Dining Out: Little Bangkok
Although I enjoy a handful of Atlanta Thai restaurants, I have one clear, hands-down, beyond-comparison favorite, Little Bangkok. This Cheshire Bridge spot is notoriously short on parking and long on waits, but any hassle is worth it. I've always assumed everyone knew about this place since it's one of the first places my friend Bobbi took me to when I moved to Atlanta. In fact, she had a group of girlfriends who met at Little Bangkok for lunch every Tuesday, and she invited me to come along.
This was fun, but what was surprising was how week after week we rarely varied our order. And so, in tribute to my "sticky rice girls," I offer a simple, but utterly delicious insight into one of the best meals in Atlanta.
Start with the Basil rolls. The sauce isn't necessary and is a little too sweet for me, but the rolls are scrumptious!
I am also addicted to the green papaya salad. Green papaya is basically an unripe papaya (GREEN) which is shredded into a salad. The traditional preparation is to make the salad SUPER spicy and serve it with dried beef. Little Bangkok makes it very spicy. Just perfect!!However, the reason I come to Little Bangkok is for the amazing sticky rice.
This isn't like sushi rice, which gets its stickiness from rice vinegar and sugar. Thai rice is made with a glutinous rice soaked for 24 hours then kneaded like a bread dough. It's completely high maintenance to make, so this is really an eating out treat.
It's one of my favorite things to eat anytime and anywhere.So delish!! The best way to eat sticky rice is by molding the rice into personal dip sticks and soaking it in a soup or sauce. See how the rice holds together? It comes out of the soup and holds its shape perfectly!What am I dipping the rice in? SO glad you asked! It is the Tom Ka Gai soup (Coconut Chicken Soup).
Oh my how I love this meal!!If you've never eaten at Little Bangkok and ordered these dishes, I am THRILLED that you have this meal in your future. Oh how I love it.
Just remember the green papaya salad is spicy!!