Being situated just across the alley from The King & I must be a mixed blessing for Thai Palace, 838 N. Old World Third St. While it faces the Hyatt Regency and has a high profile for folks headed toward the Bradley Center or Arena, it's got what many in the city consider the best Thai food in the city a few steps away.
But if you're neglecting Thai Palace, you're only depriving yourself. A recent visit to this almost undiscovered downtown gem, my companion and I feasted on a pair of sumptuous shrimp dishes in the Palace's, well, palatial interior. An understated exterior misleads guests, who will find a lavishly-decorated dining room that is much larger than it appears from the street.
The restaurant offers great people watching at its window tables and more intimate seating further back, across from the full-service bar.
We began our visit by deciding to focus on the Thai Palace's seafood selections. As they are the hardest dishes to prepare correctly and are staples of any Asian cuisine it always seems to be the best approach to sampling an unfamiliar restaurant's menu.
We ordered our favorite Thai appetizer, crispy squid ($5.95), to start and in mere moments were were brought a reasonably-sized oval dish covered with a shaved carrot garnish and deep-fried squid pieces, each about the size of a postage stamp, and a small dish of plum sauce. Though tasty and warm, the pieces were a bit tough, sparking some concern for our entree choices.
My dining companion ordered the volcano shrimp ($17.95), which arrived sizzling and in a delicious dark plum sauce. The very jumbo prawns were tender and succulent.
My own garlic shrimp ($14.95) were somewhat smaller but equally delicious. Although spicy, the garlic and black pepper sauce was not excessively garlicky (beware, this reviewer LOVES garlic!). By the time we finished we'd nearly forgotten about the less-than-perfect starter.
Of course, this being Thai cuisine in Milwaukee, we washed it all down with a two frosty bottles of Singha Thai beer.
Our server was friendly, efficient and attentive, although the dining room was not very busy during our visit.
Thai Palace also offers a lunch menu and buffet on weekdays from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Dinner is available -- eat in or take away -- Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday, 5-11 p.m. and Sunday 4-9 p.m. For reservations or more information, call Thai Palace at (414) 224-7076.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
