Thadapetch

ABOUT AND BEYOND
Thad da Petch
1910 South 5th St
Leesville LA
337-239-6222
11:00 AM - 9:30 PM Seven days a week $1 to $14
I have previously taken you to a venue in DeRidder. A bit further up 171 lies another excellent place. The menus are similar but the cooking is not. Each chef has a different touch. Personally I like the food here a tad better. It seems lighter and fresher. Like the other located by a hotel except in this case attached to it. A pleasant but plain dinning area awaits you. If you go in on a Saturday the chef/owner may even be waiting on you
First time in occurred with my food board friend and her husband my engineer friend. We got a few appetizers. First one was Curry Puff. Potatoes, onions and peas in a fried won ton skin. They serve it with cucumber slices in a sweet marinade, similar to Indian samosa and very tasty. Next we ordered Prawns in a Blanket. Marinated shrimp wrapped in a spring roll skin and fried. It came with a sweet and sour sauce. Sweet shrimp interior and crunchy exterior contrasted well. My food board friend ordered Gaeng Maas-sa-mahn. This curry of beef with onions, peanuts and potato with coconut milk was basically a very good beef stew. Everything was fork tender and flavorful in a new and wonderful way. My engineer friend got Ped Kroh. A boneless half duck topped with a sweet sauce. Crisp skin and succulent duck meat cut width way into strips. A tomato and honey sauce covered it. Better than any Peking duck I have eaten. My dish was Pla Raad Prik. Deep-fried snapper filet topped with sautéed bell pepper, onion and green onions in a spicy chile broth. Epitome of the Thai blending of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty and to my taste. For dessert we went with the ubiquitous Mango and Sweet Rice, sweet
Second and last time our baking friend and my sister joined us. My food board friend and me started off with Tom Ka (soup). I got shrimp and she chicken. This is a sweet and sour soup finished off with coconut milk. It contains the protein, mushrooms, galangal (ginger related), onion, lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaves, chile, and lime juice. Again the balance of taste extraordinary. For entree our food board friend ordered Gaeng Panang. A red curry of beef, bell pepper, coconut milk, Kaffir lime leaves and basil. My taste detected a peanut component. It was spicy with an underlying richness. Our engineer friend got Choo Che Pla Dook. Fried catfish with bell pepper, Kaffir lime leaves and choo che paste. This seemed to be a spicy red curry with fried catfish nuggets, excellent combination. Our baking friend got the duck dish. Just as good as the first time. My sister went with Pad Dra Tiem Prik Tai. Sauteed pork with garlic and black pepper with steamed broccoli and carrot. Excellent mild stir fry with deep pork flavor. I went with Pla Raad Khing Sod. Again a fried snapper fillet but this time in a soya-based sauce with fresh ginger, onion, mushroom and bell pepper. It possessed superb flavor and a nice contrast between sauce, fish and vegetables.
The plates here are wonderful. Each one more artistic than the other. I just wish we could get one closer to Lake Charles so I could go more often.

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