Restaurant Review: Beet

Beet (or beet, in that stylish lower-case style so many restaurants seem to be adopting these days) is a chic, beautifully designed Thai restaurant that is as narrow as a hole-in-the-wall joint, but looks like a stylish lounge.  Indeed, with the large selection of liquor, this wouldn’t be a bad place to hang out on a drunken evening, but the real draw here is the incredibly cheap, multi-course lunch menu.

Chris and I stopped by on a hut summer day recently, so I could fill out my job application for Barnes and Noble (no joke), and our thirst was soon quenched by the delicious Thai Iced Coffee with cream and sugar, $2.  It is rich and delicious and provides a nice contrast to the flavorful cuisine.

We’re both sort of trying to stop eating meat, but not doing a very good job of it.  When we go out to restaurants, if the vegetarian options all sound lousy, we’ll eat a piece of meat, let’s say.  But there were plenty of choices — vegetable-only, tofu and seitan were all offered in various Thai styles.  Chris and I chose to go with seitan, mine with pad thai and Chris’ done in the Spicy Basil style.  The fake meat seitan, it should be noted, can vary widely in texture and flavor according to how it’s prepared and so forth.  That said, I’ve had better than what I had here.  The appearance was very meat-like, but the flavor was not very appealing to my taste.  Chris, however, enjoyed it thoroughly, and polished off the pieces I didn’t eat.  The pad thai was just dandy, perfect comfort food, and Chris’ Spicy Basil preparation was delicious, with fresh vegetables freshening the powerful dish.

I enjoyed the large number of dishes that were served before and with the entree: a salad with peanut sauce, a cup of the soup of the day (ours was a delicate broth with bits of tofu), a spring roll and rice.  The plating was lovely, and fit in perfectly with the slick decor.  The most amazing part of the evening, however, was when I visited the restroom and saw the craziest sink I’ve ever seen.  You have to see it for yourself.

The lunch special is offered from 12:00pm - 3:30pm, Monday through Friday (except holidays), and they range from $6-8 for a multi-course meal.  Go forth, for some not-entirely-authentic, but still satisfying and fun, Thai experience.

http://www.beetthai.com