Thai Monkey Club

Last Sunday we found ourselves on a journey to Thai Monkey Club, which supposedly offered Thai food so good that it warranted a long drive from the suburbs to Denver.

We headed toward the south Broadway / Wash Park / Baker district that we only seem to venture into for food; Sweet Action Ice Cream and Beatrice & Woodsley are just a couple blocks away.

Thai Monkey Club doesn't look like much from the outside. It's situated on a eclectic part of south Broadway known for good restaurants, antique shops, and kitschy furniture. Oh, and there's plenty of places like the adult video store that's right across the street from Thai Monkey Club.

So why were we at Thai Monkey Club anyway? Well, because we love Thai food but we haven't tried nearly enough Thai places around town. One of our friends, let's call him "Chang," found the restaurant a couple weeks ago and has raved about it, so we figured it was worth a stop.

Chang met up with us for our earlybird dinner at 3 pm on a Sunday. Despite the unassuming exterior, Thai Monkey Club's interior was filled with brightly painted walls, Thai art, and a giant monkey mural. The restaurant was small, with tables to seat only maybe 25 people. It was completely empty when we showed up, and a few other couples arrived while we ate.

Our waiter was a bit slow to take our orders, but our food arrived incredibly quickly once he had done so.

We started off with the Fresh Spring Rolls ($4.95), which Chang had warned us were the one item he'd tried at Thai Monkey Club that he didn't like.

Spring Rolls

The spring rolls were very average. They were packed with vegetables, which is normally a good thing, but there was just too much lettuce. The rolls also contained quite a bit of mint, which I enjoyed, but other people may dislike the intense mint flavor. People like Chang.

But the spring rolls were soon redeemed by the deliciousness of our entrees.

My husband selected the Drunken Noodles with chicken ($7.95 + $2 for chicken). Thai Monkey Club offers its patrons a selection of spiciness levels between 1 and 6, with a 3 supposedly being "fairly hot."  Mr. Oyster is a big tough guy and he opted for a "4."

Drunken Noodles

The drunken noodles were excellent. The dish was very heavy on the vegetables, containing large chunks of red pepper, baby corn, tomatoes, Chinese broccoli, and carrots. The chicken and egg were less prominent but very tasty and well cooked. The sauce itself was very spicy (as requested) and flavorful.

And I ordered my Thai go-to dish, the Panang Curry ($8.95 + $2 for chicken):

Panang Curry

I had to keep up with my husband, so I ordered it at a level "4" as well.

The curry base was outstanding. Yes, it was spicy. It had the perfect mix of coconut, spices, and chili heat. Like the Drunken Noodles, the curry was heavy on vegetables, particularly bell pepper and broccoli. The chicken was cut in small pieces and had absorbed much of the curry flavor. The dish was served with a large heap of rice that I used to cut out some of the heat.

I definitely preferred this Panang curry over Tuk Tuk's - and that's saying a lot, because I still love the Panang at Tuk Tuk. Thai Monkey Club's curry tasted less sweet and less coconut-heavy than at Tuk Tuk. Keep in mind, however, that entrees at Thai Monkey Club cost about $3 more than comparable dishes at Tuk Tuk.

After sweating our way through the curry and drunken noodles, we were very satisfied with our meal at Thai Monkey Club. If it were closer to our house, we'd probably be ordering take-out from them at least once a week. I'm not sure how it compares to any of the surrounding Thai restaurants, but we'll certainly try to make another visit when we're in the area.


Everyday Dining

(8 of 10)

Pros: Excellent Drunken Noodles and Panang Curry.
Cons: Service a little slow, prices a little high


Website:
http://thaimonkeydenver.com/

Tuk Tuk Thai Grill - DTC

Needing a quick lunch last weekend on a drive home that took us past the Denver Tech Center, we decided to stop in to Tuk Tuk for some always-good Thai food.

Tuk Tuk lies near a very uninteresting shopping center (it's anchored by a giant Microcenter), in a standalone building immediately next to Quincy. The shopping center is just north of I-225, so while Tuk Tuk calls the location a "DTC" restaurant, I would actually consider it to be just north of the Tech Center.

I've been to the location a couple times before during the work week for lunch, and it's consistently been packed with office types looking for a quick, cheap lunch. I imagine with a more visible location it would be even more busy. The building doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside it's very welcoming, with bright lighting and colorful decor. Like Pho Saigon, office workers grabbing a weekday lunch should get there before 11:30 am to avoid a wait.

On the Sunday when my husband and I visited, however, it was nearly empty at lunchtime. During my work week visits, they took customers' orders at a counter up front, and brought food out to the respective tables. But for our quiet Sunday lunch, we were seated at a table and waited on during the meal.

Service has always been fast; this visit was no exception.

We started off with the Summer Rolls appetizer ($4.5):

Summer Rolls

These rice paper wrappers were stuffed with shrimp, chicken, lettuce and carrots, and served with peanut sauce on the side. They were just ok. Some of the lettuce had browned at the edges, and the chicken tasted tough. One bright spot was the peanut sauce; it was spicy and well flavored but not too sweet.

I ordered the Ginger Beef ($8) with brown rice instead of white rice:

Ginger Beef with Brown Rice

This was a solid plate of Thai food, although nothing amazing. The vegetables were fresh and crisp, the sauce was fragrant and had a slight heat, and the beef was well cooked.

And then there was the Panang Curry Chicken ($7.75) that my husband will not stop talking about:

Panang Curry Chicken

The curry had a coconut milk base, and was ordered spiced "hot". It included a variety of fresh, crispy vegetables.

My husband sipped at the curry a bit, tried a few pieces of chicken and vegetables, scooped the sauce over rice and gobbled that up, and then began babbling uncontrollably: This is sooo good. [Pause] Wow. You have to try this. It is just soo good. So good. This is just so good.

And it was.

The spice combination of the curry was perfect and the "hot" spiciness was just the right amount of heat for both of us. The chicken and all the vegetables tasted fresh and well cooked.

I neglected much of my Ginger Beef in favor of helping him out with his amazing curry (I'm nice like that).

Ok, now here's my disclaimer about my Thai food ignorance: there's a lot of things I don't know about food, and there's certainly a lot of things I don't know about Thai food. I can't speak to whether this stuff was authentic, I can only say that it tasted fantastic.

The only bad thing about the curry? If you've noticed from my last few reviews, Mr. Oyster seems to be on a streak of ordering a better meal than me. Yes, the guy who used to think Totino's Pizza was the best thing ever, who became nauseous over the very idea of eating sushi, who didn't know what an artichoke was...this guy now seems to nail down the best dishes at a restaurant with some sort of natural finesse. It is not cool, and it's got to stop.

Very good fast Thai food. Get the curry.


Everyday Dining

 (7 of 10)

Pros: Fast service, outstanding curry
Cons: Summer rolls were very average, slightly pricey

Website:
http://www.tuktukrocks.com