Thai E-sarn Cuisine Arlington

Thai E-sarn Cuisine in Arlington Heights recently opened in the space formerly occupied by Tom Yum Koong II. I never visited the previous restaurant mainly because the reviews were not that good. The online menu looked go with all the standard dishes so I decided to give it a go for lunch today.

Interior is nice and bright with a set of booths in both rooms next to the windows.

Tables were nicely decorated with a (plastic) flower with some Salt and Pepper Elephants hanging around and the water-glass was big, another plus with me.

Lunch Specials come with either a Tofu Soup or a Salad and since I ordered a soup anyway I went with the salad. Standard lettuce with some julienned carrots and a homemade dressing. Nothing special and the dressing was a bit sweet but it was fresh.

Duck Noodle Soup, Thai style rice noodles with boneless roasted duck. The soup itself was OK, a bit of roasted garlic in there and the noodles were cooked al dente, I hate mushy noodles. The duck, on the other hand, was very dry, there was one slice in there that wasn't dry and overcooked. The service was very friendly and efficient. I thought it was a nice place and I'll be back to try some more dishes.