CLOSED
Location: SW 9th and Alder
The Story:
There has been a bit of shuffling around at the cart pod on SW 9th and Alder. Last fall, DNA Thai closed, but the cart was quickly repainted and reopened as a Thai Wings cart. I didn’t get a chance to visit before they moved and renamed, yet I see from the menu they still have the Wings in the name, but not necessarily on the menu. Be that as it may, I had a craving for some Thai, so decided to check them out.
Thai Star, the shortened name, is the type of cart I would take someone who has never had Thai food. They have large bright photos of all of their dishes so you can get a feeling of what you are ordering. Honestly, when I looked at them, I wanted the fried banana with chocolate, but then reminded myself that it was lunchtime… The menu has all of their items listed, but spelled differently than what I normally see at Thai restaurants. It seems to add a bit more authenticity to the food when you see Phat Thai instead of Pad Thai, or Phat Khi Mao instead of Pad Kee Mao. The dishes are the same, just the spelling is different. Then again, maybe that is the norm and I’m the provincial one.
I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed the stir fried basil rice dish. Sticky white rice covered in a wonderful mix of fried peppers, cabbage, basil, mushrooms, broccoli and wonderfully seared chunks of tofu- it was a tasty meal. They even threw in a vegetarian spring roll with shredded red cabbage inside. The meal was on the spicier side which I like – I had asked for medium and it was medium. There was a sweetness to it I was surprised to taste. Not sugary sweet or anything overpowering, more a hint that piqued my interest to wonder why. Overall, a great meal for $6.
Thai Star is located just off SW Alder on 9th Avenue and is open daily for lunch. They offer up traditional Thai dishes, including soups. Next time I plan on trying those fried bananas with chocolate just to see what they taste like. The photo on the front made me drool. If you want to try a new Thai cart, check out Thai Star and tell them Food Carts Portland sent ya.
Sample Menu:
- Khaman Kai Thot – fried chicken wing with rice and sauce – $6
- Mu thot Kra thiam – fried pork with garlic, sticky rice and papaya salad – $6
- Lap Kai – savory chopped chicken salad with sticky rice – $6
- Fried rice with chicken or tofu – $6
- Stir-fried basil with chicken or tofu – $6
- Phat Thai – $6
- Tom Yam soup – $6
- Fried banana with chocolate – $3
Hours: Monday-Friday, lunchtime
Phone: 503 887 5935
Awful. I got the wings + rice plate, and I got 5 teeny wings (we’re not talking Buffalo here) covered in overly sweet sauce from a jar. The fried rice was your standard greasy Chinese food joint stuff.
Absolutely gross.
PS They were out of the fried bananas (someone else asked for them while I was waiting — a LONG time, I might add — for my food).
great food !!