NCCOAST.com Dining

Topsail Island's Thai Grille:
Great Food and Good Vibes

The slogan says it all for Thai Grille featuring authentic Thai cuisine with a twist of Americana, located in Surf City. The restaurant offers great food in a calming atmosphere befitting the spirit of Asian culture. Many of the restaurant’s recipes have been passed down to owners Ray and Alicia Gardner from Alicia’s mother, affectionately known as Mama Lek, who was born and raised in Lobpuri, Thailand and is the daughter of a true Thai Buddhist monk.

The Gardners have teamed with Asian-trained chef Travis Obertach to create a menu that honors Mama Lek’s recipes and has something for everyone. Authentic Thai dishes include Pad Thai, Satay with Thai peanut sauce and Thai curries. The yellow curry is a house favorite. Thai Grille also offers Asian-style chicken wings in four flavors: sweet chili sauce wings, Thai hot wings, teriyaki sesame wings and soy garlic butter sauce wings. Another palate pleaser is the crab and cream cheese wontons. Thai Grille is also known for its fresh spring rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce, handmade daily.

Other Thai favorites include beef and basil, pork and ginger, and Mama Lek’s own crab and shrimp stir-fry. All dishes use the freshest produce, meats, seafood and herbs including fresh Thai basil, Thai peppers, and fresh cilantro. Dishes are prepared to order from mild to spicy Thai hot.

Not in the mood for Thai? Thai Grille offers an Asian strip steak, a 12oz. cut of New York strip loin marinated with garlic soy, chargrilled to your specifications. The Asian barbecue ribs are to-die-for featuring a full rack of pork ribs pre-steamed in a bamboo steamer then marinated in an Asian Hoisin barbecue vinegar sauce and chargrilled to order. These fall-off-the-bone ribs are said to be the best in the area, as are the crab cakes, made in the true Maryland style and served with a sampling of sweet chili sauces. Thai Grille is known for its sauces, from spicy-hot Sriracha red pepper sauce, Thai pepper fish sauce, sweet chili sauce and wasabi vinaigrette, an excellent compliment to Thai Grille’s always fresh yellowfin ahi tuna, served as blackened tuna bites and as a sesame-encrusted pan-seared tuna steak, a local favorite.

Don’t forget dessert. One of Thai Grille’s signature items is Thai Fried Bananas with caramel toffee crunch ice cream. Thai Grille also offers a full ABC bar with a tasty selection of drinks, wines and beers from all over the world. Come enjoy dinner in the smoke-free dining area or the smoke-free bar while watching sports or surf videos on the flatscreen HDTV. Thai Grille also features live music on the weekends and outdoor dining on the patio.

Thai Grille, open 11am – 2pm Monday through Saturday for lunch and 5 – 10pm for dinner, is located at 13500 Hwy 50, Suite 107, before the Surf City drawbridge in the Surf City Gateway Plaza across the street from Food Lion. Call for reservations, 910-329-4424, or visit www.thaigrille.com.

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