Restaurant Name: Thai Essence
Location: 1534 Win Hentschel Blvd., West Lafayette, IN (map it)
Phone: (765) 269-9380
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Cuisine: Thai
Review: Thai Essence is a new restaurant in West Lafayette, owned by the same people who own Basil Thai in Chauncy Village. This one isn’t so close to campus and is classified as more “upscale” so I was really excited to try it out. I would like to begin by saying it was the best Thai food I’ve ever had in my life. Seriously, stop reading this and go eat there. Now.
What? Why are you still reading this?
Okay, okay, if you must have a review. The restaurant is situated in a nice little strip mall on the west side right off Sagamore Parkway on Win Hershel Blvd. It was classified as “upscale” and I was not disappointed. The restaurant was lovely and exceptionally clean. The tables were neatly arranged and the chairs were comfy and made of leather (or faux leather, I’m really bad at telling the difference.) Unlike other restaurants, this one was bright and cheery, with lots of natural light filtering in the windows. It’s definitely upscale, but not at all pretentious. Very classy.
It wasn’t busy when we arrived, so we were seated immediately and given menus. The menu offered meals that included curry, a large selection of rice meals, and a smaller selection of noodle dishes and even some desserts. My only disappointment was that there were no appetizers on the lunch menu. I am a sucker for appetizers.
I ordered the Pad See Ew with chicken, and my dining companion got the Pad Thai. The food came out quickly and piping hot, clearly freshly made. And if I didn’t make it clear earlier, for those of you who chose to keep reading and not run directly to Thai Essence, is that it was the BEST pad see ew I’ve ever had anywhere. My companion was equally as pleased with his pad thai.
The service was fine. The waiter took our order right away, brought out drink refills when he noticed we were low, but did not hover or make small talk. Quiet, but attentive.
This is definitely a place I will go again. And again.
Update: And I did go again. And it was even better than the first time. The dinner menu has an entire page of appetizers. We ordered the Moo Ping and something else (the name escapes me) that the server described as shrimp in a blanket. Except it wasn’t quite like that; it was AWESOME. Moo Ping is some kind of pork skewer with sauce. Very tasty. All four of us went nuts for our food, it was crazy good and of course, piping hot. The service was excellent as well – not hovering over us, but always there for anything we needed. Again, an excellent experience and I really want eat there for every meal. (And the house Chardonnay was only $4.50 per glass.)
Kid Friendly: Sort of. Although it’s classified as upscale, I wouldn’t feel at all uncomfortable bringing my children here. However, I did not see a children’s menu, so if your kids don’t like rice or noodles, you may want to leave them at home for this one
Methods of Payment: Cash or Credit.
Related Sites: Journal & Courier Article
(4.86 out of 5)
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree! My husband and I have been to Thai Essence three or four times now and have never been disappointed! The ice cream sampler is a must. The ice creams are homemade and the flavors unlike anything I’ve ever tried (ginger, taro, honeydew, lychee, and tea). Also the Basil Rolls are soooooooooo good!
One of our favorite places for dinner! Even my 16 year old son (a notoriously picky eater) cleaned his plate! We like the Pad Thai, too. We focused on the meat and left most of the rice, and after the server cleared the table, the owner came out to see why we’d returned most of the rice. We said we had no complaint, but just preferred brown rice. He said he’d been wanting to add brown rice, but needed to know clients would like it.
Another vote for the ice cream sampler for dessert!
I can say that it’s the best in Indiana. We are so lucky to have Thai Essence here in town.
This is the BEST restaurant in town. No others even compare.
This is definitely my favorite place to eat in the Greater Lafayette area. Superb food, good service, and a pleasant dining room. I’ll add my vote for the ice cream sampler too.
The last time I was there with my nieces the owner came out and had us sample a new flavor of ice cream for him. It turns out they make all their own ice cream!
A great place!
Great restaurant! Friendly attentive service, and wonderful food. I had the red curry with tofu and my only complaint was that the tofu was sliced too big, but everything else was so great that complaining about the tofu slicing seems petty
And the jasmine chrysanthemum tea was brilliant. I drank 3 cups and could have had more! Would love to go more often but it’s SOOO far out of my way living in Lafayette and a little too pricey for a poor college student but definitely a place to frequent if you can.
Fantastic place – one of my new favorites! I’m just starting work my way through the menu. I love the curries, with my favorite being red. Being predominately vegetarian I love the tofu – I consider it the best tofu I’ve ever had. I love that most dishes allow you a choice of beef, chicken, shrimp or tofu. The only thing that could make this place better is if you could pick your sauce, pick your veges, and pick your noodles or rice (they currently only have white).
The deserts are wonderful – I’ve tried the ice-cream sampler (wonderful) and the fried ice-cream sitting in a plateful of strawberry sauce – fantastic. Next up will be the mango/rice pudding. I would have had it today, but they weren’t happy with the ripeness of the mangos so wouldn’t serve it!
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