2024 update: This restaurant closed in (I think) 2024 and was replaced by Bangkok Thai.
I saw someone else mention Kapow Thai in a recent post, and it reminded me that I had not yet written my report on this restaurant. I visited it last month for lunch with two friends, Jane and Susan, but I was interrupted by work and travel, and it fell by the wayside. However, I still remember our meal!
Kapow Thai is at 1377 Forest Park Circle, Ste 102, on the
southeast corner of Arapahoe and 95th Street. I believe “kapow” (which has
several spelling variations if you search for it online) refers to a stir-fry of
chicken with basil and chilis, and the restaurant does feature this on its menu,
both in a noodle dish and as a stir-fry topped with a fried egg. None of us
ordered it this time, however.
We went a little on the early side on a Friday afternoon,
and it was very quiet, but a few more groups came in before we left. The woman
who waited on us told us that the restaurant was perhaps best known for its
authentic curries and pad Thai. I wanted to try an appetizer, so we got an order
of chicken satay, which came with peanut sauce and sweet cucumber relish. Then
Susan ordered pad thai with chicken, I ordered pad see ewe with shrimp, and
Jane ordered green curry with tofu. We had the usual debate about spiciness
levels. Susan asked for “moderate,” and the server suggested mild, which she
agreed to. Her dish turned out to have no heat at all, even though she wanted a
little, but she said she doesn’t think it matters a lot for pad Thai. Jane
asked for hers spicy and thought it was about where she wanted it. I asked for
medium and, as usual, found it about at my tolerance limit. (I’ve been pushing
this limit so often lately that you would think it would change, but it doesn’t
seem to!)
We all liked our food. The chicken satay was cooked just
right, and the peanut sauce was especially good, nice and thick, although I
liked the cucumber relish as well. I recently switched my Thai restaurant default
choice from pad Thai to pad see ewe because the latter includes veggies, and I
like the wide, flat noodles. This was excellent pad see ewe, and the shrimp
tasted fresh. Jane said her curry was delicious, and Susan liked the pad Thai.
We all had leftovers to bring home, and mine reheated very well the next day.
There are some interesting-looking things on the menu that I
would like to try another time (pumpkin curry! Northern-style curried noodle
soup!). The restaurant is open 11–3 and 4–8 every day except Sunday (closed) and
has an online ordering system, which I have not tried. The menu is posted on
the website: https://www.kapowthaiusa.com/menu.
* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.
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| Chicken satay with peanut sauce and cucumber relish |
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| Susan's pad Thai with chicken |
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| My pad see ewe with shrimp |
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| Jane's green curry with chicken |
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| Jane looks like her curry makes her happy. I'm thrilled with my noodles too. |
