Thai food on a budget doesn’t get much better than what comes out of the kitchen at Blue Sapphire. Add to that an attractive layout and attentive service and you have the makings of a fine evening.
Not that downtown Evanston is exactly hurting for Thai restaurants: Siam Square and Thai Sookdee are within walking distance. But the food at Blue Sapphire is at least as good as that at those two standbys.
Skewered appetizers such as chicken satay ($4.95) and moo ping (marinated pork strips, $4.95) arrive looking and smelling as if they have just come off a very hot grill. The peanut sauce for the satay is thick but not gloppy or oversweet, and the sharp garlic sauce magnifies the penetrating effect of the pork’s marinade.
Instead of heading directly from appetizers to pad thai and curries, consider pausing among the soups and salads. The vegetarian version of tom kha ($2.50, small, and $5.50, large) is a heady gathering of those aromas so strongly associated with Thai cooking: lemongrass, ginger, lime and cilantro simmered in coconut milk. A quick stir reveals straw mushrooms and strips of cabbage in the mix. Spicy beef salad ($5.95) has two weaknesses: its boring iceberg underpinnings and the beef’s slight chewiness. But again, the meat, tingly with garlic and peppers, is appetizingly seared, and the iceberg has the advantage of remaining crisp under the warm beef.
Tod mun ($5.95), deep-fried fish cakes, display a chicken-nugget-like resilience that seems to be characteristic of the dish, but it is oddly agreeable. They benefit from a spicy, sweet-and-sour sauce with cucumbers and plenty of cilantro.
On the noodle page we reluctantly skipped pad thai and tried the spicy basil noodles instead ($6.50). The wide rice noodles soak up the salty, spicy sauce and are tossed with well-cooked and quite fresh vegetables: crisp green beans, sauteed eggplant, some tomato quarters that are as good as you’re likely to find this time of year, and basil leaves added at the last minute to hold on to their vivid green. Ground chicken adds staying power and richness.
And speaking of rich: Gang dang ($6.95), a red curry of your choice of meat with bamboo shoots, peas, basil and eggplant, doesn’t stint on the coconut milk. Spooned over rice, it packs lots of flavor, but globules of fat floating on the surface of the serving dish let you know this is no diet plate.
Because your arteries are already under attack, why not try the coconut custard ($2) too? Short and sweet, the 3 1/2-inch square has a texture somewhere between true custard and a bread pudding.
Thai and domestic beers are available, as are several fairly priced wines by the glass and bottle. Best bet for us and the spicy fare was an off-dry riesling from Washington Hill at $12 a bottle. By-the-glass selections are $3.25 and $3.50.
Service is very good. Our waiter made sure he asked how spicy we wanted the various dishes (mild, medium or hot), and he had help in getting dishes to our table in an orderly progression.
One test remains for the future: How is the pad thai?
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Blue Sapphire
(Three forks)
1709 Benson Ave., Evanston
847-475-9374
Credit cards: A, D, DC, M, V
Wheelchair accessible
Ratings: 4 forks: Top of the class
3 forks: Better than most
2 forks: Very good fare
1 fork: Middle of the road
Reviews are based on anonymous visits by Tribune staff members.The meals are paid for by the Tribune.
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Reviews are based on anonymous visits by Tribune staff members. The meals are paid for by the Tribune.
