The diners at iThai might just pick up a history lesson while deciding what to eat. In the menu, blurbs about the dishes lend insight to their flavors and how some fit into the culinary landscape. It states, for instance, that American-style fried rice—ketchup-fried rice with sausage, chicken, and fried egg—was first served to US Marines stationed in Thailand during World War II. Or, more recently, that CNN selected massaman curry—a dish iThai bulks up with boneless short ribs and potatoes—as the world’s most delicious food in 2011. Despite wading through history, though, the menu’s focus remains on flavor. Chefs take creative liberties with their dishes, crafting quirky categories such as I’m Adventurous and Gotta Have’em Entrees to introduce fried rice with crispy pork belly and wok-fried vegetables with oyster sauce, both of which leave mouths happier than Humpty Dumpty in a super-glue factory.
