Hazel is a family friend I've known forever. She and my mom worked together from the time I was about 12 years old. Hazel is very much an adventurer, and when she retired she moved to Colorado, then Montana, then back to Winchester, VA. She's now living in a retirement community in Westminster, MD. So my parents and I drove out there to visit with her.
Westminster is a small town in western Maryland, about 45 minutes northwest of Baltimore. We drove around downtown, which is a very cute area with some cobblestone streets, old buildings, and I'm pretty sure people who live there have been there their entire lives. It kind of reminds me of downtown Annapolis.
I had looked online for places to eat, and came across Tim Thai. When I found it on TripAdvisor, it was called Thai Classic, but then I learned that it had recently changed names. It had gotten great reviews, and was listed as the #3 restaurant in the area.
Yep, you can bring in your own alcohol! That way the restaurant doesn't have to get a liquor license.
It's a very small restaurant, seating about 45. Wood floors, dark walls and furniture. It actually probably makes the place look even smaller than it is. But they do have brightly colored photos of Thailand on the walls. There were only 3 staff working, and I'm pretty sure they were all family. The wife was the hostess, husband was cooking, and son was the server. They spoke broken English, but it was good enough to understand easily.
When we arrived there were just a few other tables there, and over the course of the meal more and more people arrived. McDaniel College is only a few miles away, and they offer a discount for faculty/staff/students. I'm sure during the school year this place is packed for lunch.
They have a small lunch menu, which works really well for me. And all the dishes come with soup/salad and an egg roll.
My mom got the soup. It came out screaming hot, and you could see the steam. I tasted it and it was very good, but a little salty. It had tons of veggies in it.
My dad and I both got the salad. I liked the presentation, with the cucumber and tomato on top. It wasn't a large salad, but that's really okay. The dressing was their house, homemade dressing. I liked it, and they gave you just enough for the salad. The spring roll was freshly made, crispy and delicious. I also enjoyed the dipping sauce for the spring roll.
As we were deciding what to order, a guy at the table next to us recommended the drunken noodles. He said he didn't want to bother us, but he gets it weekly and wanted to make sure we had a good experience. I love people like that! You won't see that happening in a big city. I had already been thinking about getting it, and this solidified my decision. My parents got it with tofu, and I got mine with pork
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| Sautéed with wide rice noodles and sweet basil leaves in chili and garlic sauce. |
I'm not a huge fan of tofu, but I tried a bite of my dad's and it was really good. The saute adds a lot of flavor. My mom said that theirs was a little overdone. Not sure if the wok was too hot, or it stayed on too long. You can see the significant color difference from the pictures. Mine was excellent. It had so much flavor from the spices. The pork was cooked just a touch too long, but the flavor was really good. I do wish mine had more veggies like my parents did. I only had onions and red peppers, and they had beans, broccoli and carrots. Never thought I would ever say this, but I would get the tofu next time.
I really have no reason to go to Westminster other than to visit Hazel. But next time we go, this is where we're going for lunch.
