SOPHIA’S THAI KITCHEN IN DAVIS

Em and I went to go visit Karen in Davis this weekend, and Karen lead us to an awesome little Thai place, possibly the best Thai I’ve had in my extremely limited experience. It’s called Sophia’s Thai Kitchen, and it’s a small, well-decorated and well-lit room slipped in behind a few other store-fronts (including its own bar extension).

Maybe it was the fact that we arrived in the middle of the kind of rain storm that is made all the more depressing by its pitifully lackluster sprinkling, but it definitely felt especially warm and comforting to be there. Decor was both interesting and relatively unaffected, with a big map of Thailand on the ceiling, pictures of Thai shadow puppets on the walls, and a cool diagram of the Thai alphabet, which is quite a looker, as languages go. We had apps in the bar, which consisted of corn fritters and “heavenly beef.” The beef was surprisingly tender, and corn fritters were warm and gooey on the inside, crisp and fried on the outside. Karen has decided to initiate subsequent raids in search of them. Once we were seated in the main room, I ordered the kanom jeen, which is basically a bowl of rice noodles in a curry broth. The noodles were the thin ones, not the huge fat slabs you often get in Thai stir fries, but not the vermicelli ones either. The veggies included crisp, juicy snow peas, green beans, red and yellow peppers, and the obligatory cilantro. As usual, everyone looked at me sideways for finishing every last bite. I have the soul of a 700 lb. man. It was really a great chill-beating dish, served in an excellent little restaurant. If you’re ever in Davis, CA, check it out.