Legacy Thai Delivers Comfort in Feel, Food

Menu offers many choices at all levels of spice

Lawrence Karol Restaurants

 

Like everyone else, when I try out a restaurant I haven’t been to before, the quality of the food is paramount in my mind.

Yet a comfortably designed space can make all the difference between a nice dining experience and a great one.

Legacy Thai may not be the largest restaurant you’ll encounter, but it’s a very bright and happy place. Colorful oversized hanging glass lamp shades dot the ceiling and their blue, yellow, and orange tones complement the warm woods on the tables and walls (see photo below).

I also noticed a shelf with a row of Buddha statues off to my right as I entered the restaurant. They seemed to be welcoming me, and assuring me I was in for a pleasant experience.

If you have the chance to stop by for lunch, you can choose from 25 different dishes that are all served with steamed rice, Tom Kha Gai soup, and salad for just $8.95.

The salad is tossed in a light peanut dressing and the soup — made with chicken broth, coconut milk, and baby corn — gets just the perfect amount of spice from galangal, a root that’s often used in Thai, Indonesian, and Malaysian cooking.

On a recent visit, my dining companion and I opted for two traditional Thai dishes available on both the lunch and dinner menus. Pad See Ew — rice noodles, egg, broccoli, and chicken (or your choice of meat) in a sweet soy sauce — and Pad Thai.

As a test of sorts, my friend ordered the Pad Thai so that he could decide how Legacy Thai’s version held up against others he has tried. He gave it a definitive thumbs up, noting that it had a little more sauce than most but wasn’t at all soupy.

If you’re looking for something with more heat, our waitress recommended the Pad Prik King — stir-fried meat with prik king curry paste, long beans and lime leaves — and the Drunken Noodle, thick rice noodles stir fried with onions, scallions, bell pepper, Thai basil and your choice of meat in a chili sauce.

If you’re dining with friends who prefer more traditional Chinese-style dishes, there are many of those to choose from such as the Cashew, Sautéed Vegetables, or Sautéed Broccoli entrées.

There are so many choices. In fact, you could dine here many times without eating the same thing.

I’m pretty sure that as the Buddhas bid me farewell on my way out, they knew I would be back again soon.

Legacy Thai, 46520 Washington St., Suite 3, La Quinta, 760-771-1105