This past week on Steven's birthday we made a return visit to Siri Thai on busy Powell Boulevard, in justified anticipation of another scrumptious meal. We'd lunched there on previous occasions, always walking away pleased with the cheerful and efficient service, the lovely interior made especially noteworthy by its cleanliness and the large number of orchids in bloom, along with the beautifully prepared cuisine that consistently left us content and satisfied with our choices.
As usual, Siri did not disappoint. The wait staff welcomed us with generous smiles and a recollection of our previous visit, even pointing out that on our past visit (at least a month ago!) we'd just been to the Benjamin Moore paint store across the street before arriving at Siri for lunch.
Thursday was a warm and lazy afternoon, and we started off with the Appetizer Special of the Day which was a tempura plate of squid, carrot and broccoli pieces with the house special sauce. It was so delicious that we decided to have an appetizer lunch and ordered the Combo Appetizer Plate of: 3 egg rolls, 3 blanket shrimp, 3 crab puffs & 2 salad rolls, accompanied by both the house specialty sauce and a velvety peanut sauce, along with an iced Thai coffee, my personal, mid-day favorite beverage. Soon simply marvelous tidbits of food filled our table!
Our dessert choice was the mandatory Thai dessert of a fried banana, but done Siri style, with a scoop of ice cream topped with a maraschino cherry, surrounded by bites of tender fried banana, and positioned on an icy cold plate which prevented the ice cream from immediately melting. Nibbling on the banana dessert as well as a complimentary fried ice cream ball, thanks to Steven's birthday, and sipping on the refreshing Thai coffee, we unequivocally declared that this was a perfect birthday lunch ... or anytime lunch!
As we looked around the restaurant, we saw that other diners must be agreeing with us. Siri Thai is obviously on other people's radar, too. We overheard businessmen talking about shipments. We observed office and shop workers arriving as singles, ordering, eating and quickly leaving in order to meet the constraint of their lunch hour. There was a group of 5 ladies seated at another table enjoying the pleasure of a summer afternoon in this metropolitan area, as well as several tables of 2-3 people like ourselves who were celebrating and/or taking a break from running errands. We also noted that there were a number of take out orders during our 1.5 hour stay in the restaurant.
Oh, and we shouldn't forget to mention the "no hassle parking" at Siri. Simply turn left off of Powell Boulevard on the far side of Siri's building, and you'll find a strip of parking spaces. What a treat to discover this treasure trove of free and easy parking in Puddletown!
Siri Thai
5234 SE Powell Boulevard
Portland, OR 97206
503.954.2300