What to Eat in Pittsburgh

Mr. Foodie and I are always on the lookout for new restaurant openings. Not the glitzy fancy ones – not that there’s anything wrong with that but, we are way too introverted to get a rush from that. We would rather get our rush from finding a new cozy neighborhood place.

One day, while driving down East Carson Street not too far from our apartment, me in the driver’s seat and Mr. Foodie next to me, I heard him shout “stop! Thai food!” We screeched to a halt. We were hungry, right? Yep, hungry enough.

Mr. Foodie had eagle eyes for sure. I still couldn’t identify what he had seen, until we got really close: we saw a small sandwich board sign outside of the old “Your Pie” pizza that read “Thai food.”

Apparently we had stumbled into the soft opening of a Thai place that was not yet named. A friendly server, who was also the chef we would later learn, greeted us. They were running an opening week special: Thai green tea. Who would say no to that?

Wow. Just like a delicious Thai iced tea but with that smooth green tea flavor. Our hearts raced a little. This place was promising.

I remember exactly what I ate that first visit. Mango salad with chicken and summer rolls. Mr. Foodie had the pineapple curry with chicken.

Let’s just say this led to an all-out two-month Thai food bender, during which we learned that the place’s name is Dancing Crab Thai Noodlehouse (the eventually they got a sign). Here’s the exterior now:

Every time we come, the chef, Lek, comes out to say hello and thank us for eating there. Even though the place is large and has clearly been remodeled recently, Lek makes you feel like you’re eating inside someone’s cozy kitchen. We’ve brought several friends here, and everyone has felt similarly.

We’ve eaten our way through the menu, and can honestly say that everything we’ve had is fantastic. Here are our favorites. For most dishes, they ask you to request a spice level from 1-10. I like my food with a good kick but not so much that I have trouble tasting the flavors. They aren’t afraid to make things spicy here, so I’ve never gone above a 4.

Summer rolls. These are some of the largest I’ve seen. Hearty pieces of protein (shrimp, chicken, and/or tofu, depending on what you request) wrapped with sautéed vermicelli noodles (a nice twist that adds a little extra flavor) and fresh Thai basil. These are a small meal in and of themselves.

The fried tofu. Breaded, deep fried little squares of deliciousness.  Like the best chicken fingers, only tofu, only better.

Mango salad. Here it is with tofu. I like this dish around a 2, a little milder. The mango is always tender and juicy, and the tofu lightly fried, never greasy. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten here without ordering this as at least part of my meal.

Another salad: the pla goong. Perfectly cooked shrimp with a light dressing. When she saw me thoroughly enjoying it one evening, she told me that she makes the dressing herself, with a mixture of fresh-squeezed lime and fish sauce. Sometimes I’ll just get this and the mango salad for a high-flavor, high-protein meal.

One last appetizer: the postickers. One night, they weren’t able to get the mango for the mango salad (the horror! but they would never use sub-par mangoes, which I greatly appreciate). Thrown off, and forced to order something totally different, the waitress suggested I try the steamed dumplings. They are completely homemade, and served with a light dressing of crunchy onions in oil. Dipped in dumpling sauce, they are as good as dumplings I’ve had at my favorite Philly and SF dim sum places. And aren’t they beautiful? Like little handmade works of art.

Onto curries. They offer two types of curries: curry noodle soup and traditional curries.

My favorite thing to order on a cold night is the red curry noodle soup. I usually ask for a 3, which gives it a little kick. Here it is with tofu. Rich, creamy, comforting, and delicious. And extremely filling. I love how the broccoli becomes filled with curry….mmmmm.

For the traditional curries, Mr. Foodie likes to order them with chicken. We’ve had several – the red chicken curry, pumpkin curry, and pineapple curry. We’ve ordered them at a 4 but have discovered that’s a bit too hot for us, so we now typically order a 3, perhaps a 2. These are creamy, more of a light curry broth than the soups, with extremely tender chicken (not once has it been overcooked) and a hearty mix of vegetables.  Here’s the red chicken curry:

Here’s the pumpkin curry with chicken, which we were told is made with fresh thai pumpkin because it holds its texture:

Now on to the noodle dishes. In talking to Chef Lek, it turns out that Dancing Crab used to be a truck outside of a grocery store they also owned in the Strip District. They moved inside because both the cold was bad for everyone – the chef and the customers – and so they could expand the menu. The truck only served noodles – the chef’s specialty. When I ate the pad thai, I could tell –this is one of the best versions of pad thai I’ve ever had.  Often, Americanized Thai places make pad thai that is very sweet – not good. This pad thai wasn’t sweet at all – was very tangy with tamarind, a flavor that is brought out with fresh squeezed lime that is served on the side. We like ours with shrimp, which was perfectly cooked. Outstanding.

To tell you how wonderful Chef Lek is, the last time I was there, she gave me a small New Year’s gift (a change purse) her friend had brought from Thailand and a big hug. That’s the kind of place this is.

As you know, we always blog anonymously – as I sit here writing this, Lek has no idea (surprise!). And that’s the thing we love most about blogging – it pushes us to try places again and again, and eventually, we get to know the people behind the food. And when they are this lovely, it draws us in even more.