That is exactly what I did. I ate at Siam Cafe the night I made the error. I realized when I got there it was the wrong place, but I stayed anyway, and the food was good.

I went to Siam Noodle and Rice this weekend. I thought the Pad Thai was greasy and not so good, and I was not impressed with the spring rolls. The menu looked good though, and it looks like some of the less traditional options might be better.

Thanks for the reply.

A friend and I pigged out at Sticky Rice the other day. Our first time there and favorably impressed. Started with the Northern Thai Sausage, then Tom Kha soup, followed by Panang with Tofu, and finally Ka nom Jeen num ngiaw (pork and cubed pork blood curry with rice vermicelli). All were wonderfully satisfying, although the pork dish seemed rather mild coming after three mouth-stimulating dishes. After a five-minute pause we ended the meal with sticky rice with mango and the taro custard. This place merits a repeat visit.

Here are two more dishes that I am quite fond of.


kaeng mũu tay poh -- tamarind curry with pork loin and water spinach


ph?t ph?t p?t p?a -- spicy "jungle" stir-fry with duck

The kaeng mũu tay poh is on special, right now. You will find it listed as "Morning Glory Curry." The version at Sticky Rice is very similar to that of Thai Grocery, on Broadway. It is thin in body, smooth and mild. The flavour is sour, sweet and hot, in that order.

As you may be able to discern from the above photograph, the ph?t ph?t p?t p?a contains duck, green peppercorns, green beans, red and green bell peppers, Thai eggplants and bamboo shoots. Don't be put off by the name, as it is not particularly hot.

These dishes go very well together as part of a rice-based meal. Try it.

Regards,
Erik M.

Erik,

Are the peppercorns attached together in some way in the ph?t ph?t p?t p?a? They look like a string of pearls.

stevez wrote:Erik,

Are the peppercorns attached together in some way in the ph?t ph?t p?t p?a? They look like a string of pearls.

Yes, that is how they grow and that is the traditional manner of service. Here, in the U.S., they are commercially available that way, too. You are under no obligation to do anything more than look at them. They can be quite hot.

Regards,
Erik M.

Excellent! I've seen those peppercorns at Thai Grocery, fondled them (in a loving non-amorous gustatory manner), and wondered what they hell I could do with them.

Time to go on a hunt for the elusive Jungle Duck.

rien

finally made it to sticky rice!

Eric, thank you for the translation. and everyone else for posting their selections.

had the nam prik ong. loved the preserved soy paste they used. not too oily for me. complimented the sticky rice so well. amazing they achieved the flavor w/ ground pork.

the gf loved the burmese pork curry. the tomato? based sauce was tremendous if not reminiscent of Chinese stew. lovely substitute for the typical coconut based curry we always have.

finally, the 'jungle' stir-fry w/ duck. got selfish, ordered it thai-spicy. gf calls me "selfish" after first burning bite i'm saving this for lunch tomorrow. loved the peppercorn and basil.

great meal & value. lousy new literally first-day-on-the-job who couldn't figured out our tab/package the doggy bag. next round, gotta be sheep and try the khao soy + kaeng som. So happy about this place & TAC Quick. I may never have to set foot in Chinatown again...

What a disappointing experience! After my first visit to Sticky Rice I couldn't wait to go back; after my second I'm not sure I'll ever go back. The tom kha soup had only a passing resemblance to the tom kha three weeks ago. My friend's Panang had a quarter inch of oil sitting on top, and the main taste of both the Panang and my order of Morning Glory Curry was salt.

Why the consistency problem with Thai restaurants? Time after time, I've found a place to rave over only to be disappointed on subsequent visits. From one time to another the same dish is, well, no longer the same dish. I can only assume different chefs and no standards for a recipe. Do they even have written recipes?

Since moving from Evanston to Chicago in October, I have visited Sticky Rice about ten times. Seeing as how it is less than two blocks away from where I live, I can safely say that I've never lived this close to a restaurant I've enjoyed as much as Sticky Rice. I simply adore the place. The interior, with the bright red walls and simple lighting make me feel nice and warm. Their staff has always been very kind and attentive whenever I visit.

Friday night I ordered what is now my favorite dish at Sticky Rice: sweet and sour chicken.

I'm sure you're thinking "geez... who goes to a thai place and orders something so tame"? Since I've tried all of their northern thai style dishes (most of which I very much enjoyed), I needed to move on to the rest of the menu.

Of course, when picturing sweet and sour chicken, I immediately think of the kind you find at most Chinese fast food places, which ammounts to deep fried bits of chicken, served on top of rice with a sweet red sauce often containing pineapple or orange over the top. This is not what you will get at Sticky Rice. You will be served a stir-fry of peppers, onions, tomato, and pea pods in a sauce which is very similar to a Chinese sweet and sour, but with a bit more spice. It was wonderful, and I didn't feel like I was over-indulging by eating something deep-fried.

I wish I had ordered two.

Penpoint wrote:What a disappointing experience! After my first visit to Sticky Rice I couldn't wait to go back; after my second I'm not sure I'll ever go back. The tom kha soup had only a passing resemblance to the tom kha three weeks ago. My friend's Panang had a quarter inch of oil sitting on top, and the main taste of both the Panang and my order of Morning Glory Curry was salt.

Why the consistency problem with Thai restaurants? Time after time, I've found a place to rave over only to be disappointed on subsequent visits. From one time to another the same dish is, well, no longer the same dish. I can only assume different chefs and no standards for a recipe. Do they even have written recipes?

I wrote the above back in February. For some reason, my friend and I decided to give Sticky Rice another try yesterday. I guess enough time had elapsed since that disastrous experience, and we were willing to chance it again, hoping for a repeat of our first visit. We even ordered pretty much the same dishes. We were as pleased and impressed as we had been on our first visit. This time, after a truly satisfying meal, we asked the waiter who was in the kitchen and he said the owner -- I think her name is Kristi. I'm sure there was another chef back in February, so maybe next time I'll call ahead to see what chef is on duty.

Last night for some reason;) the Thai bug bit (no, I don't mean this), and A2Fay and I made the trip to Sticky Rice. It was our first time there, so I quickly brushed up before we left. It took a while, I found many threads* but finally I think I ordered based on posts in this thread.

We had a great dinner! The sâi ùa was nice, flavored with the coolness of lemongrass. The náam phrík nùm was a somewhat hot (chile) paste that along with the vegetables and some sticky rice, was a refreshing palate enhancer. The predominant taste, which was unexpected, was that of eggplant. The kaeng hangleh (which had sort of been in my mind since this) was a very deeply satisfying curry. Almost an Indian curry (not surprising given the origins), except for the detectable notes of fish sauce. The sweetness matched the pork very well and was a great complement to our other dishes.
The spicy 'jungle' duck stir fry, phàt phèt pèt pàa, was the most "Thai" tasting dish - mainly because of the basil and bamboo shoots. It wasn't particularly spicy - at least not as much I thought it might be from the name. I'm not sure that the dish, or at least the preparation, highlights duck. It was good nonetheless.
Leftovers made for an excellent lunch



*hmm, there weren't this many last night (just as well, since I was hungry). Anyhow, I've collected here for future reference:

Nom Yen at Sticky Rice [Pic]

I remembered, but didn't look this one up Joys of Eating the Road Less Traveled at Sticky Rice

Kaeng Roti at Sticky Rice [Pics]

Yam Plaa Salid at Sticky Rice [Pics]

Yam Plaa Duk Fuu at Sticky Rice [Pics]

Closing in on Perfection at Sticky Rice [Pics]

Kaeng Phet Pet Yaang at Sticky Rice [Pics]

"Keepin' It Real" at Sticky Rice [Pic]

Khanom Jiin Naam Yaa at Sticky Rice [Pics]

Khanom Pang Jii at Sticky Rice [Pic]

Northern Thai Sample Menu For Four Diners.

E.M.

Sticky Rice currently has lâap plaa dùk, or "Isaan-style minced catfish salad," on special offer and I highly recommend it.

For the preparation of this dish, catfish steaks are lightly fried, grilled, and minced before being tossed with roasted rice powder, lime juice, fish sauce, mint leaves, ground chile, and scallions.

Khâo nĩaw, or "sticky rice," is the perfect accompaniment.

I make a meal out of the salad, a basket of sticky rice, and a bowl of the soupy, Northern Thai-style curry known as "kaeng khae."*

E.M.

* Kaeng khae is a light, stock-based curry with chicken, Northern Thai-style red curry paste, Thai eggplants, bamboo shoots, Chinese broccoli, green beans, and dill. It is a relatively recent addition to the Sticky Rice repetoire and it can be found on the newest version of the English language menu.

LTH,

Had an impromptu GNR presentation dinner at Sticky Rice last evening. Aaron Deacon, who nominated Sticky Rice, now lives in KC so Petit Pois kindly presented the GNR

Kritsana Moungkeow (L) Petit Pois (R)


Last evenings specials, which we did not notice until we were leaving, were frog legs, shark and, of special note to Cathy2, Fried Worms are Back.

Sticky Rice Specials Board (11.16.06)


Enjoy,
Gary

And just a reminder - for an extra buck, they will deliver to Bucktown!

Leek

LTHForum,

Hadn't been to Sticky Rice in a few months and, frankly, last time I found it uneven almost to the point of lacking, but I am happy to report they were hitting on all 8-cylinders Saturday lunch. Really on the money.

I'll start with the highlight of the meal, a sleeper of a dish, Chili and ginger stir fry with crispy pork. Crisp bits of rich fatty pork, bold multilayered flavor with a deep note of roasted chile offset beautifully by still crunchy bright flavored green beans.

Chili and ginger stir fry with crispy pork


I also thoroughly enjoyed Mussel Fritter, succulent mussels set in crisp batter interlaced with egg and veg.

Mussel Fritter


We, there were 6 of us, had both types of Thai sausage Sticky rice offers, funky flavored from fermented rice Isaan and grilled Northern Thai redolent with red chili.

Isaan Sausage


Northern Thai Sausage


Shrimp with chili jam, a favorite at both Spoon Thai and Elephant Thai, delighted with deep roasted flavor and fresh briny shrimp. The sauce simply sang for small scoops of sticky rice.

Shrimp with chile jam


Somtum with crispy pork, a wall board special, hit the mouthfeel megaplex with fresh crisp papaya, cabbage, peanuts zinged up with chile, herbs, lime and fish sauce and brought to a smooth togetherness with crisp bits of rich pork.

Somtum with crispy pork


We had a few other dishes, Thai Fried Chicken, which seemed to have a deliciously high percentage of thighs, Nam Prik Ong, Burmese Pork Curry, Spicy Jungle Stir-fry with Duck, Grilled Pork Neck and Thai Salty Fish Fried Rice with a fried egg per person.

Nam Prik Ong


In addition to a terrific lunch in the company of friends, I had the pleasure of meeting Tatterdemalion, a friend of Staggers and LTHer currently living in Austin.

Tatterdemalion


Enjoy,
Gary

Sticky Rice
4018 N. Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618
773-588-0133

We had delivery from Sticky Rice this past Thursday, and everything was very good. Ordered - chive dumplings (which may be my favorite version of this dish so far) Tom Yum soup (extra spicy-hot) Pad Kee Mauw (with a lovely smokey taste to it), Northern Larb (it says pork and intestines, but it seemed like a livery sausage), Tilapia in Tamarind. The delivery guy was pleasant, and the food was very tasty. We asked for the other dishes to be Medium hot, and they were just right.

I hadn't been to Sticky Rice in quite a while, either. Our lunch yesterday was a real treat. It was especially nice to meet Tatterdemalion while he is eating his way through Chicago! Here are a few additional pictures.

Spicy Jungle Stir-fry with Duck


Shrimp Paste Rice with Egg, Mango, Dried Shrimp, and Sweet Pork With 6 Deep Fried Eggs



Northern Pork Stew


Pork Neck


The pork neck, although being pretty photogenic, was my least favorite dish of the day. I much prefer the char grilled version served at TAC, but other than that, all of the other dishes were very good.

P.S. Note to Cathy2: There was a sign taped up in the window proudly stating that they are now seerving some kind of deep friend worms.

Tonight was my first of what I hope will be many visits to Sticky Rice. I was thoroughly pleased with everything. Since most of the dishes have surely been discussed before, I'll add a few photos. I'd order every one of these items a second time, but then there's the issue of never exploring the rest of the menu!

Northern Thai Sausage




Bamboo Caterpillars






Kow Soy with Chicken





Mor Kang

Had dinner here last night with friends, and it was all very good. We started with fried pork-stuffed tofu and mussels fritter. The fritter is terrifically interesting, but I'm not sure the mussels actually hold up to the crunchy batter. They are prone to overcooking, and another seafood (or veggie-only) option might actually work better. Still, it's a very good dish. The tofu was exactly what you'd think, and it was a big hit at the table - pork, deep fried, what else do you need? Also had the chive dumplings which are awesome - very home-made tasting and have a brilliant combination of textures.

For main courses, we had a couple orders of frog legs as well as a curry noodle dish. The frog legs (as mentioned elsewhere here) were very small but still tasty - marinated and fried with garlic. There are better legs out there to be sure, but these had a nice flavor and satisfy immediate cravings for amphibians. The curry noodles (I forget which one exactly) were a little oily and not quite as good as similar dishes we've had there in the past.

As if that wasn't enough, we ordered a round three: squid stuffed with pork and somtum with crispy pork. The squid were very nice, but the salad was the winner. It was almost too spicy to eat, but it was just so damned good we couldn't stop. The fresh veggies and spicy dressing were perfect with toasted peanuts and the crunchy little nuggets of pork.

Finally, we had to have some ice cream as well as a Thai custard to cool off our mouths. The custard (is it tofu based?) was piping hot - so much for cooling us off - but so delicious.

We kept a menu from Sticky Rice in order to mark off all the different dishes we've tried and intend to go back for more. Overall, great, creative Thai that is a welcome change of pace from the same-old same-old.

I've been going past Sticky Rice forever, my mechanic is a block away, and I always wondered why there were two Thai places next to each other on Western by Irving Park. With all the mentions and the GNR I decided today was the day to check it out, lunch with the Mrs. We wanted something light so we just ordered a bunch of appetizers and grazed. Everything was spot on, the grilled calamari just as good as Spoon's, with what seemed like a tomatillo based dipping sauce. The beef salad was not grilled but the rich dark sauce on the side more than made up for that, it was so good that my wife ate what sauce was left with a spoon. The skewered grilled pork moo ping was tender, succulent, and had a hint of cumin. Shu mai were little pillows of heaven. This has instantly shot up to the top of our Thai list, and the prices are about as low as I've seen. Thanks to LTH for another great recommendation. We've yet to try Tac Quick but that has to be soon.

BTW, the GNR is displayed right in the front window.

One quick phone call on this frigid Friday evening, and 22 minutes later, this dish arrived at my door:

G Wiv wrote:I'll start with the highlight of the meal, a sleeper of a dish, Chili and ginger stir fry with crispy pork. Crisp bits of rich fatty pork, bold multilayered flavor with a deep note of roasted chile offset beautifully by still crunchy bright flavored green beans.

Chili and ginger stir fry with crispy pork

The crispiness held up incredibly well, and Gary is exactly right about how deeply delicious this is. It's also a perfect accompaniment for Mad Hatter IPA.

I am, however, becoming ever-so-slightly concerned about how obsessed I've become with deep fried pork products lately.

In 2007 G Wiv wrote this:

G Wiv wrote:I'll start with the highlight of the meal, a sleeper of a dish, Chili and ginger stir fry with crispy pork. Crisp bits of rich fatty pork, bold multilayered flavor with a deep note of roasted chile offset beautifully by still crunchy bright flavored green beans.

More recently, this:

G Wiv wrote:a seeming communication problem with Chili and ginger stir fry with crispy pork that yielded a dish which no chili punch,...

The problem may have resulted from the fact that the former English translation ("Chili and ginger stir fry with crispy pork") no longer appears on the menu. On the Sticky Rice menu, this dish is called Pad Prik Khing Moo Krob, with a translation that now says "Prik Khing chili paste stir-fried with crispy pork, green beans and kefir leaf". Based on what I got last night, I'd say that ordering the current menu item comes with no risk of missing the chili punch. It's a wonderful mixture of hot dried red chili's along with fresh green ones, seeds and all. Rounded out with fish sauce, ginger and sugar, the crisp fried pork (belly?) and skin gets a lovingly hot bath. Well, more like a lather without the rinse, as this is a pretty dry curry.

Pad Prik Khing Moo Krob:




Another sleeper of a dish is the Yum eggplant, which I never ordered because, well, it's eggplant. But oh boy was I missing out. This eggplant has baba-ganoush-like smokiness from what must have been charred, blistered skin before the flesh was removed and combined with lime, mint, sliced shallots, ground chicken and hot chili powder. It's a dish that's not to be missed.

Yum Eggplant:

One thing about Sticky Rice that one may find either endearing or annoying is that the food is wildly inconsistent. The same dish from one week to the next may have mint instead of cilantro, a pool of liquid dressing instead of a bare coating, near-painful heat instead of a pleasant tingle, etc., etc. I don't typically mind this. The food is always loaded with intense but balanced flavor, and at Sticky Rice's prices, inconsistency is something I'm more than willing to forgive.

I must admit, however, that last night I was a little annoyed at first that the Pad Prik Khing Moo Krob had regular ground pork that had been sauteed instead of the crispy fried chunks of belly pictured in the post above. That's a big difference, as the crispy fried pork adds a special layer of texture to the dish. The flavors were still wonderful, and I post this just so that others are forewarned: best to go to Sticky Rice without inflexible expectations about what your dishes will be like.

We ordered delivery last night (snowy Sunday) for our first taste of Sticky Rice.
Afterward I asked my wife which items she would order again. She said "Nothing, but I'd give them another chance." I'm forced to agree. Perhaps it is the nature of take out or the Sunday evening cook, but overall things were disappointing.

We started with vegetarian egg rolls--crispy but the filling had little character and a lot of mushiness. The side of sauce was little better than you would get from a Chinese buffet.
The Tom Yum soup was the best dish by far--a nice balance of sweet and sour, a decent amount of beef (our choice) and good overall umami.
Yum Eggplant was at least interesting, but I think overly acidic. There was quite a lot of cilantro which helped; the grilled eggplant was again pretty much reduced to mush.
I was most disappointed in the Pad Prik Khing Moo Krob. We were lucky enough to get crispy pork chunks--seemed to be belly--but about half were crisped to the point where they were all crunch with no hint of porky goodness. The green beans were barely cooked, pleasantly crisp, but I would have liked them to be done a bit more.
So, should we chalk up the disappointment as due to the hazards of delivery (we waited about half an hour-not bad) or is this place really that inconsistent?

bean wrote:We ordered delivery last night (snowy Sunday) for our first taste of Sticky Rice.
Afterward I asked my wife which items she would order again. She said "Nothing, but I'd give them another chance." I'm forced to agree. Perhaps it is the nature of take out or the Sunday evening cook, but overall things were disappointing.

We started with vegetarian egg rolls--crispy but the filling had little character and a lot of mushiness. The side of sauce was little better than you would get from a Chinese buffet.
The Tom Yum soup was the best dish by far--a nice balance of sweet and sour, a decent amount of beef (our choice) and good overall umami.
Yum Eggplant was at least interesting, but I think overly acidic. There was quite a lot of cilantro which helped; the grilled eggplant was again pretty much reduced to mush.
I was most disappointed in the Pad Prik Khing Moo Krob. We were lucky enough to get crispy pork chunks--seemed to be belly--but about half were crisped to the point where they were all crunch with no hint of porky goodness. The green beans were barely cooked, pleasantly crisp, but I would have liked them to be done a bit more.
So, should we chalk up the disappointment as due to the hazards of delivery (we waited about half an hour-not bad) or is this place really that inconsistent?

Sticky Rice is inconsistent, but the main reasons you mention above for not liking these dishes (very acidic salad, super-crunchy pork, barely-cooked green beans) are some of the main reasons I love them, so it might just be a mismatch in preferences.

Eight of us went to Sticky Rice last night -- great time.
Unfortunately their cell reception in the back of the house is nonexistent, so I couldn't pull up this thread's recommendations. Perhaps we did not order the essentials, but it was great stuff nonetheless.

I didn't taste everyone's food, but here's some highlights:
Apps: Fried Banana. Nice, but I probably wouldn't order again as an appetizer -- maybe dessert. Fried chicken was delicious, but again, nothing that I thought had to be had again. Stuffed tofu was better: crisp, soft pillows of tofu with a little pork. Both that and the fish cakes (also terrific) had a nicely balanced citrus/peanut/cuke/chile sauce that gave some zip to the dish (I'd have preferred that with the chicken).

For main, I ordered pad prik something or other that had deep-fried fatty pork and green beans. i was hoping for more spice and maybe a bit of funk (if I wanted a lot of funk, I know, go for the nam priks), but very tasty. Another diner's mussels in a pot were wonderful as mussels always are, but I'd had thai curried mussels only a week ago that I preferred. Garlic spareribs were quite good: tender and juicy, lots of garlic (I'm guessing they're par-cooked before stir-frying).

The star of the night, though, was Sue's larb duck. It's my favorite larb in the city now, replacing Spoon's pork neck version. Lots of thai basil, a nice level of spice, deep-flavored duck. The ground toasted rice added the right texture on top of the herby salad. It's also the only version I've ever seen with small toasted chiles included. Definitely order that one again.

...if you like offal, try the Northern Larb next time. One of the best Thai dishes in Chicago.

NB, Sticky's menu recently expanded. I have a takeout menu but haven't studied it yet. Seems to have mostly broadened the protiens available for various already-established dishes, but a few things struck me as entirely new.

JeffB wrote:...if you like offal, try the Northern Larb next time. One of the best Thai dishes in Chicago...

I don't love Sticky Rice's version of Northern Larb, and prefer Aroy's (Larb Khun) by a wide margin. At Sticky Rice, the offal is usually left in large chunks which end up overcooking and taking on the texture of a tire. Aroy minces the offal more finely, leading to what I find is a much more texturally pleasant dish. Tastes good at both places, though I think I prefer regular larb, which - at least in my experience - tends to skew in a more sour direction than the northern stuff.

I like my offal rustic, Kenny.

Why mince it into oblivion, other than to forget what it is. That said, I don't think I've seen a chunk of liver, spleen or gut in my Sticky Rice larb larger than a quarter at the biggest. Aroy's is good too, though.