Udom Thai

As followers of the Rocky Mountain Oyster have probably figured out, Mr. Oyster and I have no ability whatsoever to feed ourselves. Instead, we rely on others to prepare delicious and unique food that we can enjoy in exchange for a reasonable fee. 

Being fans of Thai food, we've been on the lookout for delicious Thai that's close to our jobs and house in the south suburbs. Tuk Tuk suffices for a quick weekday lunch, but Thai Monkey Club is our true favorite for Thai. The Monkey Club, however, requires a long trek up to Broadway - that's no good on a weeknight when I'm craving spicy curry. 

Based on some outstanding Yelp reviews and its close proximity to our neighborhood, we tried Udom Thai at Dry Creek and University for a very late lunch this past Saturday. 

Udom Thai is situated in a nondescript location in a strip mall next to a King Soopers and a few other small chain restaurants. It's not far from the SouthGlenn shopping area and Land of Sushi, both of which lie a few blocks to the north on University. 

We showed up at the somewhat odd hour of 3 pm on a Saturday for a very late lunch. Despite the shining reviews, the restaurant certainly wasn't busy when we arrived. In fact, it was empty, and even the staff was absent when we first walked into the dining room.

We were soon greeted by a woman who emerged from the kitchen, apologized for the very short wait and immediately seated us. The interior of Udom Thai was clean and sparsely decorated, with light green walls and dark tables and chais.  

We started off by splitting a small bowl of Tom Yum Chicken Soup ($5.95). 

Tom Yum Chicken Soup

The traditional Thai soup was made with lemongrass, lime leaves, galangal, straw mushrooms, tomatoes, onion and cilantro, and was packed with chicken pieces. The soup was tangy, sour, and sweet, but with a very light and clear broth. We loved every sip of it.

For his main dish, my husband ordered the Drunken Noodles with chicken ($8.95), spiced "hot."

Drunken Noodles with Chicken

The noodles had a perfect chile heat and a great flavor to the sauce. The dish was packed with vegetables and substantial pieces of chicken. One thing I wasn't crazy about, however, was that many of the noodles were congealed together. Nonetheless, this was a pretty solid plate of Drunken Noodles, although I do prefer the more peanut-heavy concoction made by Thai Monkey Club.

My main plate was - no surprise here - the Panang Curry with chicken ($9.95 + $1 for brown rice), spiced "hot." I ordered brown rice in place of white rice, which cost an additional $1.

Panang Curry

The curry broth had a good flavor, with chile heat and the sweetness of coconut milk. It was packed full of carrots and bell peppers, but I was perplexed by the addition of peas to the mix of vegetables. They were too sweet for my liking, and certainly didn't seem authentic. Like my husband's Drunken Noodles, I really enjoyed the curry, though I prefer the analogous dish at Thai Monkey Club.

Service at Udom Thai was outstanding, although we were dining at off-peak hours and we were the only ones there.

Udom Thai served up some tasty and quick southeast Asian dishes, and stands out as one of few good Thai places in the south suburbs. We'll likely swing by in the future for some weeknight dinners.


Everyday Dining

7 of 10

Pros: Great service, good food
Cons: Boring strip mall location

Website:
http://udomthairestaurant.com

Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill

I don't care if it's a fast-casual, cheap chain restaurant; I love Garbanzo.

I love the fact that I always walk in there starving and I immediately get handed a warm, freshly fried falafel to sample. I love that they pile my plate high with enough food for two meals for less than $10. I love that I can mix everything together on my plate to form a hummus-heavy pile of Mediterranean goodness.

Garbanzo locations have shot up around the Denver area like delicious weeds. I've eaten at four of their Front Range locations, all in the south suburbs. 

Garbanzo has a Chipotle-style setup where you select the shape and style of your entree, and customize it to your liking. Customers can choose from a plate, a pita, or a laffa (think Middle Eastern burrito). I always go with the plate since I seem to get more food that way, and they provide a pita on the side. Plus, I can grab a lid for the plate and eat the remainder of my giant meal later.

My standby is normally the Steak Shwarma plate ($6.99).  I order it with plenty of hummus, a generous helping of veggie salad, red cabbage, a dolma, and a little bit of tzatziki sauce. It's very filling, and as long as I can take it easy on the hummus, it's generally low-calorie as well.

Recently, Garbanzo has added steak and chicken kabobs to their menu. I tried a Chicken Kabob Plate ($8.99) at my last visit, with the usual fixings plus some Mediterranean rice.

Chicken Kabob Plate

The chicken was marinated and perfectly cooked. It was skewered alongside green and red bell peppers and red onions, which added a sweetness and crunchiness.

My biggest complaint about Garbanzo? The restaurants post nutritional stats and ingredients online, which is great, but it reveals the fact that they include preservatives in their hummus, falafel, and many of their sauces. I would expect a place that prides itself on freshness to avoid such additives.

Garbanzo is a Colorado-based chain, with locations across the Front Range. It's not terribly authentic, but it's tasty, fast, and cheap.



Everyday Dining

(8 of 10)

Pros: Cheap, fast, delicious
Cons: Not terribly authentic, preservatives in some foods

Website:
http://www.eatgarbanzo.com/

Land of Sushi

One frustration about living in the south suburbs is, as Westword points out at every opportunity, a lack of interesting local dining options. In particular, my husband and I have struggled to find a local sushi restaurant that compares to Sushi Den or Sushi Sasa closer to downtown.

I was therefore intrigued - and surprised - to see a Centennial sushi restaurant I'd never heard of win "Best Sushi Restaurant - 2012" from Westword recently.

That restaurant was Land of Sushi, and it didn't take long for us to decide to give it a try.

But if it weren't for the gushing from Westword, I probably would have steered clear of Land of Sushi. Nothing about the exterior of Land of Sushi is particularly appealing. Not the name, nor the glowing red letters that spell it out, nor the strip mall location across from the newly redeveloped SouthGlenn area.

Last weekend, we arrived to a nearly-full Land of Sushi at around 6:45 pm on Friday evening. The sparsely-decorated, L-shaped restaurant was smaller than I expected. It had no real waiting area, and a couple tables were placed far too close to the entrance. We sat at the small sushi bar, where our dishes were placed on plastic placemats with a fake wood pattern on them. After an initial mix-up between waiters, we were situated with drinks and menus.

We were soon glad we had arrived when we did, as the restaurant quickly filled to capacity, and a small crowd waited for their tables outside.

And although I often cringe at Westword's characterizations of suburban-restaurant ambiance, Land of Sushi certainly reflects the influence of the surrounding Centennial demographics. The restaurant was packed with families, waitstaff shuttled giant boats of sushi and sashimi to tables, and the atmosphere was casual, quiet, and mellow.

To start our meal, we ordered the Fatty Big Eye Tuna Sashimi with Avocado ($16).

Fatty Big Eye Tuna Sashimi with Avocado

I regret that the picture turned out a bit blurry on this one; it doesn't do justice to the beautiful presentation. The fatty big eye tuna slices were buttery, tender, and fresh. The creamy avocado atop each slice was an excellent compliment to every bite.

Our next plate included four orders of salmon sashimi ($2.5/ea, $10 for four orders as shown in photo) and an Ebi Tempura Roll ($7.5)

Ebi Tempura Roll (Front), Salmon Sashimi (Back)

The Ebi Tempura Roll was packed with tempura shrimp, crab, avocado and lettuce. It was the least interesting thing we ordered at Land of Sushi and was really a very average American-style sushi roll. The tempura batter was way too heavy on the shrimp; each bite left me with an unwanted mouthful of panko.

The salmon, however, was perfect. Thinly sliced, fresh, and delicately marbled with fat, I could have eaten several more orders of the fish.

Still hungry, we moved on to our final dish of the night, the Green Monster Roll ($13), which consisted of a green soy paper wrapper stuffed with tuna, crab, fried red snapper, and avocado.

Green Monster Roll

Land of Sushi has plenty of authentic Japanese dishes on the menu, but this certainly wasn't one of them. It was delicious nonetheless; I loved the combination of seafood, delicate sushi rice, and creamy avocado. The soft soy paper was a perfect alternative to nori as a wrapper, and contrasted with the slight crunch of the fried snapper.

Service at Land of Sushi was efficient and attentive. Our neighboring diners seemed to mostly be regulars, and that's no surprise. Despite the no-frills atmosphere, the sushi is good, service is quick, and the location is convenient.

We're looking forward to throwing Land of Sushi into regular rotation on our dining schedule. The restaurant certainly delivers on sushi quality, although it doesn't stand out like Sushi Den or Sushi Sasa downtown in terms of ambiance and authenticity.



Casual Dining

  (7 of 10)

Pros: Great sushi, quick service
Cons: Boring location and decor


 

The Wooden Table

Our insatiable desire for delicious food brought us to the Wooden Table in Greenwood Village for a recent dinner. The Wooden Table is an Italian restaurant that opened just this past September, and it lies sandwiched between a couple of other shops in a pretty average shopping area at University and Orchard. We showed up to a mostly-full restaurant for reservations at 6:30 pm on a Friday night.

Despite the low-profile location, The Wooden Table boasts a co-owner who is the former Executive Chef of Osteria Marco downtown. 

Wooden Table may seem isolated in the suburbs, but it's probably appealing to the nearby residents of Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village, as there don't seem to be many comparable restaurants nearby. It filled to capacity shortly after our arrival and there was a lively atmosphere.

I rarely get worked up about restaurant decor or ambiance, but the Wooden Table seemed a bit weak on interior design. The restaurant occupies a large, sparsely-adorned single room, with white walls dotted with random black-and-white photos of trees. It felt a little empty. Also, the restaurant windows face directly out to glowing TJ Maxx and Sally Beauty Supply signs across the parking lot, so it's not a place to go for a nice view.

We started with a couple drinks and a disappointingly boring baguette with olive oil:

Bread and Olive Oil

(Yep, after that photo we decided we needed a flash. We're amateurs.)

As an appetizer, we ordered the Frutti di Mare Crudo ($13):

Frutti di Mare Crudo

Crudo is a raw, ceviche-like seafood preparation that is typically marinated in a combination of olive oil, salt, and an acid component (normally lemon or lime juice). In this case, the crudo included baby octopus, shrimp, and scallops, arranged on a layer of tonnato and chili oil. It was similar to the Insalada Frutti di Mare we enjoyed at 5280 Dines a month ago. It was light, citrusy, and loaded with tasty, fresh seafood.

We also split a half portion of the Ravioli ($10):

Ravioli (half portion)

The ravioli was stuffed with ricotta, and topped with shaved Parmesan and red sauce. The pasta was perfectly cooked, with a rich and creamy ricotta filling. The red sauce tasted a bit sweet for my preference, but was well seasoned and flavorful.

Now, let's back up a second here. Why exactly did I track down this random shopping center Italian restaurant for a slightly fancy dinner?

I had been drawn in by the allure of this:

Westword's 100 Favorite Dishes: Pork Tenderloin with Bread Pudding and Green Split Peas from the Wooden Table.

From the Westword write-up, the pork dish looked ridiculously tasty, and Apple Ham Hock Bread Pudding sounded like something I shouldn't pass up in this lifetime.

Well, my husband is really the pork lover in the relationship, so I convinced him he needed to order it.

And here it is:

Berkshire Pork Tenderloin

That's Berkshire pork tenderloin atop apple ham hock bread pudding, with green split peas and braised red cabbage ($23).

It didn't exactly look like the photo Westword posted, and it certainly didn't live up to our elevated expectations. In fact, the pork was pretty dry and weak on seasoning. I enjoyed the bread pudding, the split peas, and the cabbage, but nothing tasted particularly special, and it wasn't nearly good enough to make up for the disappointing pork.

For anyone seeking a pork dish (or, more specifically, a Berkshire pork dish), my husband's Boneless Berkshire Pork Chop at Vesta Dipping Grill last month was much, much better.

Moving on, I ordered the Meatballs ($20) for my entree:

Meatballs

That may look like regular old spaghetti and meatballs, but it was so much more than that. Somehow, The Wooden Table has managed to concoct an incredibly perfect and wonderfully seasoned meatball using veal, pork, and beef. That spaghetti-looking pasta was actually bucatini, or in layman's terms, "spaghetti with a hole down the center." Like the ravioli, the pasta was cooked just right. This was the best thing I ate at Wooden Table, and certainly more deserving of any type of "Best Dish" nod than the pork.

I'm not sure if they do this on a regular basis, but the restaurant served complimentary dessert liqueurs to all its (over-21) diners that evening. I don't care for liqueurs in any form, but my husband was happy to polish off our Amaretto and Limoncello glasses.

We finished off the meal with the Pumpkin Cheesecake ($8):

Pumpkin Cheesecake

The cheesecake was topped with a praline and pumpkin seed brittle topping, and served with whipped cream on the side. It was a lovely fall dessert, but of course we may have been easily pleased, both of us being cheesecake and pumpkin lovers. It disappeared quickly.

Two months after its opening, The Wooden Table has a basis for a great restaurant. The food is mostly very good, and the location has easy appeal for the area's residents. I felt some of the dishes needed more polish, and there's room for improvement in the ambiance.


Casual Dining

(7 of 10)

Pros: Food was mostly good. Pasta was excellent.
Cons: Disappointed with pork dish, boring location

Website:
http://www.thewoodentablerestaurant.com/