Thai Angel Restaurant :: 1812 Vets Highway, Islandia

We’re back! And we’ve ventured outside of Smithtown. This time to the Thai Angel Restaurant in Islandia. It’s tucked into the outdoor mall on Vets Highway in Islandia (next to the Walmart and Dave & Busters)  and nestled in a corner with confusing signage that hangs over the Radio Shack sign. It’s easy to miss.

Jennifer ate:

Spicy Noodle with tofu from the lunch menu — ($10.95)
Thai Iced Tea (a must-have with any Thai dish) — ($2.50)

I’m just going to start out with “yum”. And not just because I love Thai food (I do).

It’s easy to miss Thai Angel because of the way the mall is laid out, so keep your eyes open, you don’t want to miss this place. There’s a bar when you first walk in which, during lunch, has several bored-looking people standing around waiting for their to-go orders. Once you’re seated, the large dining room has high ceilings, deep red walls with gold-painted Thai goddesses, and beautiful solid wood high-backed chairs that I liked, but Chuck and Aaron didn’t.

Of course, before I go on, I must mention the temperature. I know it’s cold outside (in the 20s) but come on. That means you have to better heat the inside. The restaurant was freezing cold inside! Cold enough so that you can barely feel your fingertips and your food cools more quickly than you can eat it. Even the guys were cold. Moving on…

The lunch menu has a nice selection of offerings and come with soup or spring roll and Thai salad. The Thai salad came out first and was yummy! The peanut dressing is usually good, but this one was spicy as well, which I enjoyed. Next came the vegetable spring rolls, which were delicious. Probably because they were fried. But the light sauce they sat in was also very tasty.

I’m glad I saved my Thai Iced tea for the main dish though, because it was perfectly spicy and the tea takes the sting out. The broad rice noodles were super and the veggies were perfect. I wish I knew how they are able to make their tofu so crispy and tasty. It was outstanding. I would have liked a few more veggies, maybe a bit more tomato and basil, but the overall flavor was delicious. Really, really good. I will probably be craving this again tomorrow.

The bottom line:

Spicy Noodle with tofu – so yummy.
Thai Iced Tea – perfect.
Overall rating: Gotta go! Now! Go. Really, really good. Just bring a warm coat. And maybe gloves.

Chuck ate:

Chicken Pad Thai from the lunch menu ($10.95)

Ok, first things first. Thai Angel is a really nice looking place with rich color on the walls, Asian decorations and appointments, and clean spacious bathrooms. It was a bit cold in the restaurant though. In regards to the chairs, while they looked nice, they were incredibly uncomfortable. They felt similar to pew seating, not concave scallops to hug your hiney, just flat wood.

However, we didn’t come here to talk about chairs, we came to eat. And eat we did. The salad was good and spicy (which was surprising), but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Next was the clear noodle soup which was also good but I would have liked some more noodles in it (it was a bit veggie-heavy for my tastes — Jen would have liked it though ;P). The meal arrived quickly and on large, leaf-shaped plates — a very nice, subtle touch. I usually like trying something different, but since this was the first time here, I figured I would go with the safe bet and order the Chicken Pad Thai. Boy, was this a good move! The Pad Thai was excellent. Just the right amount of spicy (for me) with generous amounts of finely chopped chicken, noodles and veggies. I ate the entire plate and felt satisfied (not full).

The bottom line:

Chicken Pad Thai — Excellent flavor and a generous portion.
Overall rating: Excellent food and decor, just bring along a cushion.