After an hectic and itchy week, I called a few friends to see if they wanted to have a fancy brunch. One of them, not only said yes, but then said, “And I’m still at work right near you, so we could meet up for dinner.”
Restaurant review: Nan is a pricey restaurant that claims to have, “the finest Thai-French cuisine,” but looks like a hole in the wall and is right near a delightful Indian restaurant, a delicious Thai place, a pretty decent Thai place, and several other restaurants as well – all much more reasonably priced. I have never found the place even remotely tempting. But it was pushing 10pm, and everywhere else we tried was closed, and Nan still had its Open sign out.
And I was wrong. Totally and completely wrong. Not only was the food excellent, but the server and the chef were both incredibly kind and generous with their time and made us very comfortable even as they were closing up the restaurant and cleaning the kitchen. They even made sure our rolls were piping hot (including the second round, when I asked for more because they were very tasty dinner rolls). The squid salad was tender, lightly grilled, and tangy (and we sopped up the last of the dressing with the rolls, we were that happy.
He had the Pad Thai (his standard yardstick for the quality of Thai places) and was delighted. Each flavor was distinct and almost subtle, so it ended up being a lighter and more exciting dish than it is at most places. I ordered the salmon crusted in red curry – and it was perfect. Rich and perfectly cooked – the first bite was too hot, but it melted like butter. The whole way through, I was deeply apologetic (in my head) for all of the previous aspersions I had cast on the place. And we finished up with ginger ice cream which was just crammed full of candied ginger in chunks. All creamy and settling and a perfect way to end the meal.