If I were a red curry....

Then I'd probably first live at Thai Country Cafe. This curry broke me; supposedly, red is the hottest, although I can't really support that with fact. Nevertheless, when I first began my first venture into red curry, I'd order it mild and sweat and gulp down water as I worked my way through a few bites of mostly rice. However, like a good foodie, I persevered and now I'm thoroughly "medium" with occasional forays into "spicy"; what? Yep!

So TCC curry: I've eaten here regularly (sometimes every week) for years--5, 6, 9? Don't know; but suffice it to say, it's good, it's consistent, they know their regulars, and they do it right.

TCC red curry comes vegetarian with steamed tofu, red and green peppers, and basil. I always order "extra extra vegetables," which for $1 buys me broccoli, mini corn, bamboo shoots, carrots, and mushrooms. The sauce is coconutty, a little trace of peanutty, and very very curry. It's just freaking delicious.

But although technically my second place winner would be The King and I, that's partly out of deference and respect for the last 9 years, because in many ways, KI trumps TCC.

The red curry at KI is much thicker; best I can figure is that they use coconut cream vs. coconut milk. It's very very rich. And it's spicy and a little bit more peanutty. Theirs comes standard with bamboo shoots, tofu, peppers, corns, mushrooms, and basil, as well as eggplant. For $1 I can add a vegetable, so I always choose broccoli. Overall, it's fantastic. Much richer, so you leave feeling a little roly poly, but still good.

Besides the richness--which may change your choice of restaurant (in 100 degrees you may prefer lighter curry?)--the restaurants vary. The wine list at KI is superior; I probably wouldn't drink the wine at TCC. But it's packed on the weekends and you may wait up to an hour, which is always a bummer. Finally, TCC is in the loop and KI is on the southside, so it really depends on where you're at for the evening.

If I were to be allowed to give a tie, I think I'd give them a tie for first. Wait. My blog. My rules. I tie TCC and KI for first.

Following behind in second, then, is the only other candidate up for review today: Basil Spice. This is the new Thai place on South Grand, which is ballsy, I'd say, not only opening up amidst several other established Asian restaurants, but also opening just doors from KI, which has been around since the 80s at least. Anyway...

Their red curry was very mediocre. If I were reviewing others today, BS would most likely be pushed back to 3rd, 5th, maybe even last place. It wasn't hideous; but it wasn't anything to go gaga over. In fact, the dish my dinner partner had, a basil dish, was far superior. So maybe it's jut not the place to order a curry.

Their curry was very watery. My request for "extra extra vegetables" bought me a little of this and a little of that, but nothing major. And the tofu was fried; that's always tasty, but unnecessary. If I went back there, I'd get something else.

Other solid red curries in town, if you're not on Delmar or Grand (or if you don't feel like heeding my advice): Rearn Thai in Clayton. It's good. Blue Elephant in Clayton; also good, but I think it's more of a lunch place. And Thai Cafe, TCC's sister-restaurant East of Skinker. It's a slightly more upscale red curry. Actually, it's exactly as if KI and TCC had a curry baby--it's a little rich, but not too thick, a little pricier, but not too crowded, etc. And I hear (although tasting is believing) that Sen Thai is very good. We'll see about that.

Happy Hour: Sapphire

To make those post-work hours happy, you need two things: Martinis and Small Plates. There are variations on this theme (beer and snax, wine and cheese, you get it), but essentially, that's what's up.

A new restaurant in the CWE, Sapphire, replaced one of my favorite old restaurants, Zoe, which was a great destination for Happy Hour. Zoe was especially great because the standard CWE happy hour destination, Balabans, doesn't open til 6 and that, frankly, is just too late. But we tried this new place anyway, seeing as how it was open and it was about that time.

So we ordered a few martinis, enjoyed the complimentary fried chile snax, and set to work endeavoring to be happy.Sadly, of the three martinis experienced by myself and friend, only one was drinkable. It was a "passion plum" or something, which was basically a cosmo, which I enjoyed. But the "green tea" and the "melontini" were bad, though, seriously. I don't know how you mess up ice, vodka, juice, sugar, but they did.

The Small Plates, I must admit however, were phenomenal. Spicy chile beans and spicy chile sweet potato fries.

Sapphire digs their chile flavoring, but if it works, it works!

Although I might not venture back there again for happy hour (cocktails are a necessary element of the happy hour equation; otherwise, it's just dinner), I enjoyed myself and I did, in fact, spend that hour happily. I did! And I hear they're great for lunch!