The restaurant we ate lunch at today was absolutely amazing. Sikhay Thai Lao was not at all what I was expecting from southeast Asian food, in the best way possible. I had never eaten Thai food before, even though there’s a restaurant right in my hometown that I pass every day. The flavors were so unique and authentic and everything was so carefully crafted that you couldn’t help but enjoy it.
It’s easy to simply order something familiar when dining out, but trying new things can lead to a new favorite dish! Their menu included many things that could be deemed heart healthy, and had plenty of room for substitutions in other dishes that could become heart healthy. For example, their salads had a lot of variety with many veggies and add-ins. The cucumber salad and papaya salad seem especially good, as well as the spicy mixed vegetable salad. These are much different than the same old house salad at most restaurants and can spice up a healthy choice.
Many of the other entrees have a choice aspect- the customer can choose which kind of protein to add, if any, and between white or brown rice (though brown rice was $2 extra). A lean protein source like chicken, shrimp, or tofu with a veggie stir fry and brown rice would be an excellent choice! Even pad Thai with extra vegetables can be heart healthy. However, portion size comes into play here: at this restaurant at least, most of our dishes were at least two servings. In fact, I took half of a red curry home and turned it into dinner for three!
Lots of the appetizers were fried and wouldn’t fit well into a heart healthy diet- even though the crab rangoon was fantastic- but edamame would be a great starter to share.
All in all, it isn’t difficult to make southeast Asian food that’s delicious and healthy. In fact, the food was so good that Peyton (another intern) and I have already planned a second trip!
