I just wish they would get rid of their awful vegetable combination that finds its way into so many dishes: sliced crinkle cut carrots, baby corn, and Western broccoli. It really seems suspiciously like a bagged frozen vegetable medley, thrown into any dish that requires some vegetables.
It is no criticism about how the food is prepared. I just think they need to be more judicious with sourcing their produce, and I thought it was rather gross dipping heated-up frozen crinkle cut carrots into expertly-prepared sauce for
nam prik pla tou. The dip itself (made with chilis and shrimp paste) was great, and it was much better than the vegetables deserved. I found the same sliced crinkle-cut carrots, Western broccoli, and baby corn filling out the
jungle curry or
kaeng pa. Again, good meat, good sauce, but disappointing vegetables.
Perhaps they are a bit out of the loop and don't have any contacts with suppliers. There are some suppliers who specialize in ethnic/Asian produce, who buy wholesale from Chicago International Produce Market, and then sell to restaurants and grocers. One example of such a Chicago business (without any endorsement or knowledge of their performance or prices compared to competitors):
http://www.edfproduce.com/Fresh vegetables do require intensive prep work, and perhaps the kitchen is understaffed to contend with that, at least for all customer orders. If I could pay an extra few bucks to upgrade to better vegetables, I would happily do so, like some Thai restaurants charge more for shrimp than chicken.
This is meant in an entirely constructive way. I love Rainbow and think that what comes out of its kitchen has the promise to be the best Thai in Chicago, but the vegetables are holding many dishes back, for the time being.