There is a shopping area on the south side of Lakeland that has several little local restaurants. This is where I found Thai Oishi.
They are a fairly small inside, so they fill up quickly. They have an extensive menu that offers Thai dishes as well as sushi options.
I started off with two appetizers. They were small so it allowed everyone at the table to enjoy the taste. The coconut shrimp came out first. They were slightly butterflied. They were covered in coconut flakes that fried up very crispy. There was a nice sweet taste to the coconut. The sweet chili sauce for dipping was amazing. The slight hint of heat paired well with the sweetness of the coconut.
The other appetizer was the steamed dumplings. These wonton wrappers were filled with ground chicken, mushrooms, water chestnuts for a slight crunch, carrots and peas. They steamed the dumplings up in a bamboo steamer.
Then they were topped with fried garlic and scallions. A ginger soy sauce was served on the side. The ginger added extra flavor to a generic soy sauce. The filling for the dumplings was tender and very moist. I enjoyed them more when I dipped them in the ginger soy sauce.
Rather than getting my usual ginger salad, I decided to change and try something else. I ordered the cucumber salad. This was fresh cucumber chopped up with tomatoes, scallions, carrots, and onions. A sweet tangy Thai dressing was drizzled on top.
The cucumbers and tomatoes made this salad extremely fresh. The flavor of the dressing went so well with these vegetables. It was sweeter rather than tangy.
What I really enjoy about Asian restaurants is that their dishes can be shared family style. That is exactly what was done on this visit.
The Thai fried rice came out first. This stir fired rice was cooked up with egg, scallions, carrots, tomato, cucumber, and broccoli. I got pork added in for extra flavor and a little protein. The flavor of the rice was delicious. There was a slight smokey taste from being cooked up. The vegetables helped make the dish filling.
The second dish was the Lad Na. This was a stir-fried rice noodle. The rice noodles were a medium thickness and it absorbed the flavor from the sauce. They loaded this dish with broccoli, carrots, and diced up chicken. The chicken was very tender. The sauce that they put on this dish had a nice garlic taste with a hint of soy sauce and ginger.
I really enjoyed my dinner at Thai Oishi. I would want to go back to try a few other dishes as well as some sushi. Check them out at www.thaioishirestaurant.com
Enjoy!
T
