1. Satay Chicken
Always Thai

Always Thai

1825 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago, United States Of America, 60613

Thai • Vegan • Casual • Catering


"Always Thai is a definite hole in the wall. I found it searching for cheap vegan food--they've got so many tofu dishes as most Thai places do.My partner and I popped on on Friday night. The restaurant has tinted windows so it looked like and we thought it was closed but we tried the door and we're grateful to find it open.There was nobody else inside which was surprising but again, we decided to give it a try because lots of the reviews speak well of Always Thai and COVID has done a number on lots of places.After our visit, I'm here to tell you to consider supporting Always Thai the next time you're craving curry or delicious Asian food!The lightly spiced Tofu Satay with its savory peanut sauce was absolutely fantastic, and the Fried Tofu came with a sweet and sour dipping sauce and was like nothing we've ever had before.For entrees, my partner got the Cashew Dish with Tofu. It came with a side of rice and had a wonderful rich and sort of smokey flavor.I got the Red Curry with Tofu. Apart from the perfectly spicy red curry sauce, the eggplant was my favorite part of the dish. The curry didn't melt my face off but it was spicy enough to let you know you were eating some really good food.COVID and inflation caused their menu prices to go up a decent bit from what's on their site and some of the pictures others posted years ago, but they are still very fair.They're also BYOB and there's a liquor store two doors over which came in clutch. Definitely check Always Thai out!"

New Regent Cafe

New Regent Cafe

638 Pacific Ave, 94133, San Francisco, United States

Cafe • Asian • Chinese • American


"There was recently a TikTok of someone who went to six bakeries in Chinatown in search of the best pineapple bun. During my recent conference in the city, I visited five of them so that we could do our own taste test. To mix things up a bit, I also got BBQ pork buns to do a similar comparison.(I didn 't pick up from the sixth bakery because I have never liked it and not surprisingly to me it came in dead last by a wide margin in the TikTok.)We tasted the pineapple buns and BBQ pork buns separately and much to our collective surprise, New Hollywood came out on top for both.Tasting notes:Pineapple bun moist pastry, fluffy and not dense. The topping was a rich yellow in color, and was sweet and crumbly, just the way we like it. Some of the toppings from other bakeries were decidedly not crunchy a little wet and sticky and not satisfying.BBQ pork bun sweet moist bread, generous chunks of pork (not macerated like some places) and rich in flavor. One of the best that I 've had.Prices among all the bakeries were within a range of $3 to $3.75 for the two pastries that 's the way capitalism is supposed to work when there is a healthy amount of competition. Service was friendly and patient. While I was leaving, a woman with a European accent came in and asked if they had coffee. When the server answered in the affirmative, the customer then said that she wanted a latte, half caf, with a nondairy alternative like soy. The server looked at her with an amused expression on her face, and then after a beat said, yes, we have coffee . Haha!"