Afternoon Delight

Updated 8/26/10: We visited Siam Delight last week and had a very different experience. Gummy pad thai and a much smaller portion for the same price. A friend of ours had a similar experience, so we’re guessing the restaurant has changed hands. We recommend you try Sawasdee in Danvers instead.

With signs of spring still few and far between, we decided to perk ourselves up with an indulgent lunch at our favorite Thai restaurant, Beverly’s Siam Delight. It did not disappoint, and we left with pleasantly full bellies and a lighter step.

The pretty green walls, warm wood, and whimsical lighting in this restaurant are somewhat unexpected given its location next to a dry cleaner on Cabot Street. Locals are certainly not fooled, as evidenced by the full dining room and long take-out line at lunch.

The food at Siam is consistently terrific—fresh and flavorful, and they never use MSG. We tried several new dishes on this visit and enjoyed all but one. First though, from previous meals we highly recommend the pad thai (well balanced sauce, good noodle texture, plentiful chicken and shrimp), and the duck green curry (just the right amount of heat and lots of sauce to coat the rice).

We started our lunch with shrimp in a blanket ($6) but weren’t crazy about the texture of the minced shrimp and fish inside the crispy shell. We had no complaints about our entrees, starting with the homestyle duck ($8) featuring boneless slices of tender meat, crisp-cooked vegetables, and a tasty sauce. The large plate of food came with a good-sized mound of white rice—an excellent value.

Longing for summer, we couldn’t resist ordering a dish named noodles on the beach and were glad we did. The wide noodles were succulent, and the sauce clinging to them and the vegetables featured a wonderful spicy basil flavor ($7.50). Our third dish was also a hit: beef magic fried rice. We don’t know about the magic, but the marinated beef, green peppers, basil, and plump rice grains made an addictive combination.

Siam Delight just celebrated its tenth year in business, and it’s easy to understand their staying power. With great food at reasonable prices, it’s our bet they’ll be delighting diners for many years to come.

Siam Delight
128 Cabot Street, Beverly
(978) 922-8514
www.nvo.com/siamdelight



Wrap it Up

Sure, it’s a chain, but we felt compelled to check out the PF Chang’s that just opened at the North Shore Mall. Asian food with a twist is one of our all-time favorites, and Chang’s did not disappoint.

The decor is inviting and comfortable, modern with a nod toward Chinese cultural roots. We found the lighting on the dark side at lunch, however. The menu is well organized and interesting, with old favorites like Peking Dumplings, new items like Chang’s Wedge salad, and desserts that go beyond pineapple chunks to include banana spring rolls and adorable $2 mini desserts in tall shot glasses.

Overall, the food was delicious, obviously made with fresh ingredients by chefs that put an emphasis on flavor. We enjoyed the dumplings and won ton appetizers but went crazy over the chicken lettuce wraps. The filling is chopped chicken and water chestnuts in an excellent sauce that we scooped feverishly into lettuce leaves.

For entrees, we sampled the wok seared lamb, mu shu chicken, and fried rice. The lamb was tender and flavorful, and the fried rice had a wonderful ginger flavor. The mu shu was outstanding–far from the shredded cabbage version we’re used to. This had large chunks of lightly battered chicken and mushrooms, along with a nice selection of crisp-tender vegetables.

On the downside, the prices are fairly high for lunch (the mu shu was $11.50 and the lamb was $14), and the service, although friendly, suffered from severe green-ness. True, we were there with a big group for an office outing, but since the server had not marked which person ordered which dish (and didn’t recognize some of the dishes by sight), getting the food on the table was more comedy act than elegant ballet.

If you’re an Asian food lover and prefer light flavors to heavy sauces, we recommend giving Chang’s a try. Go for dinner, sit in one of the cozy-looking booths along the back wall, and order hot tea–it comes in a beautiful cast iron pot to cheer you and warm your hands on a frigid winter night.

P.F. Chang’s
Northshore Mall
210 Andover St. Peabody
(978) 326-2410
http://www.pfchangs.com/