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TAP Thai
updated: Feb 12, 2011, 9:30 AM
By Ms. Lemonjelly
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TAP Thai has the kind of interior I like, it's bright, tidy, with neat stencils on the wall. TAP is an abbreviation of the three owners of the new Thai restaurant on de la Vina, and one of the owners is a designer of some sort, and did the interior. It reminds me of a little shop in Silverlake, sans hipsters, or closer to home it's a bit like the Presidio Motel.
TAP's cuisine has a focus on fresh ingredients, with lots of herbs, and offers nearly all their dishes with vegetarian options, using tofu in place of chicken. Sounds good to me.
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I went for a weekday lunch last week and enjoyed it so much I went back again on the weekend, bringing my parents who've spent a few years in Southeast Asia, and they really liked it too.
The weekday lunch special is just $9, for a main dish, soup and salad. On the first visit, a friend and I tried the PCU noodles, and the Penang curry.
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Both were great. Perhaps I enjoyed the curry more than the noodles because I was the one who ordered the curry, and it was a generous enough portion that I took some leftover home and had it for breakfast.
The salad was fine - baby greens with a cute little glass of peanut sauce salad dressing. And the vegetarian soup to start was good as well, with a delicate exotic flavor.
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Other items I tried and really liked:
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The Thai iced tea we commonly have, using cream, and served in a big mason jar.
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I tried the Thai iced tea, this time with lime, and I liked it even more than the cream version. Very refreshing.
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Larb Gai - minced chicken with lots of fresh chilies, lime, mint and onions. It comes with lettuce, which I used as an edible scoop for the dish. A good low carb option.
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The corn cakes are great! Served with some sweet Thai chili sauce.
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The TAP roll, similar to eggrolls, but a different variety of vegetables and also seaweed rolled up inside. Totally getting these again.
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We didn't think the dishes were too spicy hot, though out tongues started tingling further into the meal. The focus seems more on fresh flavors than big heat. There is a selection of chili condiments served on the side to add extra spice if you want it.
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Finally, dessert. Their most popular dessert is the fried banana and coconut ice cream. I'd actually prefer more of the wrapped and fried banana instead of the ice cream, but there's no option for just fried banana. I'm also the type that really likes sticky rice (especially black sticky rice with coconut cream) with mango, but haven't yet tried the version TAP has on the menu. That's next on my list.
Parking only seems to be on the street, but the two times I've been has had ample street parking, no problem. It's about two doors up from Jedlicka's.
TAP Thai
2611 De La Vina
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
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