For Spicy Dates With A Sweet Tooth

Dark mahogany tables fill the rectangular space, adding a warmth to this sparsely-decorated restaurant. Soft music and dim lights invite you in — this is a relaxing date place with a modern touch. I half-expected the wait staff to be aloof and mellow but they were, in fact, quite friendly.

When I went last Saturday, they had a good number of patrons but were not crowded (and therefore, the din of conversation never reached an annoying roar). I guess not enough people know Thai Essence exists. It seems like one of those places you prefer to keep to yourself. But, I’ve got a duty to let you in on the secret: It’s wonderful.

Thai food, I’ve been told, is meant to be shared, so we ordered several dishes and shared at abandon. Starting with the green papaya salad (which, oddly enough is not listed on their lunch menu), we noted that the papaya was fresh and crispy, with just enough lime to complement the spices. Green papaya salad should have a good bite to it, and that it did. I almost didn’t want to share, but it actually can be filling, perhaps because of the “heat”.

They have a lot of entrees to choose from, from noodle dishes, curries, and fried rice, to sauteed and grilled meats. We opted for the pad thai, a staple at any Thai restaurant, red curry beef, pad see ew (flat rice noodle with black soy sauce; I had never had this before) and pad kee mao (flat rice noodle with hot pepper). I tried them all, and I can honestly tell you none of them fell flat, although two had their weaknesses.

The pad thai, in fact, was so enjoyable, I think this is now my favorite spot for it; quite an accomplishment. The noodles were sauteed sweet, with crunchy bean sprouts, shrimp and peanuts. This is not a spicy dish, for you tame-tongued folk. The pad kee mao, on the other hand, was definitely spicy, but the texture of the broad noodles held their own flavor, balancing it out. The only drawback is that it was supposed to contain chicken, shrimp and scallops; I found one scallop. But that was really the only downside, especially since I had never seen this dish with scallops and had been looking forward to them.

The pad see ew was different - it had almost a celery-like flavor, which I found tolerable. The person who ordered it (a “steak & potatoes”-type pallete), however, really enjoyed it. My favorite, though, was the red curry beef. The beef was tender, and the curry sauce was out-of-this-world delicious that lingered long after we finished it. I can’t wait to have it again, and if you like a curry that is spicy, this is it.

For those of you with children (my condolences), they do have a kid-friendly menu with typical items such as chicken fingers with french fries, hot dogs, etc.

I don’t know how, but I left without trying any dessert! Most of my dessert experiences at Thai restaurants are limited to three options: mango with sweet sticky rice, red bean ice cream, or green tea ice cream. Here, however, they have warm chocolate Grand Marnier souffle, warm apple crepes with raspberry sorbet, fried honey banana with ice cream (or sticky rice with ice cream) fried ice cream, or creme brulee. This is where the French influence in Thai cuisine enters again, (there’s touches of it elsewhere, too) - fine by me. Just wish I could tell you how they tasted.

All in all, after sharing the dishes, I was satisfied, but didn’t leave feeling bloated and overfull, which is a nice way to end a date.

Thai Essence
231 Franklin Ave
Nutley
(973) 542-0128
http://www.tessencenj.com/

— by Donna M.
Donna is both a Jersey native and recent transplant from NYC. She is executive editor and a co-founder of GoOutJersey.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!