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A Hidden Gem In New Tampa

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN

The menu at Ploy Thai includes scallops served with fried eggplant, green curry sauce and rice.

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 18, 2008

TAMPA - One step in the door and you'll feel like you've landed on another continent.

Tucked in a strip mall, the new Ploy Thai, open about two months, stands in stark contrast to the suburbia of New Tampa.

Wood paneling gives warmth to the cozy restaurant. A fountain floats flower petals in the middle of the dining room, and with reservations, one table offers guests a seat on cushions, with their legs dangling in a recessed cubby.

Candles and tea lights glow throughout the restaurant, fresh flowers accent the tables, and Thai fabrics - from the tablecloths to the traditional outfits worn by the wait staff - infuse Ploy Thai with texture, color and exoticism, much like the dishes served.

To get our taste buds in the mood, we started the evening with Thai iced tea. The smoky flavor of the tea and the sweetened condensed milk made it feel as if we were cheating with dessert first.

The Ploy Thai Sampler offered an introduction to the menu's appetizers, including plump shrimp fried in triangular pockets and standout Crab Rangoon. The best we've ever tasted, the Crab Rangoon was balanced with the flavors of cream cheese and curry. It was a wonderful surprise, as it's often a bland dish. We wanted more than the two on the sampler.

Having never ordered salad from a Thai restaurant, we felt it our duty to try one of the six choices on the menu. We ordered Larb Gai, minced ground chicken with ground toasted rice, lime juice, scallions and hot chili. Served in one of those four-serving-size margarita glasses you'd see at a bachelorette party, the salad rates high in terms of fun factor. Surrounded by cabbage leaves, the ground chicken with rice was addictive, with a light, nutty sauce.

Each dish can be made as spicy as the guest would like, our waiter told us. Because our party had varying degrees of pepper penchants, our waiter brought out a selection of sauces to add heat to each dish, including jalapenos, fish sauce with Thai peppers and crushed red pepper.

A nice complement to the salad is the chicken in cream of coconut soup, or Tom Kha Gai. Sliced chicken breast with cilantro, straw mushrooms and lemon grass in coconut milk provides a fragrant soup that leaves the mouth feeling all dressed up. The flavors made for a refreshing segue to our entrees.

Ploy Thai serves a variety of meats, from the standard beef and chicken to duck, as well as seafood. Ordering the King and Queen will get you steak and lobster tail. Emerald shrimp is served with fried eggplant and green curry sauce.

We went with some Thai standards, the Pad Thai, spicy tofu and Panang curry, each plated with an orchid and aesthetic attention to detail.

The spicy tofu was a little lacking in flavor, which could have been remedied with more sauce to complement the green beans, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and basil.

The Pad Thai was a hit, and the Panang chicken curry was outstanding. The coconut milk, Thai curry, basil, bell peppers, zucchini and chicken left me with one thought: More Panang, please.

Our stomachs were near bursting, but we had a birthday to celebrate. Ploy Thai's wait staff came from the kitchen beating Thai drums, singing a traditional Thai song and bearing a plate of doughnuts with a candle in them.

Dunking the finger-sized doughnuts into sweetened-condensed milk sauce topped off a wonderful evening out.

Ploy Thai, which also has a Brandon location, is run by Noi and Kay Saechia. The Thailand natives named their daughter Ploy, which means "little gem."

At this New Tampa restaurant, that's exactly what you'll find.

DINING REVIEW

Ploy Thai

BOTTOM LINE: Authentic Thai food in beautiful surroundings

WHERE: 10022 Cross Creek Blvd., Tampa

HOURS: Lunch, 11:30 to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon to 3 p.m. Saturday; dinner, 4:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 4:30-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

CREDIT CARDS: AE/DISC/MC/V

RESERVATIONS: Recommended, especially for Kontog table (pit seating with pillows)

CHILDREN'S MENU: Can accommodate

ALCOHOL: Beer and wine

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

PRICE: Dinner entrees range from $10.95 to $23.95.

CALL: (813) 991-0108

Tribune reviewers eat anonymously. Jamie Pilarczyk can be reached at (813) 259-7661 or jpilarczyk@tampatrib.com.

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