For anyone looking for someplace new to eat in the Quad Cities that is both affordable and delicious without being the same dockets of food Items, definitely consider getting out to Exotic Thai.
Right down the street from Panera in moline, the small restaurant in the middle of an outlet strip certainly has an unassuming visage, there is certainly more to be found on the inside.
Dimly lit, with small, delightfully personal booths, the inside of the restaurant doesn’t give a real facade of being particularly asian. However, the scents that waft out from the kitchen and the pervading smell of incense within the building certainly gives a reminder of oriental influence.
Amusingly, the entire length of the visit was accompanied by spa-ambient versions of country songs, particularly those of Garth Brooks.
Currently, the restaurant is holding a special where you can order a local craft beer and a platter of your choice of meat (or tofu) to be combined with three of their sauces. For those under 21, the restaurant offers an excellent choice of cold and hot teas, water, or soda.
This time, the combination platter was the obvious choice, paired with a Paddle Wheel Pale Ale from Bent River Brewery.
The combination platter meats included Sausage, shrimp, calamari, beef, chicken, and ribs, all in a smaller, get-a-taste size as shown above.
For sauces, this go-around involved man prik, a spicy chili-garlic sauce, garlic sriracha, and a sweet and sour dip. The platter also included grilled squash, asparagus, and a palate cleansing salad.
Drinks came out quickly, and the food not too long after. The smell alone was enough to remind anyone they hadn’t eaten recently enough. It was a huge platter that easily fed two without feeling any need for more.
This would be an excellent choice for those looking for something a little exotic to eat together on the upcoming valentine’s day.
One important lesson to be learned from this restaurant is the value of how tastes of foods can carefully intertwine.
The food itself was excellent, every piece of meat worth eating on it’s own. But, when paired with the sauces, it became very clear that certain foods go well with certain sauces and others do not.
It also became equally obvious that you should carefully pair what you order for a drink with what you order for sauces.
Of the 3, the Nik Pram was a personal favorite, and went very well with the red meats, while the white meats went excellently with the garlic sriracha.
The beef when combined with the nam prik was particularly excellent for those with a tongue for a little spice.
Each meat had a particularly good pairing among the three, though the garlic sriracha seemed to have the most successful pairings.
Exotic thai offers a limited dessert menu, but it leaves nothing to be desired, just as much as the meal itself. The sweet sticky rice, despite the name, is deliciously rich paired with vanilla ice cream.
For those wanting to check out the menu, or more information on Exotic Thai, check out their locations in Davenport and Moline, or their webpage at exoticthaiquadcities.com.