Angel’s a solid Thai alternative

By on December 7, 2009  |  Downtown Grand Rapids, Lunch

IMG_0039There’s nothing quite like the beautiful burn of a well-prepared Thai dish to warm your stomach on a blustery, cold day. I love to torture my taste buds with spicy food. So I was pleased to visit Angel’s Thai Café, downtown’s newest Asian restaurant.

Angel’s, in the former Four Friends Coffee House location across from Rosa Parks Circle and the new Grand Rapids Art Museum, gives West Michigan diners another solid choice for Asian cuisine. A recent visit for lunch proves there is an insatiable appetite for all dining options from the Far East. The restaurant was packed with a lunch crowd and people were waiting by the door.

While Angel’s is good, it is not heavenly. Lunch started with a bowl of soup, though I’m not exactly sure what it was. It is not listed on the menu and that’s a good thing. The soup was simply horrible. The broth was flavorless and bits of greens and cabbage floated lifelessly in the bowl. Two spoonfuls was all I could muster before pushing it aside. I was surprised by how bland (and lukewarm) the soup was since I enjoy the fresh bright flavors of Tom Yum and Tom Kha soups, both of which are on the menu (ranging from $2.95 to $3.75, depending on the choice of protein).

So it was with some trepidation that I dug into my main course, Drunken Noodle, a Thai restaurant favorite of mine. I should start by explaining Angel’s menu a bit. Lunch is $6.95 for any of its entrées with chicken, beef, pork, vegetables or tofu. The dishes are $8.95 for shrimp, scallop, squid or imitation crabmeat. Dinners are $9.50 and $11.50 accordingly. I love the simplicity of the pricing system. It is a great idea. Though the pricing is simple, the menu is massive, even by Asian restaurant standards. There are 50 entrées, seven appetizers, five soups, two salads and four dessert choices. There is something for everyone.

Entrées are categorized into several sections, including curries, noodles, fried rices and Angel’s Signature Dishes (available for dinner only). Now back to the Drunken Noodles. I love heat, so I decided to go with the “hot” spice level. Diners can choose from no spice, mild, medium, hot and extra hot. My Drunken Noodles were scorching hot, a bit beyond my liking. My fault; lesson learned. Even the most seasoned spicy food connoisseurs should think twice about going hot or extra hot. It was the second spiciest dish I’ve ever had (only behind a vindaloo curry dish at an Indian restaurant in Detroit that caused some of the strangest nightmares I’ve experienced). All this to say: Err on the side of caution when it comes to spice at Angel’s.

IMG_0041The dish itself was delicious. Wide rice noodles were covered in bell peppers, onions, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts and pan friend in a cooking wine sauce with eggs. I would order it again. My lunch companions had Pad Prik Khing (string beans stir fried with ginger in a gang pha curry sauce); Angel’s House Noodle (wide rice noodles with eggs, bamboo shoots, carrots, onions, and bell peppers stir friend in a yellow curry sauce). Both were happy with what they ordered.

The excellent service was provided by Julie Lee, a co-owner of the restaurant.

It should be noted that the restaurant is small. If you plan to go for lunch, make sure you beat the downtown noon lunch rush, if possible. Other than the soup, if I had any complaint about Angel’s, it is the décor. The tables and chairs look like they were recycled from an old Chinese restaurant and the walls are painted a garish blue. The decoration is an absolute mess.

But in the end, it is all about eating and Angel’s is a solid alternative to West Michigan’s growing number of Asian restaurants. It will certainly give XO, located a few blocks up Monroe Center, a run for its money. It is not the best Thai restaurant in West Michigan (that title is a toss up between Rak Thai in Plainfield Township and Thai Palace in Holland) but it is a solid contender. Angel’s is good, but the owners should know the devil is in the details if they ever want to be great.

Angel's Thai Café  ( Rating: out of 5 )

Where: 136 Monroe Center NW, Grand Rapids
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Friday; noon to 3 a.m. Saturday; noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Ambiance: Casual
How much will it cost you: Lunch from $7 to $9 and dinner from $9.50 to $11.50.
Credit cards: All major
Alcohol: No
Reservations: No
Contact: (616) 454-9801

  • Peter B.

    It’s good to see this website is finally publishing reviews for something other than pizza and sandwich restaurants. I honestly expected Jimmy John’s to be the next review, followed by the new Peppino’s. Dear reviewers: it IS possible to order food in this town that doesn’t come with a side of fries or chips and a pickle.

    Regarding Angel’s, I have to wonder about downtown Grand Rapids when four Asian restaurants are on the same street within 2 blocks of each other (Yama Sushi, Morado, XO, Angel’s). Is it too much to ask for a bit of variety on Monroe Center?

    Also, while I appreciate this site’s “we don’t eat around the bad” credo, why did this restaurant get 2.5 stars out of 5? You state the food was excellent (aside from your error in ordering food too spicy for your palate) and the service was fantastic . . . yet you dock the restaurant 2.5 stars for [free] soup which you didn’t like and their decor.

    I have not eaten at Angel’s, nor am I affiliated with them in any way, I just disagree with this site’s open invitation for review submissions by people who simply have no business reviewing food (did that previous reviewer REALLY praise Olive’s chopped-olive-and-mayonnaise spread??). If you want to be taken seriously by the food conscious crowd in this town you should rethink your choice of restaurants to review and then send qualified people to review them. By “qualified,” I mean someone who is not going to go to a restaurant just because they have a coupon so they can review a hamburger cooked well done and brag about “complimentary refills” of Coke.

  • Rob Kirkbride

    Everybody, it seems, is a critic. :)

  • Jamie L

    Peter, it appears evident that you did not actually read the review. While Mr. Kirkbride does say that his dish was excellent (apart from the spiciness, but then again, everyone’s palate is different than the next) and his service, nowhere else did he sing high heavenly praises for the place. His first dish he met was horrible (Hello, mr. first impression) and the place seemed as if it was just rehashed from various other Chinese Buffets.

    Mr. Kirkbride also states that “…Angel’s is good, but not heavenly,” “…is a solid alternative,” “it is not the best Thai restaurant…but is a solid contender” and “Angel’s is good…if they ever want to be great.” That, to me, constitutes a fairly average place. Which, in my mathematical book, is 2.5 out of 5. 5/2…yup, 2.5.

    Also, Peter, if you’ve ever been involved in any sort of journalism, then you should know that these guys don’t go to review places they’ve got coupons for. In fact, judging by the relative size of GRGrub, it’s not even likely these guys get reimbursed for their meals. Besides, “complimentary refills” of Coke is something to brag about, you know.

    Now if you’ll pardon me, I’m going to brush up on my food expertise by watching the Food Network some more.

  • Peter B.

    Jamie, your post perfectly points out why this review is flawed. You say the place seemed rehashed, but in what way? Rob said that his dish was excellent and his service was excellent, but he drops the review to 50% – an “F” by college standards – for reasons only vaguely referenced (beyond his dislike of the soup).

    Would you regularly dine at a place which had lousy food and mediocre service if the ambiance and decor were great? Probably not. Would you frequent a restaurant with excellent food and impeccable service even if they hadn’t updated the paint since Carter sat in office? I would. Food and service constitute (IMO) at least 80% of a restaurant experience and a balanced scorecard for a restaurant review would obviously place a much higher weight on food and service than on other factors. In my mathematical book 80% = 4/5 stars.

    Also, you apparently have not read the previous review which I was referring to – the review of Olive’s by Steve Kokx. You say that the reviewers don’t go to places they have coupons for, yet Steve clearly said, “Taking advantage of a $10 coupon from restaurant.com, a friend and I visited Olive’s . . .” As far as being reimbursed, every review I’ve read on this site so far sounded as if the reviewer had eaten there by choice and was incidentally posting a review. As stated previously, it’s not like they’re hemorrhaging cash by hitting the 5-star restaurants in Grand Rapids – it’s all pizza and sandwiches so far.

    Finally, complimentary refills of Coke are standard fare in any restaurant with table service and are still nothing to brag about. It’s ridiculous to me that you even argue this point and also leads me to believe that your dining experiences are even more limited than those of the reviewers. If this site’s next published review is for a location where you actually have to pay for refills, perhaps the food court at Woodland Mall or the Taco Bell on Michigan Ave (which isn’t unthinkable by their restaurant choices so far), _then_ you can brag about “free refills.”

  • Rob Kirkbride

    Peter,

    Let me start by thanking you for taking the time to post your comments. I sincerely do appreciate any and all feedback on a review. That’s what is great about being a foodie. We are passionate about what we eat. Let me explain how I came up with 2.5 stars: Think of our rating system the same way you would as a grade in a college course. 4.0 is an A, 3.0 is a B, 2.0 is a C, 1.0 is a D and everything below is an F. Angel’s, in my opinion was slightly better than average. That’s why I gave it a 2.5. It wasn’t great and it wasn’t bad. GR Grub is in the process of revamping our website to make our scoring system easier to understand.

    We review restaurants because we love to eat. As you can see, there are no ads here, we’re not making money. We just love food.

    As far as your comments on where we eat are concerned: We eat where most everyone else eats. Most people do not eat at the 1913 Room (though we do have a review of it coming up). Most of us eat a sandwich at the Green Well or a pizza at Brick Road or a stir fry at an Asian restaurant like Angel’s. That’s why we’re eating there. Given the economic climate in West Michigan, we feel more people are eating at Olives than Bistro Bella Vita these days. And I certainly don’t think there’s anything wrong with using a coupon to buy a meal.

    This web site is for people who like to eat. It doesn’t take a culinary degree to know what tastes good or bad or what constitutes a great meal.

    Thanks again for the comments. Be sure to check out our latest reviews. We have a few fancier places coming up. And tell your friends about us, even if it is to say that we suck.

    Rob

  • MuddyG

    LOL! Rob, though I have been mindboggled by some of your ratings in relation to the corresponding reviews, I enjoy your site, and I appreciate the tone with which you addressed Peter’s criticism! So what if you just review whatever place you happen to stop, or for which you have a coupon?

    Though, like Peter, I’d prefer not to read anything about well done burgers. Which reminds me– I feel that any love of a Choo Choo’s burger is based solely on ambience and affection for the proprietors. They are nothing to write home, let alone blog, about. ;^)