For those of you who are fans of thai food and tofu, Silom 12 is the place for you! Before last night, I had never had thai food or any good tofu. The food here was excellent in terms of taste and portion! It is also B.Y.O.B(bring your own bottle)! We had wine and champagne last night. They provide you with wine glass and there is a small charge for them opening your bottle.
But first lets talk about the layout of the place.
But first lets talk about the layout of the place.
The restaurant is very small, especially at the entrance. If you have a somewhat large party, like we did last night, it is very cramped in the doorway. There are a few tables in the front room as well as a large bar. We did not wait long to be seated, maybe 5 minutes. A woman came to seat us at a long table in the middle of the second room (picture above). The picture was most likely taken during the day because the restaurant is fairly dim. Not too dark and not to light, the perfect setting for a relaxing dinner with friends or a romantic date.
They start you off with some free chips and dip. Now this is obviously not your run of the mill chips and dip! The chips look like styrofoam in the shape of a weird flower. The dip looks like some type of dark red preservative.
BUT, don't let it scare you, its actually pretty good. The chips are called Nam prik pao and I'm not sure what the dip is called. The chips are not very salty but still good enough to eat alone. When dipped in the sauce, the sauce is a mix of sweet and spicy!
After waiting for the rest of our party to arrive everyone ordered. The first little bit I had was some of my friend's noodle dish. The dish is called Paht Woon Sen
BUT, don't let it scare you, its actually pretty good. The chips are called Nam prik pao and I'm not sure what the dip is called. The chips are not very salty but still good enough to eat alone. When dipped in the sauce, the sauce is a mix of sweet and spicy!
After waiting for the rest of our party to arrive everyone ordered. The first little bit I had was some of my friend's noodle dish. The dish is called Paht Woon Sen
The noodles are glass noodles which are just noodles that are clear. They reminded me of jelly fish tentacles. They are delish! The noodles are cooked in sweet soy sauce which gives it a greasy feel but not too greasy, very flavorful! The noodles are mixed with different veggies, garlic and your choice of chicken, beef, or shrimp. My friend got chicken. The chicken is white meat chicken but very moist and somewhat flavorful. The noodles make up for what the chicken lack in flavor.
The second dish I tasted was the Spaghetti Kimao
I couldn't find a good picture of the dish. The noodles used in this dish were the traditional spaghetti noodles. The noodles are cooked in and covered with a very spicy basil sauce. If you are into spicy things this is the dish for you! However the spiciness doesn't take away from the dish, it is still edible :). Mixed in the noodles are different veggies and seafood. Usually when I see seafood I usually think of shrimp immediately, but this dish goes beyond that! There is shrimp, calamari, and even mussels in this dish. They seem to be cooked in a milder sauce that coats them with an orange sauce that works well with the noodle sauce and makes the seafood taste wonderful!
The third dish was Silom's Pineapple Friend Rice
This dish is super pretty! It literally comes in a pineapple boat. The pineapple is cut in half and scraped out. The leftover pineapple chunks are mixed into the rice. The rice is a traditional friend rice with shrimp. On top of the rice is dried shredded pork. Surprisingly the dried pork isn't so dry it is very flavorful and soft. I expected it to be a bit chewy, but not at all!
The last dish I had, the I actually got as carry out was the Garlic Stir Fry Tofu(called Garlic on the menu)
Now before this dish I had never had any good tofu! It all tasted like dirty paper to me. I decided to try it one more time here. I was pleasantly surprised! The sauce it a dark sweet garlic sauce. The tofu is very moist and is covered with a little rice and garlic sauce. Broccoli and some other veggies came along with the dish as well. I'm not a big fan of the broccoli in this dish only because I like steamed broccoli instead of stir fry. They were a big crunchy but still had loads of yummy flavor! This dish is also in the stir fry part of the menu.
So for those of you here in Chicago, or looking to visit Chicago, and want to try a new resturant, and/or food type you should definitely try Silom 12 in Bucktown.
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