Friday, November 5, 2010

Ploy Siam - Robbinsville, NJ (Dine at your own risk)

It’s Friday night, and we went home and did the usual Friday ritual of cleaning, then taking a shower before heading out. Unfortunately, it is a work weekend for me, so we figured it would be an early night, and opted for something quick and easy. That said, we headed over to Delorenzos Tomato Pies in Robbinsville, only to see that there was a long wait. So from there, we headed down Route 33, to see what else we could find.

Moments later we remembered that we had heard of a Thai Restaurant from someone, somewhere, right down the road in the next shopping center, so we figured we’d give it a try. I think this actually came from someone that we met at the Farnsworth House in Bordentown, so we figured we’d give her recommendation a try.

As soon as we walked in, all I could think to myself is WOW! They dropped some serious money into the interior of this place, or should we say palace? From the gorgeous stone work around the waterfall and pond, to the tile work around the restaurant, to the huge wooden apron coming down from the ceiling on the left side of the restaurant. The décor really was gorgeous! We were sat along the long, narrow water feature, and I sat on the bench side, which went the entire length of the water feature. This was adorned with nice Asian inspired pillows. The tables looked nice with their dark stain, and even the silver wear was meaty and expensive looking. All these touches were done with class.

Ploy Siam is BYOB, so I opened up the wine bag, pulled our glasses, and popped and poured a 2005 Chateau Malmaison Bordeaux. This would have been perfect with a tomato pie at Delorenzos, but definitely not my choice for Thai. No worries though as we are not big believers in food pairings.

We looked around the restaurant as we perused the menu, and there were about 14 tables seated. Not bad at all for a Friday night, and this place could seat quite a few more. The couple next to us had the most well behaved kids we have ever seen, and they were just so proper. It was actually quite refreshing to see…

Our server came back to the table to take our order, and we started tonight with the Thai Spring Rolls. These came out a few minutes later, fried up golden brown, and nice and hot. The vegetables tasted good and fresh, and you really can’t go wrong with these. Unless of course your ingredients aren’t fresh. That said, these were very nice.

On the entrée front, Zelda went with the Pad Cashew Nut with chicken, which was stir fried with green bell peppers, pineapple, scallions, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, baby corn, onion, etc. These had nice flavors too it, and the chicken was tender. This wasn’t a knock your socks off kind of dish, but it was as good as anywhere else around here.

For my entrée, I ordered the Pad Thai, and it looked very nice, with a giant mound of noodle, shrimp, scallion, bean sprout, egg, crushed peanut, and tofu. I went to take my first bite, and as I raised it to my mouth, I got a horrible smell. As brought my nose closer to my plate, and I hate to say this, but the smell was almost a cross between smelly feet (I know, this is a terrible descriptor, but it is honest), as well as dry cat food. For those of you with pets, imagine a double bowl, where the food and water are right next to each other, and the water has been spilled into the food, making it swell and crumble. This is exactly what it smelled like, and I just could not get past it!

I put the smell aside (the best I could), and took a small bite of the pasta, and it tasted off. I also took a small bite of the shrimp, and it too tasted off to me. The colors on it seemed very dark, and it was very fishy. Yes, I understand that shrimp is seafood, and it is supposed to be fishy tasting, but these just did not seem right to me. It was actually a bit scary, as in Thai cuisine, shrimp is served by the ton, and I hope this was an isolated incident. Even so, my stomach turned, and I just couldn’t eat, and really lost my appetite.

So my question is, where did this dirty smell come from? Was it something in the sauce? Was the oil bad that this was cooked in? We thought maybe it was the tofu, but I don’t think that that was it. It just smelled dirty and sour. There was zero freshness here whatsoever, and all I can think is that one of the ingredients was spoiled. But what ingredient could it have been?

At this point, we were a bit disgusted, and asked for our check. Our server and the staff could tell that there was something wrong, and I really didn’t want to make a scene. I could have complained, but what really is the use? It’s not like these were expensive entrees, so we’ll take it as a lesson learned. Had the restaurant not had a lot of tables within ear shot, I probably would have said something, but again, we didn’t want to cause a scene.

That said, we hopped in the car, and took a drive down the road. I knew that we needed to eat something, and laugh as you will, but we stopped at Pizza Hut to get our annual Pizza Hut craving taken care of. Once or twice a year, we crave some good old fashion down and dirty Pizza Hut. Is there anything wrong with that? Oh heck no, and I do love me some stuffed crust! That said, Zelda opted for green pepper on her half, and I went with sausage, and it was just what the doctor ordered. Maybe we should have come here in the first place. Either way, we won’t be back to Ploy Siam.

Ploy Siam
Foxmoor Shopping Center
1041 Washington Blvd
Trenton, NJ 08691
Phone: (609) 371-9600
http://www.ploysiamthaicuisine.com/

Pizza Hut
630 New Jersey 33
Trenton, NJ 08619
Phone(609) 587-8342

3 comments:

Skip said...

I also recently ate at Ploy Siam, I agree the decor is amazing, a real transformation from the Asian buffet that was there before. I also agree that the food did not knock my socks off, but I did not have the experience you did with something being spoiled. I had the vegetable dumpling appetizer and it was bland, but fresh. The entrees that we had were good, nothing smelled funny or tasted bad, but it was not the best thai food we ever had. I think what happened to you is an isolated incident and I would give them another try. I understand not wanting to cause a scene, but perhaps something was spoiled and they didn't know, I am sure they would have appreciated knowing what the problem was. Anyway, glad you enjoyed your Pizza Hut!

Anonymous said...

I have also eaten at Ploy Siam several times and found the food to be outstanding. I would suggest that what happened
to you was an aberration and I feel that you did the establishment a disservice by not bringing it to their attention.

In my experience, I ordered a dish that was spicier than I expected, and it was immediately replaced with one less spicy. Once, my vegetables cooled while I conversed and they were immediately replaced.

To me it seems excessive to headline your comments "eat at your own risk" after such limited experience at the restaurant
and no attempt to point out the problem to the staff--but that's just me.

I will continue to enjoy my meals there, and I sincerely hope that you will give them another try.

Although not a foodie, I've lived in Thailand and am familiar with the food.

Sunako said...

This restaurant prioritizes its takeout business before its dine in clientele, which is weird, considering how much they spent on the decor...

On Fridays and Saturday nights, people will wait for eons before even getting a menu and seeing their entrees, and yet they'll see several folks waiting for takeout grab their orders. Slow, slow service. You may think in minutes and hours, but these people think in terms of geologic time-- the Ice Age will return and disappear before you get your food!