Araya's Place

Last month Jennifer and I had a coupon and went to Araya for dinner. This was the first time we had ordered off the menu there and not had the all you can eat buffet. Araya is known for vegan cuisine, and they serve no meat. Thai food makes an easy transition to vegan as dairy is not traditionally used in the food, so only meat needs to be removed.

I do not exactly remember what Jennifer had on that visit last month, but I believe it was avocado curry. I had the pineapple curry which I really enjoyed. Although I did find it lacking in complexity. It was peppers and pineapple in a coconut curry with multiple mock meats. The addition of another vegetable would have enhanced it greatly I felt.

We just went back again for the buffet Tuesday due to us not having power at our house. That, and I had been fasting for a blood test so all you can eat was a good way to break the fast. Araya does not have many items for the buffet, but that does not worry me too much. However, two of the items had zucchini as a prominent vegetable and summer squashes are down on my list in foods I like to eat. I mostly stuck to the Pad Thai and added some steamed broccoli to it. It is also good time to get fried rice as I am unlikely to order that as an entree when dining at a Thai restaurant. I also had plenty of the fried spring rolls too.

While I would never say that Thai restaurants in New Jersey serve better food than in Seattle, I have a complaint about Thai in Seattle. When dining in a Thai restaurant in New Jersey, you frequently get chile sauces brought to the table. In Seattle, you usually have to ask for them. In addition, a "sauce" that often appears in NJ restaurants is almost nonexistent in Seattle. This sauce consists of mostly green hot chilies (Serrano? Thai?) in a broth that I believe is mostly soy sauce. The only place I find this sauce is in the mall at the food court. A bummer because I really like adding hot sauces to my food at a Thai restaurant. Araya does have a very nicely flavored chile paste available and I used copious amounts the other day while dining there.

Another wonderful thing about the buffet is the black sticky rice and coconut milk dessert. I finished my meal with a small dish of the dessert and was quite content.