What to expect when you don't expect much
By: Daylan Santos
Have you ever researched a restaurant and hope that the place you choose would be good? Well, that person was me and I picked this place called "Nara Thai Dining & Sushi Bar" for my cultural food report in humanities.
I thought that Nara would be a great place to eat because I had researched on Yelp and found that many of the people who reviewed Nara were favorable. A lot of them often referred to a peanut sauce and how good it tasted. I thought it was a neat concept and had never heard of anyone cooking with that, or for that matter would I have ever thought to cook with peanuts and cashews. For that reason and it's good reviews I made my decision to eat at Nara's restaurant for my cultural food report.
Finding Nara is not easy if you're not looking for it. It is located behind the McDonald's and Chevron on Garth road in Baytown. Many people frequently pass up this shopping center when they are looking for somewhere to shop and eat. I can only hope this new establishment will thrive in Baytown because it is one of the better Asian restaurants here. On the negative side of things Nara is located in a kind of shabby shopping center that makes it blend in with the other masses of Asian cuisine that runs along it. On the other hand, it's a really great place to sit, eat, and experience especially since there's not many Thai restaurants around.
When you walk up to Nara you might think it's not the greatest of places, but don't let that fool you. When you walk into Nara it is actually a very nice place to eat. Entering into Nara you are greeted by a friendly hostess and are able to pick your own spot to eat. Me and my sister noticed the nice oriental decor and the red, black, and gold theme. At the time we went it was very quiet, so I guess we caught them on off peak hours. The bright red walls that surround the restaurant have pictures of Thai gods and on the tables were yellow hibiscuses. Towards the back in the foreground a sushi bar is flanked on either side by two gold and colorful paintings of geishas.
The booth we sat in was covered in gold fabric and the tables had red linens with white paper on top which I thought was odd. I guess they have that for families with kids since at the end of the table there were a cup of crayons. Other than the odd paper and crayon situation the service was fairly good. The waitress we had was kind and attentive and took our drink orders promptly and then asked if we would like to try an appetizer. We asked for the "Sampler Appetizer" that came with chicken skewers in peanut and cashews sauce, crab cheese wontons, fried green beans and carrots, fried spring roll, calamari, stuffed open dumplings, slaw and pickled slaw, and two sweet red and dark brown sauces.
As we waited for the appetizers and drinks to arrive I sneakily took a picture of the sushi bar that was behind us. It looked like a traditional Asian style sushi bar complete with rice paper shutters and bar stools. The bar was stocked with a variety of cold fish and some other things we couldn't make out, but It did look really good! However, I don't think I would try to stomach raw sushi. 
In a moments time our drinks and appetizer arrive and they look and smell real tasty. Our waitress then ask us for our main dish and she writes that down and we proceed to chow down on the goodies. My sister and I decide to try the chicken skewer with peanut and cashew sauce. Since I had been anticipating it I had hoped that it was as enticing as the reviewers had said on Yelp. As I bit into the chicken skewer the combination of the peanuts explode in flavor and tasted nutty and herb like that maybe was rosemary or jasmine. The fried portion of our appetizer was also great light, flaky, and puffy it had the texture of funnel cake and was semi-sweet. The cheese wonton had plenty of crab and cream cheese (I'm guessing) and tasted like it had chives which was personally one of my favorites. Likewise, the open face dumpling was great and had a flowery taste that varied in sweetness. For picky eaters, like my sister, this appetizer is the best way to go because it's on the "American" palate. 
For our main dish my sister ordered the Thai Fried Rice because she's not an adventurous foodie and I ordered the Thai Cashew Nut that had beef and Jasmine Rice. To our surprise the food didn't take long to arrive. Our reaction when we received the food was great because the it was piping hot and presented nicely.
The real taste test was tasting the real good looking food in front of us. My sister tasted her Thai Fried Rice and said it was very good and that it wasn't like another fried rice she had. She said for me to try it and I reluctantly tasted it. I noticed that it was light and airy tasting but also had an flowery aroma and herb like taste that pretty good. My dish on the other had was supposed to be spicy but was actually sweet. The beef in my Thai Cashew Nut was perfection and very tender even the vegetables were cooked perfect unlike some places that serve undercooked veggies. The cashews that encrusted the beef were really good and I assume were lightly fried to the beef in a batter of peanut sauce.
Overall, my experience at Nara and my first try at Thai food was good. I think this is a place a lot of people would pass up because they would assume that it's just another "Chinese restaurant", but they would be pleasantly surprised at the great Thai food that Nara serves. I say, give this place a shot and you'll like it. Reflecting on my experience I found that my expectations were definitely met, and that it was as good as all the hype suggested on Yelp. As a result, I think I will give this place another go ahead.
