Jul 12th, 2007
Smile Cafe
Smile Cafe
www.thaismilecafe.com
215.564.2502
105 S. 22nd St.
Smile Cafe is one our favorite finds! There are 2 dozen Thai restaurants in Philadelphia – you could have fooled me! I was aware of a few, but it wasn’t until we stumbled out of Smile Cafe (BYOB) that I knew what we found. Our first visit started out with a few tasty bites of fried tofu with a tamarind sauce, and fat New Zealand mussels in lemongrass broth. I also had a most satisfying Pad Thai.
Another time, we started with a perfectly grilled calamari salad, and the brilliant combination of escargot in puff pastry. Then I had a Crispy Half Duck and Matt had Charcoal Beef, served with sticky rice and cabbage slaw. We have never had room for dessert, but next time I must try the fried banana with ice cream. The food seems genuinely Thai and the service is exceptionally friendly (it is called Smile Cafe after all), and the prices are very reasonable. If you are planning ahead reservations are not a bad idea due to Smile’s limited seating; we tried to walk in during the dinner rush once and had to turn around and go to Erawan (luckily just a block away on 23rd, also serving killer Thai food and BYOB).