Sen Yai Sen Lek/ Big Noodle Little Noodle

As you may be able to tell, I go out to eat on whims. So on this whimsical Thursday night, I found myself cruisin' Central Ave NE to find an eating spot. I had a hankerin' for some Asian food - no easy feat here in NE. I had been to Sen Yai Sen Lek before with a friend, despite the great hype it had been recieving. But I found it lacking, for reasons unknown now because I didn't blog them. However, I reconsidered and found myself there again.

The decor is very appealing. Modern (nearing it's 1 year anniversary) and spacious. There's a main eating area, with an array of booths and tables, paintings on the wall (can someone change this trend?) and yellow walls, red walls, blue walls. Off to the right lies the bar area, and some additional seating, in what is a seperate room altogether. This is where I was drawn.

(a kind of picture)


It's quite cozy there. Kind of like you are in someone's apartment. So I decided to sit at the bar (which i never do - i usually loathe eating at the bar. I was feeling feisty I guess) and hunker down for some eats. Plan of attack: standard appetizer-entreee combo. The menu isn't totally extensive, nor is it bare-boned. They have 6 appetizers. Fried spring rolls, thai spring rolls, satay, lettuce wraps and fish cakes. I opted for the lettuce wraps. I vaguely remember having the spring rolls last time, and not liking them. I mean...isn't that kinda hard? Anyways, after a very short wait, I was brought this:

(excuse the dark crappy pic.)
Since its dim there and cell phone pics suck, I shall describe from the top, clockwise. It is:

Lettuce leaves - though I'm not sure what kind. Stems, dark, oval shaped. Is that lettuce? What is it??
Toasted coconut
Teeny tiny pieces of lime
Ginger (much appreciated)
Green peppers - green thai chilies? Diced very tiny
Small diced red onion
Dried shrimp
Peanuts (whole, without shells)
A salty/sweet shrimp sauce for dipping

Besides these being...not very hand friendly, allow me to collect my thoughts on the mess of this dish, and spew forth my well formed opinions about it. *rubs temples*

Ok -first off, weren't we all expecting something..pre-wrapped? Ok - so maybe you like to be creative with your food. You're a painter or something. However, I'm not. I was..hungry. Regardless, I went with it, but hesitantly. Putting each ingredient into the lettuce. First the coconut, then each other thing, kind of one by one. By the time I got through forcing myself to go slow and actually think about what I as doing, 5 minutes went by. Let me remind you I am severely ADHD. Anyways, I then tried to..roll the stuff up in there. It came spilling out, the lettuce tore, and the sauce got on my hands making them sticky. I also got a bite full of chili and onion, Mouth-fire! But, next time, I decided to be patient. I tried again, with a bigger leaf. This time I put no chili, and more shrimp and more ginger. This resulted in a loosely, but successfully, wrapped item. I bit in and got an unpleasant leather-texture chew of the dried shrimp. I guess..it IS dried shrimp after all. In addition, the whle peanut I put in there came tumbling out. Why in the heck did they have all these teeny tiny diced things..but then WHOLE peanuts? How about crushed? It makes so little sense, I have to stop thinking about it now.

What was I expecting? Should I have expected more? Should I have been able to successfully create my own appetizer, picking ingredient one by one, so delicately placing the tiny things on there in an expert flavor arrangement? In short: did I fucking do it wrong?? Needless to say, this dish made me think too much, and it made me question my abilities too much. I ate half of it before giving up. Sorry Sen Yai.

For entree, I ordered the Pad Bpai Graw Pao. Translated: Thai basil stir fry with ground pork or chicken, garlic, chilies and long bean. Served with steamed rice, topped with a fried egg. I chose chicken, like usual. As I do at every Asian restaraunt, I asked what vegetables come in this dish. Peppers and onions, which I do not like. I asked if they would mind leaving those out and putting broccoli and other green stuff in there. No problem, they said. I was hopeful, then waited.

Forgive me for lack of picture, but it was so dark and my cell phone really sucks. Here's the breakdown.

The rice was appropriately sticky. The broccoli was cooked well, and not in overbearingly large chunks. They also put chinese broccoli in there. Nice move. It was quite garlicky, or so my mouth told me after I was done eating it. It had a tray of 4 add ons if you wanted - sugar, thai red chilies (dried), some sort of soy sauce with peppers in it, and just peppers/chili's in liquid. I found the dish to be flavorful, but added some of the soy sauce concotion onto a portion. I found it to then be too salty. The fried egg on top comes out as is, not chopped up, and I appreciate this. You can cut it and get a nice eggy, yolky bite here and there.

Overall, I found it it to be well balanced. More successfully, it's one of the ONLY asian places I've ever been to that has gotten the spice level perfect. It had me sniffling, but just a little, and not as if I was thinking of dead relatives. One gripe I have is that I had to actually look for the chicken. It's chopped up so very finely, it gets lost. Trust me, I don't like huge, chewy chunks of whatever they serve up at some asian places. But I like to chew a bite here and there. I love the taste of chicken, but I also love the texture of it too. It just wasn't there.

I don't think I will be back. If someone wants to pay, then ok. I am just overall not too impressed with this place. And my hands still stink, after 3 washings.

http://www.senyai-senlek.com/