Been on a Thai kick lately and came here for lunch with some friends recently just to check it out. I’d always thought it strange that they offered Thai and sushi, but upon arrival, noticed that the “sushi” sign was blacked out and it is only Thai on the menu now.
The restaurant still possesses a sushi bar style seating, although it feels strange to sit there. We opted for a table instead. The decor is a lot more modern and chic than I had expected to find especially in this strange little strip mall.
I always choose Crying Tiger to gauge the restaurant’s authenticity. Twisted Crying Tiger ($8.95) resembled glazed teriyaki beef rather than Crying Tiger which should comprise of distinctive grill marks since the meat should be grilled. The accompany spicy citrus sauce is very good as well as the chili sauce, and both of these brought the dish to where it wasn’t able to stand on its own.
We were intrigued by Three Flavor Soft Shell Crab ($12.95) and were amazed at how huge the one soft shell crab was. It is battered and then deep fried and topped with a house special chili sauce with onions, carrots, pineapple, tomatoes and Thai basil. The sauce was interesting even though it wasn’t super exciting.
I really enjoyed the House Special Fried Rice ($9.95) with scallop, mussels, shrimp, green beans, crab meat and served with boiled egg halves on the side. The rice is slightly spicy but full-flavored and very tasty. I felt it required some acidity to it and a spritz of lime juice would’ve done the trick.
Black Pepper Garlic ($6.95) with your choice of protein — we chose chicken — was liked by all even though neither the pepper nor garlic overpowered one way or the other. It was a nicely seasoned chicken dish, but didn’t stand out as a black pepper or garlic one.
Even so, we enjoyed our meal and service was passable. Would I return again? Possibly, but there are other Thai restaurants serving up dishes more suited to my palate than Twisted Noodles and those are the ones I’ll be sticking with.
Twisted Noodles
23808 Mercury Road
Lake Forest, CA 92630
Tel: 949-855-9888
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