Double Y Wooded Estates

Great Food Spots

Sukohthai - Great Thai Food

Fielder N Plz Ste 423
Arlington, TX 76012-2308

Phone: 817-860-4107

Restaurant Review

By SHELLY MOON
Finding healthy choices is not difficult at Sukhothai.

The tiny restaurant offers authentic Thai cuisine. The owners, sisters Yoon and Rao Sakullerdwittaya, prepare their dishes with customers' taste buds – and arteries – in mind.

"We use canola oil. We use fresh vegetables," says Rao Sakullerdwittaya, who does most of the cooking. "There is no MSG at all. A lot of people are allergic to that, and it makes you very thirsty."

The appetizer menu includes the popular chicken satay ($4.95 for six). The dish is made with seasoned chicken threaded on skewers, then grilled. It is served with peanut sauce and cucumber salad. Other options are shrimp won tons ($5.49 for six), wrapped shrimp ($5.95 for six) and spring rolls ($4.95 for four). The spring rolls are filled with ground beef, carrots, mushrooms and glass noodles, tucked inside a thin, crispy wrapper.

On Friday nights, Sukhothai even offers a healthy alternative to fried spring rolls. Giant servings of steamed spring rolls are served as a pair for $5.95.

The cool salad menu is a welcome sight during the summer. The salads fall into two main categories: vegetable salads with beef, seafood or chicken ($5.95 for chicken to $9.95 for the mixed seafood); and noodle salads, which are $6.95.

The Sakullerdwittayas report that customers like the kang massaman with chicken ($5.25 at lunch and $7.95 for dinner). The curry dish is made with a yellow-powder curry paste, coconut milk, potatoes and peanuts.

A lunch portion of sweet and sour chicken ($5.25) was served with steamed rice, a spring roll and soup.

The soup tasted like it was little more than heated chicken bouillon with a slice of raw carrot and a sprig of Thai basil – that's cilantro to Tex-Mex diners – thrown in.

The sisters' focus on freshness was obvious in the main dish. The bell peppers were still crunchy. The dish also had pineapple chunks, onions and tomatoes and chicken, all blended with the flavorful tomato-based sweet and sour sauce.

Thai food has the reputation of being too spicy for American palates, and the owners of Sukhothai understand that concern. Anything on their menu can be ordered mild, medium, hot or "Thai hot." Most customers want the fiery stuff, they report.

In keeping with their healthy eating motto, all of the dishes can be ordered vegetarian style as well.

Sukhothai is a cozy restaurant in a shopping center near the intersection of North Fielder and Randol Mill roads. It owes its fresh, clean appearance to a recent remodeling.

During a Monday lunch visit, most of the tables were full, and they fill up fast on Friday nights, too. Carry-out orders are a large part of the business.

Service during our lunchtime visit seemed a little slow, but the food was definitely worth waiting for.