Nayada Thai Restaurant

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Have not been to Nayada in quite awhile.  Seven of us tonight - mixed group. No set menu so it was a free for all in ordering.  I just went with the flow.  I will say I was disappointed in several of the dishes.  Not sure if it was the quality of the food or the dishes selected.  I found that I preferred the selection of appetizers over the main dishes and they were not all my favorites either

We started out with Garlic Wings which were very good. and Deep Fried Calamari.  These to me were the best of night.  The Spring Rolls are all veggies but way too much cucumber and lettuce for me. I had two bites out of mine and left it.   Golden Bags which is pastry filled with a pork mixture and deep fried. OK but.  Fried tofu - small sticks of tofu deep fried, too small so you did not get the good taste of the tofu. The last three did nothing for me.

Bear in mind there are numerous people ordering the mains. 

Crab Fried Rice - I personally though it was awful. I found it dry, no flavor  and the crab tasted old to me.

Beef with noodles and vegetables - again not a memorable dish - nothing bad but nothing really good.

Scallops with vegetable - scallops were tender and decent flavor but all these vegetables seem to be coming out of the same pot.

Then there was a dish of "Vegetables" which had way to much "heat" for me. The burn from it lasts way to long. I had one bite and that threw my palate off.  And besides we had vegetables with two other dishes.

Apparently there was a dish of yellow curry - it never got to me - I did see it in someone's hands at one time .

I fill up fast at my advance age so I wasn't hungry after the appetizers so having mediocre food didn't make much difference to me. But this dinner was not the best I have had a Nayada. I don't think it was the restaurant as much as the selections people made. Everything was too much alike. And I really missed the deep fried catfish and the Tom Yum Soup. I supposed I could have ordered those dishes but we had enough food that leftovers were taken home.

The wines brought seemed to be all over the place also.

I brought a NV Bernard Bremont, Ambonnay Brut, Grand Cru. It was going downhill. Still barely drinkable.  I need to start culling out my older sparklings and whites.  I also brought a 2014 Tercero, Outlier, a dry Gerwurztraimer. This wine always pairs well with spicy food.

2016 Lucien Crochet Sancerre - very good

2014 Domaine Schlumberger, Alsace, Grand Cru Riesling - very good

2016 Ried Mohlberg, Austria, Gruner Veltliner - very good

2012 Martinelli, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir - very good

NV Celebration, France, Brut Sparkling - very good

Orlana, Portugal, Rose - not my favorite - way to " strawberry fields forever " sweet for me

2015 Ferrari-Carrano, Siena (red blend) - not impressed

The hit of the evening was a 1992 Bollinger, Grand Annee, Brut Champagne - excellent wine