If you have a craving for Thai food, you have plenty of options in the Edgewater/Andersonville area, but if Jin Thai (5458 N Broadway) isn’t on your list of go to places you’re missing out.  The quaint little restaurant opened in the spring of 2011 on the southwest corner of Broadway and Catalpa in the space formerly occupied by Panda Panda.  Whether you’re looking to dine in, carry out or have your meal delivered, Jin Thai is sure to deliver (no pun intended) a solid dining experience.

On one of our recent scortching hot summer days I had the opportunity to dine in at Jin Thai, and because of the heat I couldn’t enjoy the sidewalk cafe.  Despite being such a small space, the little air conditioner did seem to struggle to keep up making the temperature a bit on the uncomfortable side indoors – but that is where the negativity ends in this review.  The decor is simplistic with an Asian influence, and the staff is friendly and attentive.  My dining companion and I began with crab ragoon and edemame appetizers to go along with our bottle of wine (gotta love BYOB!) while we perused the vast menu of rice, noodle, curry and other Thai dishes.  We ended up selecting THE Thai staple, Pad Thai, along with a basil fried rice dish with shrimp.  Both were excellent, reasonably priced and came out from the kitchen quick, but not so quick that we didn’t have time to finish the appetizers – a personal pet peeve of mine.

Jin Thai has also become a popular delivery option in my household, and they have never disappointed with the quality of the food and speed of the delivery service.  Recently, while having a few guests over prior to attending a concert in Uptown, we decided to order Jin Thai for our guests.  Rather than go through the excercise of having each guest select a dish and have a massive order the owner of Jin Thai put together large trays of Pad Thai, Fried Rice and appetizers that pleased our guests and was simple to serve and clean up.  The owner even personally thanked me for such a large order, and threw in a few items for free that I did not order!  Such small touches go a long way in my book.

Tags: Jin Thai, restaurants, Thai cuisine