My Thai Cafe, Bloomington, IN

I've been dreaming of tom kha gai for two weeks now. It's creamy and tangy and amazing. Yesterday, I finally broke down and took a long lunch to eat out at My Thai Cafe. It's located in a strip mall off W. 3rd St., near Whitehall Plaza. It used to be Jit's Thai Cafe. It was good when it was Jit's. Now, it's an Asian pastiche nightmare. It used to be pretty bare, with just tables and white walls. Admittedly, it was boring. But it was tasty and reasonably priced. Sometime in the last six months, they decided they needed to be brown and copper. Big brown booths have replaced the trim tables. Copper "art" has replaced the photos of the Thai king and queen. And now, there are a million Glade plug-ins hidden around the dining room. It's the same smell as a horrible house I lived in one summer, which is my problem, I know. No restaurant, though, should smell that strongly of anything but the food being cooked in the back.

Decor though can be ignored if the food is great. But it's not. It's good enough to be eaten, but not worth going for again. The tom kha was a little rich. It tasted like they used cream which logically seems preferable, but it sat heavily in my stomach.

I don't think I'll be going back to My Thai Cafe. It's close to work, which is great for lunch, but it's too disappointing.I guess I'll have to take a long lunch sometime and go to Siam House or Esan Thai.