Taste of Thai delivers total satisfaction

I grew up in the neighborhood directly behind Taste of Thai, and yet somehow, I’ve eaten there only a handful of times between its opening when I was 13 and now, despite my love of Thai food and my propensity for dining at other restaurants serving the cuisines of the world all over the Lansing area. Why this is, I cannot say, but I’m trying to make up for lost time, and it’s quickly becoming my go-to for takeout.

With a huge menu, including a large variety of appetizers and desserts, it can be difficult to settle on a choice. I’ve tried a number of dishes, including the delicious drunken noodles I reviewed for City Pulse in 2023, but once I had the curry noodles, it was over for me. I find it nearly impossible to choose anything else now.

You can order the noodles with either red curry (spicy, bold) or green curry (vegetal, slightly sweet), and you can choose your protein. I go with green curry and tofu. The chewy rice noodles and chunks of fried tofu swim in a pool of the delicious, silky-smooth curry, fragrant with basil, cilantro and ginger. There’s definitely some heat — Taste of Thai recently established a policy that all dishes are served at the same spice level, but the one it settled on suits me perfectly.

I’ve added scoops of pineapple-and-shrimp fried rice to my noodles, and I can attest that it’s the perfect pairing. I’ve become somewhat obsessed with pineapple and am convinced it makes a lot of things better, dishes with basil being at the top of the list. Besides that, Taste of Thai uses some really excellent, plump and flavorful shrimp.

You may read this and think, “I’ve known and loved Taste of Thai for years. None of this is news to me.” That’s fair, but do you know about its new operation next door? It’s called Le Bua, and it specializes in to-go Thai street food, like curry puffs and dumplings, as well as desserts. My friend and I stopped in after picking up a Taste of Thai order to try the soft serve, getting a twist of the Thai iced tea and green tea flavors. The iced tea flavor was especially phenomenal in an ice cream format and will definitely be as much of a mainstay as the curry noodles going forward. If total satisfaction is your goal, no bet is safer than Taste of Thai.