The Foodie Adventures of D&A: September 2010

Today for lunch, D and I finally ventured out to Ormond Beach's first Thai restaurant, Thai Erwan. We'd been meaning to try the cuisine since we first heard wind of it at the beginning of the summer, but were often times distracted by other delicious asian eateries (coughedamamecough).

Thai Erwan is located in the same plaza as Peach Valley, TGI Friday's and Noah's Market. So, there is definitely a little competition. Although, none provide the spicy sweetness that accompanies most Thai cuisine.

Nor do they provide the same tranquil environment

as Thai Erwan successfully does. As you walk in your greeted by the sounds of a waterfall that can be heard throughout the entire dining room. And often viewed too! The color scheme consists of a lot of natural dark colors with accents of gold to give it that real asian vibe. With it's great atmosphere, D and I were already loving Thai Erwan before our server even saw us.

They had a lunch special running that enabled us to have their soup of the day and some fruit in addition to any entree. The soup came out piping hot shortly after we ordered and I must say the presentation was beautiful. The chicken and rice noodle soup came with a spring roll on the side and sweet chili sauce for dipping. The spring roll was absolutely wonderful with the sauce and complimented the soup beautifully. There was some sort of seasoning that I wasn't fond of, but it didn't prevent me from finishing most of it off.

Shortly after finishing the soup, our entrees were delivered. D had previously heard great things about the Roasted Duck ($9.95), so he couldn't resist having it for lunch. Pictured above, you can see that Thai Erwan consistently has a beautiful clean presentation. D loved the duck and all the vegetables. I thought it was pretty good myself and was particularly fond of the spicy cashews. When we do cook rice, we work with Jasmine rice, so it was nice to enjoy the same at a restaurant.

I had planned on ordering the Pad Thai, something I knew I would love, but decided when we got there to try the Amazing Beef ($8.50). I'm a long time lover of Thai peanut sauce, so I just knew this would be good. Well as you can probably guess by the picture to the right, I recieved Amazing Chicken. Normally, I wouldn't have said anything, but I really was not in a chicken mood. The waitress was very apologetic and had my Amazing Beef to me in what seemed like record time. I was really impressed by their quick action.

Unfortunately, I didn't find the Amazing Beef to be all that amazing. It was good, just not amazing. The menu describes

the dish with a Thai peanut butter sauce. To me the sauce seemed like it was too peanut butter-y. I think I would have preferred a simple Thai peanut sauce. Don't misunderstand me, it was still very tasty and I ate most of it. But in the past, I've enjoyed a Thai peanut sauce that was not as thick and had a bit more spice to it. I felt like peanut butter was overwhelming the sauce. On the other hand, the rice and broccoli were both steamed to perfection and quite yummy. I think for our next visit, I'll go with my original choice of Pad Thai. That's right, we'll be heading back.

As we came close to finishing our entrees, our waitress dropped off two of these cute little fruit plates for each of us to conclude with. All the fruit tasted very fresh and delicious. It really was a nice touch to end our meal with.

We will be returning to Thai Erwan another day for lunch. The prices are reasonable, the atmosphere is amazing and I really want to try their Pad Thai!

-A

Open: Monday - Thursday 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. and 4:30 - 10 p.m.

Friday - Saturday 12 -4 p.m. and 4:30 - 10:30 p.m.

Sunday 4 - 9 p.m.

Address: 219 E. Granada Blvd. Ormond Beach, FL

Phone: 386 677 0999

Website: www.thaierwanrestaurant.com