Description: I was delighted to find this highly regarded Thai restaurant only a few blocks from our hotel. On a busy Friday night, we stopped by and made a reservation for later that evening, deciding to walk around Hillcrest and work up an appetite rather than join the throng waiting for a table. Upon our return some 45 minutes later, we still had to wait a few minutes, the time spent perusing the many dining awards and reviews on display in the foyer.
Celadon is obviously popular for dates, as there were a number of young couples seated in the romantically lit dining room. The decor is a fusion of modern and traditional Thai, with suitably low-key music playing in the background. The acoustics in the room are good, and although the tables are set fairly close together, there’s no feeling that conversations of nearby tables intrudes.
While the romantic decor and intimate ambience explain part of Celadon’s appeal, the attentive service and outstanding food explain the rest. The wait staff are well trained--attentive but not obtrusive. The chef’s timing was good, too. We had our appetizers shortly after our drinks arrived, and our entrees appeared just after we’d finished our appetizers.
For starters, we split an enormous pot of shrimp Tom Yum soup. The soup was a tad on the sweet side, but the flavorful broth contained large chunks of tomato, plenty of straw mushrooms, and large shrimp. Chunks of ginger, slices of lemon grass, strands of cilantro, and kaffir lime leaves enhanced the flavor.
Greg had a second starter, chicken satay, which was the largest portion I’ve ever seen served as an appetizer. Each of the five skewers looked like it held almost a quarter pound of chicken. Of course, I had to have a taste of the moist, flavorful chicken served with traditional peanut sauce. ("Quality control" is the family euphemism for this sort of sampling.)
Not feeling in the mood for spicy food, I ordered chicken and shrimp in a savory sauce. The dish glistened with perfectly cooked asparagus chunks, tender chunks of chicken, and succulent shrimp. The sauce was delicate, more reminiscent of Chinese oyster sauce than anything Thai. To accompany this, I had a glass of Viognier, a very generous slosh poured into an enormous wine glass, the sort favored by wine connoisseurs. Jack ordered a seafood dish with scallops, shrimp, squid, and firm-fleshed fish in a fiery sauce. Greg chose a Thai duck dish, which was served with a large portion of freshly pickled ginger on the side, an interesting combination I hadn’t seen before.
For dessert, we were each brought a complimentary cup of warm tapioca and sweet corn. I found this a little runny for my taste, but Jack and Greg polished theirs off. All in all, we were mightily pleased with Celadon, which scored high marks across the board for ambience, service, food, and value.
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