Thai Bistro in Tellico Village is a gem of an Asian food restaurant | Grub Scout
The Grub Spouse and I and a couple of friends had tickets to see another friend perform in a show at the Tellico Community Playhouse recently. That gave me the brilliant idea to kill two birds with one stone by going out to dinner at Thai Bistro, a Tellico Village restaurant, before the show and reporting back to you guys.
It was a Friday night, and we had no reservations. They seemed to be doing a reasonably brisk business that evening, but there were still plenty of available tables. I surmised that some of the patrons on hand were perhaps like us, stopping by for some pre-show grub before heading to the theater, which is very close to the restaurant.
I quickly surmised, however, that Thai Bistro was short-staffed. Only two servers were covering the whole place, which resulted in us not getting seated for a good five minutes and then not getting our order taken for nearly another half-hour. One of the servers was visibly stressed, but the other one eventually landed at our table with sincere apologies and took our orders.
We were all very hungry — so hungry, in fact, that we all had trouble deciding what to get. Everything on the menu sounded good. There were familiar Asian-food appetizers like spring rolls, crab rangoon and pot stickers as well as soups like tom yum, won ton and egg drop. We also spotted a handful of salads, but in the interest of time — and the fact that we weren’t equipped to save leftovers — we skipped the starters.
The rest of the menu is divided into multiple categories, most of which feature Thai dishes and many of which already include a specific type of protein. Otherwise, where indicated, chicken, pork, beef or tofu can be added to any base meal.
One section, called Thai Dishes, had several contenders, including the cashew nut special, which I gave serious thought to. One of our friends ordered the Bangkok Chicken ($15.95), made with breaded, stir-fried meat and served with white rice. He got the medium spice level.
I was also tempted by the Thai Curry options, all of which are cooked in coconut milk. Elsewhere, I spotted a trio of fried-rice meals that none of us gave serious consideration to. Chef Specials included salmon teriyaki, pad prik tilapia, Double Delight (chicken and shrimp sauteed in sweet chili sauce) and Chili James Mussels.
The Spouse ordered from the Chinese Cuisine section, choosing the Hunan Beef ($15.95) over familiar plates like General Tso’s Chicken, sesame chicken and kung pao chicken. That dish is served with white rice. In the Noodles category, our other friend got the Pad Thai ($15.95), adding chicken to the base of rice noodles, egg, bean sprouts, scallions and peanuts.
From that same section, I got the pad woonsen ($16.95) — stir-fried glass bean threads with baby corn, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, snow peas, scallions, egg and onions. I added chicken to my meal and requested “Thai hot” as my spice level.
We were fortunate that the kitchen wasn’t as in the weeds as the floor staff. Our server brought our meals out after a surprisingly brief wait. He offered more apologies about our previous delays, although at that point, it was a moot issue. We had food. We wouldn’t miss the opening of our show.
I’m also happy to say that the food was a delicious payoff. Everyone, including yours truly, had very positive things to say about their orders, all of which I got to sample along the way. My pad woonsen was a symphony of flavors and textures, and the spice level was just right — not painful but powerful enough to clear my sinuses really well. The Pad Thai was similarly good though not as spicy, and I loved the combo of the Bangkok Chicken’s sweet-and-sour sauce and stir-fried meat. The Spouse’s Hunan Beef also did not disappoint, and the white rice was wonderfully sticky.
We had no time for a dessert (mango sticky rice, fried banana, chocolate lava cake, etc.), but between the quality of the food and the more-than-fair prices, I left thinking that Thai Bistro is a solid choice for you folks living in the Village or even the Lenoir City area. Hopefully, they’ll be able to shore up their staffing issues going forward; I’d hate to see the curtain go down on this Asian-food gem.
Thai Bistro
Food: 4.5
Service: 3.5
Atmosphere: 3.75
Overall: 4.25
Address: 222 Lakeside Plaza, Loudon
Phone: 865-657-6440
Beer service only
Department of Health score: 95
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays
Loudon County residents should enjoy this Thai-food eatery in the heart of Tellico Village.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Thai Bistro in Tellico Village is an Asian food gem | Grub Scout
