Five Star Thai*****
Five Star Thai in Crown Point gets my five stars. Do you love Thai food? I do. Do you love going to restaurants? I do. Do you live in northwest Indiana? I do.
That’s why I’m so happy that Five Star Thai is expanding! They not only added more delicious dishes to their menu, they actually expanded the restaurant and added a grocery store!
They say the best thing you could do to expand your horizons is leave your hometown. Those of us who love different cultures and who love food, know that the fastest, quickest, most delicious way to do that is to go to a restaurant that serves food from a different country.
We had been very pleased the last time we ate at Five Star, which was too long ago, maybe over a year. So many small businesses close, we were worried it might have gone out of business.
So when We stopped in last Friday at around 1pm, we were happy to see they had a robust lunch crowd.
Eye spy, who do you spy? I spied at the next table the most delicious fried things oh yum I had to order those for appetizers. So I had to interrupt the lovely ladies at the next table to ask them about what else they ordered. They had two big scrumptious platters on their table, tofu pad thai and basil seafood.
A very very pleasant waiter, Eric, really made our visit especially nice. Eric was so welcoming and hospitable, and was happy to introduce newcomers to the nuances and joys of Thai cuisine. He brought out a bowl of light chicken soup with broccoli and cabbage, perfect start to our meal. We were pleased to hear he is going to Purdue Cal and majoring in hospitality and management, both because he seems so perfectly suited to being in that field, and because we’ve heard so many great things about the program there. One professor I had met was working on a book, I believe, about the local history of food, starting with the native plants and cultivated species (I remember in particular the Potawotami women were among the first peoples who farmed and were especially clever and innovative about their cultivars and techniques). I’m not sure if that professor still teaches at Purdue and lives in Miller Beach. He was fascinating, good looking and gay.
Eye spy again the next table, and see they have ordered dessert, and I had to know. So I glanced at the menu and was very pleased to find the largest selection of desserts I have ever had the pleasure of perusing at a Thai or Asian restaurant.
The ladies had ordered Mango Sticky Rice and couldn’t quite describe the texture. They ordered well and it looked like they were smartly planning ahead because they had several to go containers for dinner.
Here are some shots of the grocery store. We were very interested in the tamarind paste that makes a delicious sauce used in the Thai drunken noodle and other dishes.
We wanted all the key rings. And one each of the jello animals. Very good candy section but we are worried about all the plastic that’s used to make the fun colorful packaging.
Don’t be a racist ignoramus. Embrace and be kind to immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ folks…you don’t know all the gods, goddesses and angels who may be walking amongst us.
