Ala Thai East

What is it about Thai food that makes me constantly crave it? I didn't grow up eating Thai food so it’s not comfort that I get from childhood memories…. So why is it that I feel comfort when eating it?

I grew up eating homemade Chinese food. It really could be the fact that Thai food and Chinese food are stir-fried, healthy, fresh, and balanced in flavor. You get hit with heat, salt, sweetness, and my favorite - acid. It’s making my mouth water right now. Oh and I love fish sauce…. oh my gosh the fish sauce! I know it’s stinky because of how it’s made but not to worry, it makes the food taste amazing.

So let’s talk Thai food in Alabama. There are quite a few great Thai restaurants here in the State and I’ll get to each and every one of them but I wanted to cover Ala Thai East since we don’t get to Montgomery enough. Ala Thai East is situated in a strip mall right off of a main drag in Montgomery - 6663 Atlanta Highway. We decided to go for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. Due to Covid protocols they had the tables spaced out a bit but most of the booths along the walls were taken. That was awesome to see! They had one waiter handling about six booths - not gonna lie, I was a little worried about service. I was so impressed with the waiter - he was fast, incredibly kind, and attentive! Seriously, the fact that there was only one person handling the front of the house can be worrisome but nope, no reason to worry.

Now lets get to the food (Ingredients are as listed on menu):

You’ll find that I always order summer rolls. These rolls always have different names depending on the restaurant. I’ve always found that to be weird. At Ala Thai, they’re called Thai Rolls. Ingredients: Shrimp, chicken, crabmeat, vermicelli noodles and basil wrapped in rice paper- served with light sweet and sour sauce sprinkled with peanuts. The sweet and sour sauce was a nice surprise. They’re typically served (at other restaurants) with a creamy peanut sauce that I usually doctor up with chili sauce. I really liked this sauce because it was pretty mild and the peanut wasn’t so overwhelming. I’d get this again! Note: if you haven’t had this before, just know that the rice wrapper is chewy and the filling is quite a bit bland. But that’s where the sauce comes in - YUM! They’re very light and to me, they’re the perfect starter.

The chicken and rice soup came with our entree order. We didn’t order it so I’m going out on a limb and saying that it comes with lunch even though lunch prices are listed as Mon-Fri. The soup had great flavor - ingredients: A homemade delight that consists of light broth, garlic, rice, cilantro, leaf lettuce and chicken. Again - it was so good and light.

Okay - hear me out. I know Pad Thai is everyone’s go to… well that and Panang. We visited a few other Thai restaurants and I never ordered Pad Thai and the fact that the menu said it was the “most famous" made me want it more. Ingredients: The most famous noodle dish every Thai restaurant should have! Stir-fried thin rice noodles with cabbage, bean sprouts, egg, and crushed peanuts. You can pick the protein - “Chicken, Beef, Tofu, Pork or Assorted Vegetables. Premium Protein Choice: Shrimp, BBQ Pork, Duck or Squid (additional $3)” and I picked chicken. The Pad Thai was just as I expected - not too oily, chicken was cooked well, portion size was about right - I was very happy with my order. It wasn’t sweet so that is a PLUS in my book.

I had a case of food envy with this one. Nick ordered this and I was incredibly jealous. For me, this is a must order. With the tofu as protein! It is the Panang Curry - ingredients: A traditional Thai Panang curry served on top of crispy wide rice noodles. There were three pluses in this meal - the sauce, the crispy wide noodles, and the texture of the tofu. I would drive back down for this dish… I wanted ALL of the noodles…. and the tofu…. Nick was patient with me when he could have rolled his eyes every time I said, “Can I have some more?” YIKES! I would say I needed a larger portion size but that’s because I just wanted more and not because they didn’t give us enough. SO to avoid conflict and a GET YOUR OWN look thrown at you, go ahead and order it for your meal.

Overall - we will definitely go back. It’s a gem in Montgomery, AL. Food was delicious. Service excellent.