Silk elephant

I have already written several reviews in which I espouse the joys of restaurants that offer a variety of small dishes, to be ordered in combination. For that reason, I was intrigued when I found out about a restaurant called the Silk Elephant that advertised itself as having "Thai tapas". It is on Murray Avenue in Pittsburgh's vibrant Squirrel Hill district. It's hard to keep up with all the restaurants on Murray Avenue. There are many, and they often change.

We had no trouble getting a seat at a booth off to the side of the main room. The host was not there when we arrived, but a bartender stepped up and seated us. It was a comfortable environment. The lighting was subdued, a bit dimmer than I like, but preferable to glaring brightness. There was a multicolored awning above us.

There was a fair choice of wines by the glass. Janna went for a pinot grigio. When they didn't have the variety she ordered they gave her a higher quality glass for the same price. I stuck to reds. I had three different glasses over the course of the meal: a Ruffino Chianti, a 14 Hands cabernet, and a Bin 555 shiraz. The 14 Hands was my favorite; while the Bin 555 tasted very harsh.

We ordered their Tom Kha soup, always a favorite of ours at Thai restaurants. The menu said that any soup could be ordered with chicken or mushrooms. We asked for chicken, and fortunately got mushrooms too, as we would have been disappointed not to have them. They were also very good. The soup varied slightly from the Tom Kha I've had before. It used chili flakes rather than chili oil, which I thought reduced its spiciness somewhat. We also detected no sign of ginger or lemon grass, common flavors in other versions of this soup, though there was fresh cilantro on top. The relative sparseness of flavoring ingredients brought the coconut milk to the forefront as the dominant taste. The soup had been poured over fresh green and mild red peppers, a pleasant and crunchy addition I hadn't encountered before.

There was a plethora of other dishes we were eager to try. We ordered the following dishes in two batches: spring rolls, moo and goong steamed dumplings, curry puffs, Thai crab crowns, crispy rice, Phuket beef, and Thai shrimp toast. Most of the dishes came with their own sauces, but many of them seemed to be akin to sweet and sour sauce, not one of my favorites. Fortunately, I found most of the dishes were fine without the need for additional sauces. The Phuket beef had an additional ginger-based sauce. Best was the crispy rice (somewhat like Rice Krispy squares but not sweet), which had a sauce that mixed peanuts, chicken, and shrimp. Every dish also came with some kind of garnish, at least a carrot flower, sometimes more.

Of the dishes we ordered, I enjoyed the crab crowns and shrimp toast the most. The crab crowns had a tasty, creamy filling that was just delicious. The shrimp toast also had good flavor and texture, and was crusted on top with sesame seeds.

The crab crowns were among my favorite dishes, with a very tasty, creamy interior. I also liked the shrimp toast a lot, flavorful and crusted with sesame seeds. Everything else was quite enjoyable too. The only thing we really didn't care for was the glob of extremely sticky rice that came with the Phuket beef.

All in all, the Silk Elephant was a very pleasant dining experience. It fits in perfectly with my natural affinity to ordering a variety of small dishes and wine by the glass. As far as I'm concerned, Thai tapas is a success. I would be very happy to see the idea carried over to other types of cuisine!