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Daily Herald: Oishii Thai offers fresh, healthful Thai specialties

If you enjoy bona fide Thai food with a healthy, fresh composition, Buffalo Grove's Oishii Thai offers just what the doctor ordered. Dishes packed with flavor and vegetables at moderate prices, along with a pleasant, attentive staff, present an appealing dining option in a sea of strip-mall platitudes. Tucked away in the Creekside Commons shopping center, at the heavily trafficked corner of Weiland Road and Buffalo Parkway, this gem lies on the same strip as a Pizano's and Wiener Takes All, making it the coolest kid on the block.

Chef owner Sinee Techa opened Oishii, which means delicious, in December, with the dream of re-creating the magical food experience of her childhood. She grew up in Thailand's countryside, where neighbors taught her the art of cooking and sewing at a young age. Also the owner of Wheeling's award-winning Lily's Window Fashions, Techa intends to push Oishii to the same level of eminence. She credits her food's fresh taste to not skimping on ingredients. The restaurant's motto, "food heals life," greets you upon entering. Shimmering orange and buttery yellow walls, along with Anawat Sampanthavivat's reincarnation of Buddha (a series of lushly colored paintings), create a backdrop of tranquil serenity. Just 50 seats divided between the booths with chocolate brown cushion backs and granite counter tables exude intimacy and beauty.

Upon our arrival on a Sunday afternoon, we represent the sole guests in the eatery. Midway through our meal a father and his two teenage daughters pop in for lunch. Thai pop music playing softly in the background adds an additional notch of quiescence. The menu contains a wide-ranging selection of Thai favorites spruced up with homemade sauces. Fresh vegetables and herbs reign over the array of soups, salads, noodle dishes, fried rice dishes, entrees and house specialties. At the top of the heap, house specialties ($19.95), including basil duck, duck teriyaki, maple duck and garlic prawns, bestow the opportunity for lofty consumption, but most plates land in the reasonable $9.95 category.

Seventeen tempting appetizers baffle, but a quick consultation with our server clinches the deal. Crab Rangoon and the shumai (steamed shrimp dumplings) provide a good mix of tastes and textures. The crab Rangoon's softly crispy exterior blends exceptionally well with its cream cheese, crab and herb filling. The shumai dumplings turn out to be delicate and savory. We can't stop eating the larb chicken salad, a spicily addictive concoction of broiled ground chicken and fresh lime dressing. Even more piquant, the papaya salad creates a pleasant fire in the mouth, which I put out with a forkful of rice. Entrees include chicken, beef, tofu, seafood and fish options, along with variations of curry, fried rice and thick or thin noodle dishes. The cashew chicken resembles a blend of Chinese and Thai, with pineapple, tender pieces of chicken, cashews and bell peppers, topped with dried chilies. Although not listed as spicy, we find it on the moderately hot, yet delectable side. The less spicy pad kee mao made with fresh basil leaves and a laundry list of fresh vegetables provides good balance to the chicken dish. We enjoy wide rice noodles that pair well with the tofu and cascade of broccoli, bell peppers and tomatoes. For dessert suggestions, we ask our server for help. Her suggestions result in a well-rounded conclusion to the meal. We marvel over the traditional Thai custard - a small square of coconut milk, palm sugar and eggs with a dollop of freshly whipped cream and walnuts. Equally exquisite, the diminutive banana rolls contain deep-fried bananas in a crispy blanket, covered with chocolate sauce.

Service throughout our meal reflects the restaurant's philosophy: elegant, friendly and understated. We enjoyed that we got to linger and had to ask for our check. I'm definitely singing praises of this place to anyone looking for a healthy dose of delicious.

• Restaurant reviews are based on one anonymous visit. The Daily Herald does not publish reviews of restaurants it cannot recommend.

China Star Media: Oishii Thai brings upscale Thai cuisine to Northwest Suburbs

Dairy farms and cheese producers used to dominate the area around Buffalo Grove. Now corporations have moved in, Motorola’s cellular group is only minutes away. The town made Money’s 2009 “Best Places to Live” list, at number 65. Only 35 minutes north of downtown Chicago, when one has the taste for Asian food, do you head for the city or is there great Asian food in Buffalo Grove?

Chef / Owner Sinee Techa wants you to know that she has the freshest and healthiest Asian food in the Northwest suburbs! At her restaurant, Oishii Thai, she serves authentic Thai cuisine. Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia, about the same size as Spain, surrounded by Burma on the north, Laos and Vietnam on the east and Cambodia to the south. China is about 500 miles to the northeast.

It’s not surprising then that Thai cuisine blends many ethnic groups and their cultures in the same way that many different ingredients and flavors make up Thai cuisine. Fresh rather than dried herbs, like cilantro, lemon grass, Thai basil and mint provide a burst of flavor. Ginger, turmeric, garlic, soy beans, white and black peppercorns and chili peppers add rich and deep flavors that blend together into tantalizing dishes. With China so close, it is not surprising that other dishes made their way south and became a part of Thai cuisine.

So it was quite exciting to try out what Oishii Thai has to offer, especially with the introduction of their new Sushi Bar. At our recent visit to Oishii Thai, Chef Sinee didn’t hold back. We started with “miang kum” as an appetizer. Using la ot (leaves from the chili plant) as a wrapper, we filled it with tiny bits of lime, toasted coconut, dried shrimp, onions, ginger and Thai chili. With a drizzle of sauce that Sinee said was a secret recipe, the result was a mouthful of flavor that changed with every bite.

It was a great introduction for a variety of sushi where presentation almost outdid the sushi. A Dragon Boat of fresh sushi, a Tower of Spicy Tuna and an island of fresh sashimi looked picture perfect and tasted the same way. Almost too pretty eat!

The vegetarian cucumber roll was marvelous, and a good indication that the other vegetarian dishes would not only be innovative, but delicious. The Pad Thai was equally delicious, with some of the biggest grilled shrimp I’ve seen perched on top of a mound of savory rice noodles laced with eggs, bean sprouts and peanuts.

Dessert was a platter of banana rolls, a crispy roll of banana stuffing, wrapped in a pastry, deep fried and drizzled with melted chocolate. It was a mouth watering dish that requires three of four rolls to totally satisfy the taste buds that kept asking for more. Top the meal off with a Thai iced coffee, and you’re ready for a nap.

Oishii Thai seats fifty in a cozy restaurant that is richly decorated by Chef Sinee herself. An award winning designer in another world, interior design, she provides a beautiful environment to enjoy her creations. Granite table tops, natural fabrics and original artwork by Chicago artist Anawat Sampanthavivat surround the diners. In addition to dining in the restaurant, Sinee also caters for group and corporate events.

“Oishii” is the Japanese word for “delicious” and the restaurant lives up to its name, Oishii Thai, delicious Thai food, and delicious sushi as well! Upscale in every way, and enough variety on the menu to keep one coming back for more, Oishii Thai is located at 1113 Weiland Road, just north of Lake Cook Road in Buffalo Grove. Oishii Thai is open Monday – Thursday from 11am to 9pm, Friday and Saturday from 11am to 10pm and on Sundays from 12 noon to 9pm. The phone number is 847-537-8889, and more information can be found at www.oishiithai.com.