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I was near Sheridan and Irving Park this evening and decided to get some take-out from TAC Quick in the post-Andy era. Good restaurants can survive with a chef turnover. And TAC Quick is an excellent restaurant.

I ordered two specials that I had not had previously (I don't know if they were previously on a rotating list of specials): Brisket with Basil and Prik Khing with Crispy Pork Belly. Both were excellent, as fine as any take-out I have had from TAC, and had I not known that Andy had left I would not have guessed. He must have trained his staff well. The Prik Khing, a red Thai curry, had a lot of good heat and the pork was nicely crispy. The brisket was not as spicy hot, but very moist and flavorful.

So far, so good, TAC Quick.

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Toast, as every breakfaster knows, isn't really about the quality of the bread or how it's sliced or even the toaster. For man cannot live by toast alone. It's all about the butter. -- Adam Gopnik

Dinner Monday night at TAC Quick was pretty good, but in my opinion well below the level I had grown accustomed too. There were a couple of major train wrecks in fact. First, the sticky rice was actually wet and sticky, not at all how it should be served. The idea with sticky rice is to lightly squeeze a ball of it with your fingers and dip it in your sauce/food. But when you tried to pick up this rice with your fingers, it was too moist and just stuck to your hands. The Isaan sausage was also a big disappointment, very much (and surprisingly) lacking in flavor.

The nam tok preparation was particularly odd, featuring a garden's worth of mint, many spinach leaves and unripe tomatoes. A duck curry dish was decent, but I found the curry to be a little too much on the sweet side. However, I hadn't tried this dish at TAC before so I can't say if it's changed.

But don't let me leave you with the impression that everything was off. Crispy On Choy was generally on target, if perhaps slightly unbalanced towards sour. Pad Thai in Omelet was also close to its usual self, except that the omelet part itself might have been a tad overcooked (really minor issue though). Kra Phrao Kai Khai Yeow Ma (minced chicken, crispy fried basil, preserved egg) may have been the best of the bunch and pretty much as good as ever.