Lots of folks who drive up and down the south end of Broad Street more often than they prefer have been watching what’s been going on at the Ace shopping center. For months, Ace has been the place of a new development that folks are familiar with. Familiar, yes, but convenient, no. Rain Thai Bistro opened its doors in 2008, its owners coming straight from Laos with “nothing in their pockets.” Authentic Thai cuisine followed and was well received by Chattanooga.
Lots of folks traveled to Lee Highway no matter how close they lived to the restaurant, always making it known they would love a more convenient location. Just over a month ago, Rain Thai Bistro Express opened at 2700 Broad Street, and Facebook was swarming with folks exclaiming their excitement over picking up fresh basil rolls on the way home from work or spicing up their evening at home with an order of masamam curry.
I’d never eaten at Rain on Lee Highway when I stopped in to pick up dinner. I definitely planned on picking up a lunch order and saving it for dinner because I’d much rather pay $13 instead of $19 for pad Thai. Sure, maybe the dinner portion is larger, but the lunch serving was more than ample. The pad Thai was good, but not amazing. The pad Thai at Lemon Grass Thai at the Walmart plaza in Tiftonia is better in my opinion.
The Broad Street location of Rain is more of a pick-up spot than dine-in, but there are a few tables for folks who want to grab a quick lunch there. Gus Glascock and Battle Glascock took the opportunity to catch up over lunch when I was there and thoroughly enjoyed their orders of ginger chicken. The spicy basil noodles with pork is another popular choice, and folks seem to order that one on repeat. You can order everything seasoned to your liking, mild, medium or hot, and I chose mild for everything I ordered.
Another time we had the fresh basil rolls with shrimp, the garlic chicken and the cashew chicken. The basil rolls and the garlic chicken were good but not over the top for me; the garlic chicken is fairly flavorful and includes broccoli, but neither are to-die-for. However, the cashew chicken, I would kill for. Tons of cashews, a scattering of carrots and snow peas and onions and yummy, tasty chicken in a divine sauce … just look out if you’re trying to sneak a bite of mine.
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Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series “If Bugs Are Banished.” “Making Arrangements” is her first novel and is available in paperback and on Kindle. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.
Caption: Dianna Janinai welcomes folks and answers any questions about the menu.