As you enter into George's Thai Bistro, you're greeted with a bar
stocked with sake, plum wine, and Asian drafts. Next to is is a display of
various knickknacks you can purchase and are scattered around the restaurant.
Along the yellow walls and in between the red trim are photographs and
lithographs of Thai culture. Walking on a carpet of flowers, you'll hear the
Stevie Nicks belting “Go Your Own Way”, clashing with the atmosphere already
established, but if you don't mind classic rock (Really who doesn't like
classic rock?) you'll hardly notice after a while. When you sit down you are
greeted with a caricature of the George himself juggling serving pans with the
company info and if you're lucky enough, you'll probably see George running
around and if he takes your order, be sure to have him sign your menu. The
Asian restaurant is complete with mistakes within the menu obvious to us but
oblivious to the owner such as “Warning... If you can not spicy food please
do not try this dish.”
As far as drink
selection, you have a choice between standard soft drinks, house wines, and
various bottles of Asian beers and foreign lagers. The selection is separated
according to category such as soups, salads, dishes, and George's favorites.
Naturally I order from George's favorites, Thai Jambalya which fits the
description perfectly given in the menu. When ordering your meal, you are asked
on a scale from one to ten how spicy you'd like your food prepared. It's
uncertain whether they ad more peppers or different kinds of peppers based on
the number given, but when I ordered seven, I could feel my taste buds come
alive and slight tears perfusing from my eyes. Needless to say, the endless
refills of raspberry tea was a blessing. The Thai Jambalya is bathed in a bath
of spicy aromas and swimming in it is shrimp, salmon, crab, scallops, and
chicken. Topped on the island of rice are flushed tomatoes, mushrooms,
lemongrass, and cilantro. The crab and salmon is buttery and melts in the
mouth, however, the chicken is has a rough texture and dryness. As well, the
shrimp still has it's frills attached, which maybe part of the dish or
negligence on the cooks' part. Finally, as a minor complaint, you have a choice
between jasmine rice or brown rice which my waiter forgot to ask which I preferred.
Minor as I neglected to even notice it until well after I ordered. All in all
the Jambalya is delicious and is easy to overlook the dry chicken and shrimp
frills.
Now it was time
for dessert and one particular dish caught my eye before I even ordered the
Thai Jamblya: Fried Banana with Coconut Ice Cream. It seemed like a unique
choice and indeed the taste did not disappoint. Inside the fried crust
dissolving in the mouth is a hot mash of banana and shreds of coconut that
entice the spices of the previous meal. What would have complemented the banana
and healed the sour wounds of the spices is the coconut which is curiously
missing from the dessert. With the ice cream, this dessert would have been a
must try but as is, it is an unique dish that is worth the try.
George's Thai Bistro is located
at 3732 S
Bristol St, Santa Ana, CA 92704 and is open from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM, Sundays from 12:00 PM to 9:00
PM. It's easy to find, if you know Asian restaurants are tucked away in
shopping centers but if you get lost you can call them at (714) 979-8366. It is
a decent restaurant with a medium-range price for the food. The George and his
waitresses were kind and accommodating, however, given the unexpectedly large
party, their services were lacking. At one moment they'd be there with a
refill, then others it took them a while for them to comeback around. As well,
they only took orders one at a time, run off, and come back, rinse and repeat.
Overall the experience was fun and I'm sure to come back with a smaller group,
tolerance of spices, and demand ice cream with the delicious fried banana.
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