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Standing the test of time (closed)

Olympia's Angels Thai Cuisine is about the food, not the service

ANGELS THAI CUISINE: Pad Thai is a popular dish made up of rice noodles, green onions and an egg with bean sprouts and freshly ground peanuts. Photography by J.M. Simpson

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Angels Thai Cuisine

Where: 318 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.786.1252
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday
Cuisine: Thai appetizers, noodle dishes, stir-fry, grilled meat, soup, salad, fried rice, and curry
Scene: Casual, family friendly - not specifically a romantic locale
Drinkies: Thai iced coffees, wine, beer, and standard nonalcoholic drinks
Prices: $6.99-$12.99

ANNOUNCER: There are many places to eat Thai food in the state capital; that's been established. In fact, there are many places to get all sorts of food in Olympia. Starting at one end of Fourth Avenue downtown, one could eat his way from one end to the other and experience many different ethnic tastes and be exposed to many varied cultures - Mexican, Italian, American bistro, European, French-inspired - and, of course, Thai. Angels Thai Cuisine is interesting in that it has been next door neighbors with not one, but two other Thai restaurants. Casual and comfortably appointed, Angels Thai is a veteran on the Thurston County foodie scene.

JAKE: Walking in, my first impression was that the place was well laid out, had tasteful décor and wasn't cramped and cluttered like so many small restaurants. The scent of freshly cooked, savory food - not stale grease - hung in the air. We were seated quickly, and I felt we were off to a good start.

JASON: I'm glad I read the special board in the front area, or we'd never have known about Angels' prawn appetizer. It was a serious surprise. I hope they add it to the regular menu or offer it frequently. Ten to an order for $8.99, prawns were plump and wrapped in what looked like crisp angle hair pasta. Sounds weird, I know, but it worked. The texture contrast was ideal - soft, juicy mud bugs and crunchy pasta. And it arrived fast. They made a nice addition to shrimp and pork spring rolls. Taste buds shouted hallelujah at lemongrass ginger sauce served along with standard peanut sauce. Citrus was like pow! And ginger hit like bam!

JAKE: It totally creeps me out that you call prawns mud bugs. It makes me feel like we ate sea cockroaches, mind you very tasty sea cockroaches, but still. We dunked them in a sweet, tangy sauce with red chili flecks that was an unnatural shade of pink. A light amethyst orchid on the plate added to top-notch presentation. By the way, pow! and bam!? Seriously? Is this a comic book now?

JASON: You would never survive on Survivor and you'd die of fear on Fear Factor. But you'd be best buds with Project Runway's Christian Siriano, wouldn't you?

JAKE: Who? Speaking of "who," I feel like that's what our server was thinking about us. Man, she wouldn't smile at us to save her freakin' life. Thankfully entrees arrived swiftly. My pad Thai was served with a dish of finely chopped peanuts, shredded raw white cabbage, and julienned carrots on the side. I like my mung bean sprouts in with the noodles, but they were uncooked on the side, as well. Some of the thin rice noodles were a bit overdone. I know real pad Thai is not supposed to be a watery, saucy dish, but it was just too dry in places. The chicken pieces in it were moist, small and plentiful. I enjoyed the fresh lime squeezed on top.

JASON: I was looking for a protein packed meal, and the grilled pork delivered like overnight express from FedEx. The meat was cooked throughout, still tender and only lightly seasoned. Like a dunking machine operator, I put each bite of the pork in a dish of brown liquid consisting of fish sauce, lime juice, mustard powder and more. If the pork had been seasoned more, the sauce would have been overpowering and killed it.

JAKE: I know it's out of character for me, but after having great pineapple coconut ice cream with fresh mint at Narai next door, I wanted dessert, or at the very least to know what was offered at Angels Thai. Our fembot waitress just sat the bill down and walked away without suggesting dessert. I guess she was as done with us as we were with her. I felt like flipping the table and yelling "peace out" as we hit the door.

JASON: How very 1991 of you.

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