Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Osha

I will preface this by saying that I am prone to exaggeration, but holy crap, Osha has the best Thai food. Like ever. I should also say that I've been craving their pumpkin curry for about a week now, so finally having it tonight was like a bit of savory spicy creamy heaven. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I also split a bottle of wine with Sara, my awesome "other", so forgive me.

Osha, from afar, is everything I hate about restaurants. It's got hipper-than-though decor, overly-dim lights, and numerous locations throughout the city. However, the food is so damn good that it totally makes up for all that. Not to mention that the service is ridiculously fast and friendly. In fact, whenever I used to get the Thai food itch, I would drive across town to the Valencia location. Luckily for me, the Union Street locale opened in the last year or so, and now I can squelch my curry craving with a quick walk.

This evening, I started with my favorite of appetizers, the fresh spring rolls. This rice-paper bundle of tofu, mint and basil pairs perfectly with the accompanying peanut sauce. I really can't say enough about the mint/peanut combination. I can still remember years ago when I first discovered the complex flavors of Thai food, and this particular combo remains one of my favorites to this day. I love food that continues to impress!



Next up was the star of the evening - the pumpkin curry. Now vegans, you must be wary with Thai cuisine in that fish sauce can be found in most everything, even the "vegetarian" dishes. One of the reasons I love Osha so much is that, in addition to nailing the flavors every single time, they are also the only Thai place I've found to consistently execute my request of "Please, no fish sauce" with accuracy. On top of that, it's so damn good. The pumpkin and bamboo and peppers and tofu are blanketed in this reddish curry deliciousness that just has to be tasted to be appreciated. I first discovered this dish while actually in Thailand in 2005, and I'm happy to say Osha's version is just as good, if not better!

So vegans, grab your others, head to any of the Osha locations, peruse the extensive veggie selections, and then do yourself a favor and order the pumpkin curry. :)

Oh, and if anyone cares, I highly recommend a good pinot grigio with Thai food!

6 comments:

sarac said...

delish! for you others out there, the cashew nut chicken with brown rice is highly recommended as well!

Joselle said...

Your dishes all look delicious. I love Thai food. Perhaps another place to add to the long list of restaurants to hit during our trip in July?!

Hi, Sara!

Sky said...

Definitely a must-do, Joselle - especially because it's in the neighborhood. I'm sure we could convince Sara to join us as well. Can't wait. :)

Joselle said...

I just looked at the menu. I still want to go but there's a cake cutting fee? I've never heard of that!

What if you eat cake with your hands?

Sky said...

Maybe it's a San Francisco thing, because I feel like I've seen that pretty often. Kind of like a corkage fee when you bring your own wine. I guess that feel like they gotta make some money even if you bring your own cake. But who would get cake at Osha when there's mango and sticky rice?? Yum.....

Joselle said...

That makes sense. I don't get out much in these here parts of Jersey, you see.