#78 - Thai Chili, Southlake, TX

My parents and I stayed for an extra night after the bowl game.  There was no reason to rush back, plus I wanted to do some shopping at Grapevine Mills, which was about a mile from the team hotel.  I love that mall, but I hate that even though it's technically an outlet, mos tof the stores don't really have "outlet prices".  I find that it's kind of that way in all outlets these days.  When we first got to the mall I was on a shopping mission, ready to buy out everything.  But a couple hours in I was tired and annoyed because I hardly found anything I wanted.  For the rest of the afternoon I hung out with Bob, Joni and a few other friends, watching basketball and relaxing.  And then eventually it was time for dinner. 

Southlake Town Square is about 10 minutes from the team hotel.  It's spread out over a pretty big area, and has pretty much everything you need...lots of shopping and restaurants, as well as a huge Central Market.  I've already done a post about Campania Pizza which is in the same Town Square. 

My parents and I love Thai food, so I was really happy to find Thai Chili on the list of restaurants .  We got there after 8pm so the area was kind of dead, but there were still 3 other tables of guests in the restaurant.  It's not very big, maybe 20 total tables.  There's a full bar to the left as you walk in, and an outdoor patio with about 10 more tables as well.

We were super hungry, so decided to start with the veggie basil rolls

Mixed Vegetables, basil & rice noodle wrapped with rice paper served with our special sauce

The rolls were cold, which I wasn't really expecting.  And the open presentation was very interesting, but I liked the idea so you could see exactly what you were biting into.  But they were crisp, light, refreshing and delicious.  I mixed up the sauce, and then realized that the red stuff on the right would probably be super hot, which wouldn't be good for my dad.  But he tasted it and didn't break out in huge beads of sweat, so all was good.  The sauce was really good as well.  The siracha sauce definitely added a kick, but the ginger kind of evened it out.

For dinner I went with the drunken noodles with beef.

Spicy seasoned flat noodle stir-fried with chicken, bell peppers, and onions in basil sauce

Their dishes come in levels 1-5 for spiciness, so I ordered a level 3.  I think there was a language barrier between me and the waiter, because I swear it came out as a level 7, which isn't even on the menu.  

The dish was really, really good, but after the first bite I had to guzzle the rest of my water because my mouth was absolutely on fire.   Not only was it spice hot, but temperature hot too.  The sauce had amazing flavor, and the beef was super tender.  Not sure if the carrots and cabbage was meant to just be garnish, but I used them to help cool down my mouth.  That and constantly having the waiter refill my glass. 

Will I go back?  Definitely.  The staff was so friendly and welcoming, the food was delicious, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere.  Hopefully next time I'm there it will be great weather and we can eat out on the patio.