Thai Rhapsody opened in Mill Creek Town Center in 2007 as owner Suwit “Ken” Patthanawanich’s second restaurant in the area, this time in his home town. He also owns Thai Cottage in downtown Edmonds.
Like its Edmonds counterpart, Thai Rhapsody is a comfortable place to dine with familiar, well-made dishes, though wrapped in a more modern package.
The strip-mall restaurant offers all the expected components of an American Thai experience: a numbered menu, handy photo examples and all the familiar options, from appetizer to dessert course. Dishes are full of flavor — entrees here do not overly rely on salty sauces — and assuage cravings.
We started with an appetizer of chicken satay ($7.95), four skewers of moist chicken with plenty of peanut dipping sauce. The small plate was satisfying, though perhaps slightly less spicy than other variations. It came with a tiny cucumber salad that only a tiny vegetarian could love (or someone hungry enough to eat anything).
My dining partner for this excursion is an aficionado of phad see ew ($8.95 with chicken), a familiar entree with wide rice noodles and Thai soy sauce. This one, she said, was as good if not better than the same dish she had ordered elsewhere in recent memory. She sipped Thai iced tea ($2.50).
I ordered the “Crying Tiger” ($11.95) from the barbecue section because, really, who can resist a name like that? The traditional Thai dish features small cuts of beef, which were deliciously moist with just the right amount of red in the center and carried a nice taste of the grill to the nostrils as well as to the taste buds.
The spicy lime sauce served with the meat added a nice touch and also was used to try to nurse the side of rice to life (alas, to no avail).
Main dinner dishes at Thai Rhapsody run from $8.95 to $14.95, putting the restaurant well within the affordable range. That said, those with healthy appetites should figure on adding at least an appetizer to reach satisfactorily full stomachs, and perhaps dessert, too.
The dessert menu again offers the range of expected options. A generous scoop of mango ice cream ($3.50) represents the plain side of things, with fried ice cream decoratively lined in strawberry and chocolate sauce representing the more fanciful end ($6.95 on the daily special menu for our visit).
The restaurant offers the kind of Thai-chic atmosphere that one might expect in Town Center — ornate woodwork, Thai-inspired silhouettes and motifs, and a sufficiently exotic shade of orange.
It’s a polished, pleasing look — just like its menu.
Thai Rhapsody
15021 Main St., Mill Creek; 425-338-1110; www.thairhapsody.com
Specialty: Thai
Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday; lunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays
Alcohol: Beer, wine, full bar
Special menus: Numerous vegetarian options; kids menu
Reservations: Recommended for mid-size to large parties
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