Singha Thai II

Singha Thai II
780 N. Jefferson
Milwaukee, WI 53202
414-226-0288

Ever since I ate at the Thai Deli in the basement of the Portland Building, Portland, Oregon, four or three days a week for three or four years straight, I’ve been spoiled when it comes to Thai food. It’s not about the gourmet quality, or really anything particular about the food, it’s just a matter of having gotten so intensely USED TO it, that all other Thai food seems somehow WRONG. So I don’t go to Thai restaurants as often as I used to, but this one opened a year or two ago, downtown Milwaukee—I guess Singha I is out on Highway 100—so this was a happy addition to downtown's “no matter what you call it, it’s still a sports bar” world.

Also, this was my attempt on this evening to have a Friday Fish Fry with BROILED fish, as the nearest sports bar fish fry only had fried fish caked in wheat. I thought I’d try HOU MOK PLA, which is a fish in coconut milk with basil. I don’t know what kind of fish, but it took extra long to prepare (which the excellent waitress took care to warn me about) but it was good. Really good flavor. Though it was too dark to really see it. It could have had the head on, I don’t know, it was dark in this place, I wouldn't have known. I ate it all, and also had the coconut and brown rice dessert which is pretty special as far as I’m concerned. A dessert you can really sink your teeth into, though you might not be able to get them out.

One of the things I especially like about this place is that the bathroom is an adventure to get to—well, not really, but there's an exceptionally long hallway to get to it. The hallway is lit dramatically, and it bends in an “L” shape and continues on. They have placed a really creepy looking easy chair at the bend, kind of like saying, “Sorry it’s so far, stop and rest if you need to!” But what it REALLY says is, “You are now in a David Lynch movie! Watch out for little people, severed ears, and contradictions in logic.