The freestanding building at 3334 Curry Ford Road has been home to many restaurants in the past 36 years. When I arrived in 1988 it was occupied by Cafe Barcelona, which was the third restaurant I critiqued for the Orlando Sentinel’s Florida magazine. I noted in my review that “If you’re looking for an authentic Spanish restaurant, this is the only show in town.” And it was.
Thai restaurants were rare back then, too, but we’ve seen many, many more open over the years. Ironically, some have been at this location. We had Chai Thai and Smile Thai here. (More recently it was Vietnamese – Pho Curry Ford and Pho & Roll. It was also something called Regional Grill & Bayou about 11 years ago, for those of you keeping score.)
Now it’s back to Thai, Thai Spoon, an earnest operation with food good enough to recommend, even if there are quirks to work out.
One of the reasons I mention the history of the building is that it’s showing its age. The wood-style flooring is in good shape, and there is a neon-blue backlit map of the world, for some reason, on one wall. But plasticized covers that seem to be stapled to the tabletops make it seem like they’re not quite set. Maybe the proper table coverings haven’t arrived yet – they hadn’t gotten their license to serve beer and wine on either of my visits.
But as I said, the food is good, even if the menu does tend to wander about the region a bit. If there’s one item I wouldn’t recommend it’s the summer rolls, which I experienced twice. Their size made an impression, but the girth of the rolls was provided by too much lettuce, which provided no flavor and overwhelmed the two shrimp that were visible through the translucent rice paper wrapper. Not even the thick peanut dipping sauce could save them.
The gyoza was a more satisfying appetizer, plump and filled with chopped pork and vegetables, served with a thickened soy sauce.
Pad Thai, with chicken, had good peanutty flavor and a generous portion of meat, but the noodles were a bit gummy. I would have liked to have had some extra crushed peanuts to sprinkle about.
But I liked the massaman curry – with beef more than with chicken – with decoratively cut carrots and hunks of potatoes in the mildly spiced sauce that was tempered with coconut milk.
The panang, again with beef, had a slight tang though most decidedly was not spicy. But the curry had nice notes of coriander and cumin surrounding the thick pieces of red bell pepper and carrots. Very nice spooned over rice.
Or if you want to go more rice-forward, the drunken fried rice – ironically named for a place without a liquor license – was another favorite. Ordered with shrimp (as with almost all the entrees you may select your protein), the rice was heavily umamied with oyster sauce and a house-made brown sauce with soy, and the shrimp, served with tails on, so expect to get your fingers messy since knives are not part of the table setting, were nice and firm.
The staff were friendly and sincere, even if they seemed to be learning on the job. A smile and a warm greeting go a long way to alleviate most situations.
With the Curry Ford District – a designation that did not exist back in the Cafe Barcelona days – enjoying its renaissance moment, including being home to a newly starred Michelin restaurant (Papa Llama), Thai Spoon should be a nice addition to the mix.
Thai Spoon is at 3334 Curry Ford Road, Orlando (map). It does not list its hours on its website, but I think you can go with lunch and dinner served Monday through Saturday. The phone number is 407-233-4477.
