The SLY Foodie

For Father's Day, the boy and I decided (ok, it was really just me) to take my husband out to Daisy Mint in Pasadena. It serves Oriental cuisine, although it primarily offers Thai dishes. This is my second time going, as we had gone there for a friend's birthday dinner a few months prior. I was pleasantly surprised the first time, since the food was very good. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the food that night, especially since most, if not everything we ordered was a Daisy special.

So this time, determined to take as many pictures as possible, we ordered soup, appetizer, and several dishes. The first course was the appetizer, which were eggrolls that contained vermicelli noodles, cabbage and a little egg, deep-fried and served with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce. (Aside: The restaurant charges $2.50 for these eggrolls, which I thought were a bargain until our server brought it out. There were only two eggrolls! Here I was, thinking there'd be at least 4. Oh well. So much for that.) See what I mean?

The next course was the soup, which was a Tom Kha Chicken soup, which can be considered the Thai version of a hot and sour soup. It's cooked with tender pieces of chicken, shrimp, button mushrooms, scallions, cilantro, lemongrass, kaffir lime, broth and coconut milk. You can order it with more shrimp or scallop for an additional charge. I am a huge fan of hot and sour soups, so I was really looking forward to tasting this one. I was not disappointed, it was so good that I was secretly glad it was spicier than my husband would have liked it. He did mention later, however, that he liked it as well because he could really taste the sweetness of the coconut milk in this soup. My only critique, if any, is it was served in a small bowl. I could have had that for dinner alone and be satisfied. Doesn't that just look so good?!

The next dishes were entree dishes, which are served with a side of brown or white rice. My husband ordered the Daisy back ribs, which are pork ribs marinated with a salty shellfish type of rub and then either deep-fried or oven baked. We had ordered this dish the first time, and I really enjoyed the saltiness of the rub contrasted with the sweetness of the tender pork. I have to say this time, though, I was slightly disappointed because I think the pork was overcooked and so the outsides were too crispy. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this dish to share.

I ordered the Red Devil curry, which is chicken (or beef, if you prefer), red and green peppers, tender bamboo shoots, basil and a wonderful curry sauce. You can customize the dish by adding shrimp or scallops, again for an additional charge, and you can also make it as spicy or mild as you like. This was also another dish that we ordered the first time I went to Daisy Mint, and I really enjoyed it. This time was no different. I can't say enough about how good it was, other than I had to order another bowl of rice for all that tasty sauce.

We also ordered the Pad Thai, which is a traditional Thai noodle dish with chicken (or your choice of beef, pork or shrimp), peanuts, onion, garlic, egg, a little fish sauce and tossed with fresh bean sprouts and scallions. It was a good, rounded dish, but quite frankly, I was devouring too much of the curry to really have room for Pad Thai. It seemed like we ordered it more as an afterthought.

It was a pleasant overall experience. The ambiance of the restaurant can cater to larger groups, but it will definitely accomodate quiet, romantic dinners as well. Parking is available in front along the street as well as in the back. Try to make it to an early dinner, as it will fill up quickly since it's a small restaurant.