elevated this dish beyond the realm of basic Thai joint. I recommend anything on the menu that is made with this particular sauce.
For dessert, I tried an order of piping-hot, bite-size Thai donuts ($2.95) served with a sweet, coconut-based icing. Along with the creamy Thai iced teas and coffees ($1.75) and sodas ($1.25), Thai Coconut serves the usual variety of beers (including the Thai Singha, $3.50) and sake and plum wine ($3.95).
Delivery was prompt and accurate and the next best thing to dining at the restaurant itself, where attentive service (our water glasses never fell below half-full) and pretty presentation make this one Thai place where I could happily become a regular.
Freelance Food Critic Diana Peterfreund dines anonymously and the Planet pays for her meals. She may be reached at diana.peterfreund@weeklyplanet.com. Restaurants chosen for review are not related to advertising.
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2004.