Paste Thai
Paste Thai is a new Thai restaurant located in the South Davis Nugget plaza. It replaces Chicken Hawkers that had the location before. The restaurant is a mom and pop restaurant and family owned. I asked one of the owners what the name Paste meant and they told me that it was in reference to the curry paste that is so often used in Thai cooking.
You’ll find many of your favorite Thai dishes at Paste. Entrees like pad thai, drunken noodles, and various curries are available to order. If you’re into Thai food, Paste will most likely have what you’re craving.
As a big fan of green curry, I found their version to be excellent. The green curry is smooth and creamy but still has that tantalizing heat that is its signature. The peppers, eggplant, and chicken within were cooked perfectly and the curry complimented the rice very well. This is a dish that I would certainly order again and again on visits to Paste.
I did, however, find the fried tofu appetizer to be underwhelming. I love it when tofu is fried to a beautiful crisp and seasoned so it is popping with flavor. That’s not really the case with the fried tofu here. I found it to be bland. Even with the sweet chili sauce, it just needed to be more of a kick in terms of flavor.
A friend of mine joined me to try Paste and they ordered the pineapple fried rice with a papaya salad. Both items were of good quality. The papaya salad looked fresh and had a sprinkling of whole peanuts on the top and the pineapple fried rice was garnished with cucumbers to give it a very fresh taste.
For dessert I was surprised to see that fried bananas were on the menu. I have always been a huge fan of fried bananas so I was excited to see what these were like. When they came out I was puzzled as they basically looked like tiny egg rolls. Thankfully, biting into the roll was great. The crunch of the outside went very well with the soft and warm banana inside. It was definitely a pleasing end to our meal and perfect with ice cream.
Service was sufficient at the restaurant. There is the option to sit inside or outside. The inside is a bit dark so we chose to sit outside in the little patio area. The tables there are quite small, but since there weren’t a lot of patrons on our visit we were able to put two tables together for our meal.
In terms of price, I’d say that Paste is just a touch more expensive than most other Thai restaurants. Main entrees are above the $15-16 mark so be prepared for that.
Overall Paste Thai is a nice addition to the Davis food scene. The food here is well done and on par with what you’d want from a local Thai restaurant!
Website: No website as of this review
Address: 417 Mace Blvd Ste I Davis, CA 95618
Rating: B +
If you were a fan of Chicken Hawkers, the restaurant that came before Paste, I believe you can still order chicken dishes similar to those on the menu. So even though the old restaurant is gone, the dishes are not forgotten!
