I recently had the opportunity to check out Racha Thai on the Southwest Cutoff (route 20) near Greenwood Street in Worcester. Because I try to avoid carbohydrates I opted for the, “Fisherman’s Basket,” which according to the menu consisted of a variety of steamed seafood and vegetables, seasoned with “Thai exotic spices.” The visual presentation was actually pretty cool — it was served on a large dish in a foil wrapping. At the table the waiter cut two slots lengthwise in the foil, then pulled up the center piece to form a basket with a handle. Steam poured out and the contents became visible. So far so good… good service, clean surroundings, informal setting, easy to hear the conversation even though we had a large table of about ten people, and priced right. Not to mention the best part — they serve alcohol.
When the time came to taste this interesting looking dish, I first took my fork and dug around a little. The first thing I noticed was that there was at least two types of seafood that I did not recognize. Everything else looked good — the scallops, the mussels, and the shrimp were very recognizable. So the remaining seafood items: squid, fish fillets and crab meat made up the remainder. I’ve lived in New England and on Cape Cod all my life, I love fresh seafood, so maybe I’m spoiled, maybe Thai seafood is different, or maybe I should have, as was suggested, had someone else order my meal. In any case the meal had great potential — had they just stuck with native New England seafood … and spiced it up a little more. Which brings up another suggestion: put shakers of the Thai exotic spices out on the tables so that the customer can spice there food to taste. Other than that, everything was great — especially the company. -RS