Fai Thai transforms from food truck to Gay Street restaurant | Grub Scout – Knoxville News Sentinel
Prior to opening its doors on Gay Street recently, Fai Thai had operated as a food truck. I never got a chance to sample their mobile fare, but the food was highly lauded by folks I know who had been there. So The Grub Spouse and I were more than happy to drop in last week and check out their brand-new digs in the heart of downtown.
The menu is still fairly limited, not unexpected for a recent food-truck operation that perhaps hasn’t had time to scale up its offerings. We saw appetizer listings like spring rolls, chicken gyoza and Crab Rangoon among the appetizers. We stepped up to the counter and selected Mama’s Kanom Jeep ($7.99) — steamed wonton dumplings filled with seasoned ground chicken, pork, shrimp and shiitake mushrooms.
Salad selections include grilled chicken Thai salad with peanut sauce, a papaya salad and Crying Tiger Beef salad with tamarind sauce. Two soups — tom kha and tom yum — are served with a choice of vegetables, chicken, tofu or shrimp.
The Spouse and I skipped ahead to the main course options, which included the stir-fried Drunken Noodle dish, pad Thai, Thai-style fried rice, and red or yellow curry. All main dishes come with a choice of chicken, tofu, veggie-only, beef or shrimp, and each is an upcharge over the base price of the dish.
I ordered the Masaman Curry ($12.99) with chicken ($1.99). The chicken is prepared in a Thai and Indian curry blend made with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star spice, cumin, bay leaves and nutmeg. The soup-like mixture also features potato, onion and peanuts and is served with jasmine rice.
The Spouse got the basil stir fry ($12.99), also with chicken ($1.99). This dish has basil leaves stir-fried in a Bangkok-style brown sauce with onion, red and green bell peppers and carrots, and it’s also served with jasmine rice.
While the interior setting is more than suitable for an enjoyable meal, The Spouse and I took advantage of the pleasant temperature and dined al fresco. Much of our reasonable wait time was occupied chatting with a professional colleague of mine (and his spouse), who happened to be headed toward Market Square.
The kanom jeep dumplings were served first. The five dumpling cups were delicious, each packed with an uber-palatable mix of meats, mushrooms and spices. Right about the time we were polishing off the last morsel, the proprietor delivered our main dishes to our table.
The Spouse’s stir-fry was quite good. The brown sauce was a salty-savory medium for the delectable array of chicken chunks and chopped vegetables. I was partial, however, to my own curry dish. The Indian-spice influences in this Southeast-Asian dish were notable, and I appreciated the blend of chicken, vegetable, potato and curry-broth, which I spooned over the heaping mound of aromatic rice. We both just managed to earn our Clean Plate Club designation for the evening.
More Grub Scout:Zalate Taqueria brings Mexican cuisine to the table near Powell
Coffee and tea imbibers will be interested to know they serve several Thai variations on both beverages as well as coconut water with pulp and a sweet-and-creamy coconut milk drink.
Fai Thai has the distinction of being one of the few Asian-food restaurants downtown (Nama, Kabuki, Kaizen, Fin-Two), and it’s the only one on Gay Street. It’s also the only Thai restaurant among the bunch. However, I think it will ultimately be the authentically prepared cuisine, lovely setting and hospitable service that make Fai Thai stand out even more.
Fai Thai
Food: 4.25
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Overall: 4
Address: 522 S. Gay St.
Phone: 865-386-6992
No alcohol service
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 12 to 8 p.m. Sundays
A flavorful array of authentic Thai dishes and hospitable service awaits guests at this new Gay Street eatery.