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Monday, October 25, 2010

Twelve in Ten Challenge: The King & I

First things first, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Ryan! Last year, I posted a bunch of wedding pictures in celebration of our first anniversary. I've gained a lot of new readers since then, so go check those out for some wedding stalkage. This year, I'll just post one of my favorite pictures of us in the past year (aka one of the only pictures where both of us have our eyes open and we're smiling!).

Ryan, thanks for another fabulous year of marriage....and, in relation to this blog, thanks for telling me when I make grammatical errors, soothing my kitchen tantrums, and answering my incessant questions about how something tastes. I love you and I love being married to you...can't wait for another great year!

Now onto the next matter of business, our October Twelve in Ten Challenge. This month a restaurant was up and it just so happened that a Groupon for The King & I, one of the restaurants on our list, was being sold one day. I immediately jumped on buying it and we set out for a little date night one Sunday evening after seeing the movie The Social Network (which I highly recommend!).

I had heard a lot of good things about The King & I, a pretty well-known Thai restaurant in St. Louis, and I went in with high expectations. Unfortunately, the actual experience fell short of what I'd been anticipating. The restaurant itself was your standard run of the mill Asian restaurant, no fancy decor or anything. This is pretty typical in the area though, and didn't bother me.

The menu was fairly extensive, but I went with my usual pick at Thai restaurants: pad thai. It's a Thai restaurant after all, shouldn't this be their speciality? I was craving vegetables after a pretty indulgent weekend and the waiter assured me that this dish came with plenty of veggies. Ryan debated over a few different dishes but ultimately went with the green curry with shrimp since he had never before tried green curry.

While waiting for our food, we realized that none of the patrons at other tables were eating with chopsticks. I found this odd and was a little disappointed; chopsticks are my favorite part of Asian establishments! Thankfully when the server brought our food (which came out fast!), he got us chopsticks upon our request.

I was pretty disappointed with my pad thai. The vegetables were anything but plentiful, but I wasn't too surprised. What bothered me the most was the sauce; to both Ryan and I, it didn't taste anything like the pad thai sauce that I know, love and enjoy at every other Thai restaurant we've been to. On top of that, the peanuts served on top of the dish (my favorite part!), were few and far between.

Ryan, on the other hand, was satisfied with his green curry. He ordered it 'mild' and it was indeed pretty mild. His dish was substantial enough for a meal but not an overwhelming amount and he had no problem finishing it off.

While I'm not sure what went wrong with the pad thai, I would give The King & I another go sometime. It definitely didn't compare to some of the other Thai places we've tried in St. Louis, but I think I would like some of the other menu options, such as the curries. Though the food was a miss for me this time, the service was fast and the prices were reasonable, so I'm not completely ready to write off the place! Ultimately, I'm once again glad for this challenge, and the fact that it forces us to branch out and try new places!

One Year Ago: Apple Puff Pancake

King & I on Urbanspoon