Dine on Nine: Thai Bamboo

My review of Thai Bamboo is the latest entry for a series of reviews I am calling Dine on Nine.  Route 9 goes all across the south of Vermont and is lined with several communities between Bennington and Brattleboro.  People from all walks of life end up on this little stretch of highway, and there are not just fun diners, drive ins and dives, but fine dining establishments offering up classic as well as innovative fare.  Some may be a few hundred yards off the highway, up a little lane, and those may end up providing the best meal you or I have ever had.

At the corner of Main and High Streets in Brattleboro, nestled in beside Pliny Park, Thai Bamboo is serving Thai food of good quality.

I like most of the Thai food I've been served in the U.S. and Thai Bamboo is no exception. The menu is full of the classic Thai specialties so there are the soups and salads, the curries and the noodles and the rice dishes. There is a list of a dozen or so chef's selections that I'm currently tasting.

Little touches

Most of my visits to Thai Bamboo have been at lunch time, so I have been tasting my way through the lunch menu, selecting from the different groupings. My sense is that Thai Bamboo is going to serve a bit thicker sauce, and make things a bit more sweet than other Thai restaurants in the northeast. So if there's coconut milk in the recipe, it will be a bit more in quanitity and a bit thicker, such as in their Thai curries.  I find them quite delicious once I become accustomed to this difference. I don't know whether it's a regional difference or simply the chef's preference.

Light beginning to a lunch special

Each time I have made my visits, the service has been polite and professional with the occasional slip up. I went with a rather large party of 20 or so people during a Slow Living Summit event, and one person at the table wasn't served until all others were done eating, so every restaurant staff has its weak points, and sometimes the back of the house can't provide the service that the front of the house would wish.

Beef Macadamia, except with cashews

On a recent visit I tried the beef with macadamia nuts and enjoyed the plentiful marinated beef and also was mystified that there were no macadamia nuts. The kitchen substituted cashew nuts and said nothing. No restaurant should do something like this, however sometimes the back of the house just doesn't get it.

In summary, it's a lovely place to have a Thai meal in Brattleboro, and the good service should make it a pleasant enough visit as well.  You may encounter a weak spot or a bit of unprofessional behavior, and you'll have to decide how you respond if it happens to you. 

I'll continue to have my lunches at Thai Bamboo, but I'm also exploring that Thai food truck up at the roundabout on Putney road.