stevez wrote:Easily, the best place to see the menu is at the table right before you order.

Sage advice, though I'd add for ordering ideas this 180-post LTH thread is an excellent resource which I reviewed yesterday before the bride and I accompanied four nieces and nephews, who had been to Thailand, to Aroy for dinner.

Aroy was firing on all 12-cylinders, from Sai-ua/Issan sausage combo starter to perfect mango w/sticky rice finish. Tom Yam Beef Ball and Tender Soup group consensus highlight though one demure polite niece actually went 'prison style' on Choo Chi ground pork with over easy eggs wrapping an arm around the dish and glowering at anyone who came near.

A wonderful lingering meal paired w/Cotes du Rhone and sour beer.

Aroy Thai, Count me a Fan!

We were there Friday night and had another excellent experience. New-to-us dishes were the stir-fried morning glory pictured upthread and Northern Larb fried rice. The morning glory is posted on the wall as a special, so possibly not found on online menu searches, and described by our server as "water spinach". I rarely find sauteed green veggies in Thai restaurants, a la peapod leaves or other items in Chinese restaurants, and like how it balances some of the heavier dishes. The fried rice had some spice and funk, slivers of offal, plus sausage on the side. We would order both dishes again.
Edited to add: Just ate the leftover Norther Larb fried rice with a sunnyside up egg, and think it would be worth intentionally saving leftovers or ordering seconds just to duplicate this experience.

Another terrific dinner yesterday. Been too long since our last visit. Had a dish that we didn't remember having before, but maybe it has just been several years, eggplant and basil which was very satisfying. Nice with a 2009 Puffeney Trousseau Les Berangeres (sad to be finishing up the masters wines that remain in the cellar). This dish will now be on our shortlist for return visits.

Last weekend we took well-traveled friends who'd never been to Aroy and we had yet another great meal. Our friends were impressed and we were all pleased. In addition to an array of 'greatest hits (nor noom, Thai wings, grilled pork neck salad, chou chi ground pork curry, northern larb fried rice, som tum Thai),' we also ordered Gaeng Hung Lay, which was a special that night (and may become a permanent addition). It was excellent and featured large, tender chunks of pork belly smothered in a rich, thick and flavorful curry that was balanced perfectly between sweet, funky and spicy. Great stuff all the way around.

Edit to add: Al, your post reminded me to post about our meal. Aroy is so reliably enjoyable, I almost take it for granted sometimes.

=R=

Sorry to report a very mediocre meal at Aroy on Christmas Eve. For the most part there was nothing really bad but also nothing really good. We had fried tofu, shu mai, tiger cry, pad se ewe, Thai sausages and crispy catfish, all dishes that have been excellent in the past. Everything was perfectly average except rice that came with the tiger cry. It was a rock hard mass. We tried to break it apart with our forks but were only able to make a bent with the large steak knife that came with the tiger cry. I’ll chalk it up to an off-night but it was disappointing for a place I always considered a sure thing.

cleanplateclub wrote:Sorry to report a very mediocre meal at Aroy on Christmas Eve.

Bummer, maybe they had their B staff working that night. I was just there a few weeks ago (T and mama were in the house) and had one of the best meals of the year, reminding me that this is one of my top two or three places to eat in Chicago.

It was just two of us, on the loose from the tamer palates of our better halves– nor noom bamboo cranked up to 11 in the funk department (like one of the 10 minute + jams on Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome where the song structure collapses into a writhing heap of cosmic slop.) Northern larb fried rice was actually a mellow foil for this dish, though the two dishes slyly amplified each other's chili burn. Loved the garnish of totally-on-that-night fatty, aromatic sai ui. Rounding things out was some smutty crisp juicy fried chicken with jaew dipping sauce that sang the chorus of "Flashlight."

The meal we had for the LTH holiday dinner just a few weeks ago was as good if not better than any other meal I've had at Aroy. They really brought it. We all have our less-than-stellar days here and there. Not sure what happened but judging by the holiday dinner (and a couple of other recent experiences there), I'm thinking you just had the unfortunate experience of a rare miss evening.

Mama in the kitchen, T in the FOH and lunch today at Aroy every bit as wonderful as it always is . . .


Grilled Pork Neck Salad


Som Tum Thai


Chinese Broccoli with Crispy Pork


Pad Kra Moo

=R=

Haven't been in about 4 months after a period of defaulting to Aroy most of the time when we wanted Thai.

Another excellent meal, forgot how nice the presentation is. Our favorite entree, again, was eggplant and basil, what a great dish. Spicy ginger chili paste seemed like it needed a bit of a boost. Pad Kee Mao had more green than in the past but it was really great this way, the greens were cooked perfectly. Papaya salad was at about our heat threshold.

Still my favorite Thai restaurant in Chicago, even after revisiting many of our next tier places the past few months.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Last weekend we took well-traveled friends who'd never been to Aroy and we had yet another great meal. Our friends were impressed and we were all pleased.

We did the same last night with longtime friends, that surprisingly we've not taken to Aroy.

Everything was terrific and since our friends ordered some meat dishes, I tasted the really good duck in red curry and the awesome sausage combo, issan and sai ua, which I haven't had in several years. Wow, were those sausages delicious.

Our friends were thrilled with the new find and T was very attentive and stopped by several times to check in on us.

Newsflash/PSA: Aroy is now cash only. Apparently the card reader broke last month, after which T decided to stay with cash only.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:which T decided to stay with cash only

Is there diet iced tea, Tab or Fresca? No CC or Fresca. No G Wiv.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Newsflash/PSA: Aroy is now cash only. Apparently the card reader broke last month, after which T decided to stay with cash only.

=R=

Uh...they do a ton of delivery—how are they handling cash-only for that?

boudreaulicious wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Newsflash/PSA: Aroy is now cash only. Apparently the card reader broke last month, after which T decided to stay with cash only.

=R=

Uh...they do a ton of delivery—how are they handling cash-only for that?

*Sigh* I should have specified that they are cash only for dine-in. As for the rest, why don't you check with them and let us know?

Thanks,

=R=

Another wonderful meal Monday night with all three girls. Our daughters don't come with us very often and forgot how great Aroy is. Nice chats with T. He mentioned how much their CC transaction fees were annually and I can see why he switched over to cash.

Our dinner was pre-Patricia Barber at the Green Mill. For those that have never seen her live, I can not think of ANY better entertainment in Chicago for $8, when you see her on a Monday night, which is crazy. We go frequently and never tire of seeing her. My wife doesn't see live music nearly as much as I do, but she never hesitates when I suggest seeing Patricia. We went a couple weeks ago and she was just back from a European tour (Madrid, Paris, Munich, and Athens), and she has another tour of Europe in January and February, then the western US.

Aroy now has a website, with as accurate a written menu as can be seen online.
http://www.aroythaiatchicago.com
I describe the menu in such a way because when I called in an order Thursday night, I asked if they had Tod Mun, which I'd had a few times before, even though it isn't on the menu, and they had it. Tod Mun and Pork Neck Salad (4/5 spicy, so fiery, I love it) were great per usual.

Judging by the northern larb fried rice and pork rib soup I had tonight, Aroy's kitchen is totally unfazed by the quarantine. Front of house enforcing quarantine with a two-table barrier and they're showing some community spirit with an afternoon freebie. Pickup and delivery available. Cash only for pickup. Curbside not advertised but I have a hard time thinking they'd say no. Give this GNR some love.

Aroy Thai chugging along in the 95th percentile of Chicago Thai.

click to enlarge


Aroy Thai, count me a Fan!

Best meal I've had anywhere in a long, long time tonight. Wow . . . just wow!


Combination Sausage


Som Tum Thai


Thai Wings


Chou Chi Ground Pork


Northern Larb Fried Rice


Grilled Pork Neck Salad

To say Aroy is firing on all cylinders would be the understatement of the [insert time period of choice here]. Mama in the kitchen and I don't know that any of these dishes were ever better than they were tonight -- and that's saying a lot because this place has been one of my favorites for over a decade.

And it's no secret that Aroy is crushing it. This was the most staff I've ever seen in the place at any one time, ever. Dining room was moderately busy but carry out was fast and furious throughout our 75-minute visit, with 3-4 orders continuously lined up for travel. I imagine they need all those extra hands just to keep up. Good for them. Yay, Aroy!

=R=

Happily, nothing new to report here and I mean that in the best possible way. Eight of us had dinner here on Saturday night and it was the same as it ever was. Four in our group were first-timers and they, along with the rest of us, enjoyed the meal immensely.

Here's what we had . . .

Spring Rolls & Spring Rolls w/Peanut Sauce (2 of each)
^^ not my thing but one of the n00bs in our party insisted.
Thai Wings (2)
Grilled Pork Neck Salad (2)
Sausage Combination (1)
Som Tum Thai (1)
Chou Chi Ground Pork (2)
Pad Ka Prao Gai (2)
Fried Rice with Sour Ham (1)
Pad Kee Mao w/Chicken (1)
Pad Kee Mao w/Tofu (1)

A lot of food but there was virtually nothing left over. It was still pretty quiet when we arrived at 6:45 but by about 7:30, it was it was bustling and remained so through our departure at around 9. Carry-out/delivery business also seemed brisk, with 3 or 4 bags seemingly always teed up in the staging area.

Mama was in the kitchen and the food was never better. We byo'd a few sour beers and the Levain (saison fermented in oak) from Is/Was was an insanely perfect match for the food. I wish we'd brought a few more of them and left a few of the others behind.

In any case, Aroy continues to consistently dazzle and satisfy.

=R=

Really enjoyed dinner here tonight- it had been too long since our last visit. It was great to see them busy. We had to wait a few minutes for our 7:15 reservation. If you want to walk-in on a weekend night I would guess 8pm or later would be safe.

Had our 10-year-old with us and ordered accordingly. Peanut sauce spring rolls were delicious and som tum Thai salad to start.

Audrey had her first Masaman curry, mild, and really enjoyed it along with a Thai lemonade iced tea. Jonathan went with red curry beef. I had been craving gai lan and decided to go with the crab fried rice, level 4 spice and it was so satisfying. We need to go here more often…

Had a res not far from here Sat PM @ a place called Luiggi's that pulled a bullshit move and closed w/o letting anyone know. Even got a text earlier in the day making sure we'd be there. Betting that's not the only reason they're out of biz. Amateurs.

Needed to segue somewhere nearby w/pissed off hungry friends and ended up here having the always wonderful food mama cooks @Aroy w/T holding court. Our pals were blown away w/the grilled pork neck, northern larb, basil chix, chou chi pork, chix pot stickers, tom yum rice, both sausages, steamed sticky rice w/banana... Luiggi who?

Public service announcement: dine in is cash only. You need to order online if you want to use a credit card but there's an atm there now. T said he's saving a couple thousand a month on bank fees this way. The food last pm was wonderful as always w/mama and T in the kitchen. This place continues to evoke the spirit of LTH.

Had a large gig last pm and family coming over today so not gonna cook. Tossed out numerous options and ended up here. After a dozen dishes (for 7) my nephew ate 3 mango/sticky rices for dessert. I think he liked it.