Friday, April 19, 2013

To Dine or Not To Dine...

This weeks restaurant Sonora's Thai Cuisine...

Never one for to turn down a meal -my figure can attest to that- I once again find myself with a good friend that would like to treat me to lunch. After a calm tea at Heart Rock Cafe on Washington Street  in downtown Sonora its just a hop-ski and a jump to Sonora's Thai Cuisine.

Having not indulged in Thai food, suprising I know, I was a bit leary at first. I had heard that Thai food can be quite spicey...but none-the-less I found myself comfortably sitting at a table for two in a rustic style setting. The style was goldrush meets Thailand as the art and knick knacks were clearly Thai inspired yet the wooden floors and high tinned ceilings were from a time period long ago. Somehow it worked.

The menu was what I considered to be an eclectic array of odd combinations of foods. Chicken in coconut milk? Never had I thought to combine the two. The list of those combinations goes on and on, yet each one seemed to be tantalizingly more desirable as I put some thought into what they might taste like. This adventure was opening up a whole new culinary world for me.


I was assured that I could dine quite comfortably on non-spicy food and allowed my friend to order. Its quite interesting listening to an English speaking person order in what I perceived to be fluent Thai. Quite impressed.

The  first course was a light shredded salad with a peanut ginger dressing. If I could have licked the bowl I probably would have. Delicious. Next up a chicken lightly steamed with a lemon glaze of sorts to be dipped in yet another peanut concoction served with crisp seasonal vegetables. Though the servings were small I was actually getting full. Add some incredibly rich brown rice and I was almost topped off. Yet the main portion had yet to be comsumed....the chicken in coconut milk soup. Yup, I was feeling adventurous.

After two servings of the scrumptious soup I was sure that a nap was in order. But alas...no napping chairs were available in this establishment.

I did have a chance to peak at the bill and for all that we ate, filling two tummys, the total tab was just over $20! An incredible price for a perfect meal.

The surroundings are a bit noisy as the older building doesn't do much to diffuse sound and the chairs were a bit uncomfortable, but the cuisine was spectacular and the price was beyond reasonable.

I will be back to experience more items on their menu.

By,
Charity Maness

(My little disclaimer:  'To dine or not to dine' is meant to be a helpful - and humorous - informational piece only. I receive no monetary compensation for this column nor do I endorse any one eatery. This is simply my opinion. My tastes will be different from others and I readily admit that I have no culinary background, but I am fairly confident I know when food is cooked correctly or not, whether a drink is poured well or not and especially whether wait staff is first-rate or in need of a career change.)