Thai Restaurant
1362 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60642
Open
Monday to Thursday
11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday
11 a.m to 11 p.m.
Sunday
Noon to 10 p.m.
Reservations,
carryout and delivery
Phone
773-862-6990
Fax
773-862-6993
Side Orders
-
Steamed white rice
— $2
- Steamed brown rice
— $2.50
- Steamed
thin rice noodles
— $2.50
-
Steamed wide rice noodles
— $2.50
-
Steamed egg noodles
— $2.50
-
Peanut sauce
— $1.50
Beverages
- Hot
jasmine tea
— $1.50
-
Coke, Diet Coke or Sprite in cans
— $1.25
-
Iced tea
— $1.50
-
Thai iced tea
— $2.50
-
Thai iced coffee
— $2.50
Deserts
-
Thai custard
— $2.50
-
Moji ice cream
— $2
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KAPLAN'S RATINGS
- Ambiance and decor
3.5/4
- Service
4/5
- Food
8.5/10
- Value
1/1
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Radio review
Sherman Kaplan
WBBM Newsradio 780
North Shore Magazine
Finding a Thai storefront restaurant these days is as easy as shooting
fish in a barrel. You can hardly miss. Sometimes, you get really lucky
with a find like Pot Pan.
There is not anything as you drive or walk by that makes the restaurant
a visual standout, not much in the way of what realtors call curbside
appeal. Inside the restaurant is highlighted by open space with handsome
woodwork and copper ornamentation. There are two seating levels, one of
them a raised platform toward the back, reserved for non-smokers.
Like so many small restaurants, no matter what the ethnic derivation,
Pot Pan seems to be a family run operation. So there might be some children,
perhaps the owners, playing in the back. And service might be a little
distracted from time to time, but its part of the charm, to my way of
thinking.
The food at Pot Pan is typical of many Thai restaurants. The spring
rolls, wrapped in soft dough with fresh raw vegetables and bits of scrambled
eggs are topped with a light plum sauce. The flavors are spring like.
The egg rolls are more delicate than their Chinese cousins. Shrimp dumplings
are excellent little bite-sized morsels, plump and juicy. Appropriate
sauces are set out for each of these and other tidbits.
Whatever else you order, do not ignore soup. The tom yum with
it’s lemon grass underpinnings is seasoned with lime juice and cilantro,
with a nice spicy flavor. Tom kah is similar, though its coconut
milk base is clearly evident, adding a tinge of tropical sweetening. Pot
Pan’s wonton soup is lighter, more open in flavor and a bit more
ephemeral then the Chinese version.
Main course choices include salad-sized entrees such as nam sod
which brings chunks of steamed chicken white meat together with hot dried
pepper flakes, lime juice, fresh grated ginger and other tastes on a bed
of romaine lettuce. More substantial selections include delicious garlic
chicken or shrimp with a complexity of tastes in addition to the evident
garlic seasoning. Spicy grilled eggplant can be in a vegetarian version
with or without tofu, or in the standard edition with chicken or shrimp.
Basil and sweet peppers combined with more fiery peppers add to the complexities.
I have not forgotten the pad Thai, the favorite of most diners.
The Pot Pan version is quite good, if a bit gummy and a little sweet.
The fairly extensive menu lists other noodle entrees, as well as those
without meats, and a trio of curries. You won’t spend more than
$10 a person, unless you really want to gild the Thai lily.
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