** This restaurant is now closed. **
I would never be able to work downtown. I just know my mind would be preoccupied all morning just thinking about where to eat during my lunch break. The downtown lunch crowd has it good.
Unfortunately, options are sometimes limited if you need something relatively quick to make it back to work under an hour. You need a place where you can line up to order, not fussy tablecloths and service niceties. Basically fast food that isn't "fast food." Over the years, I've noticed a trend in ethnic eateries capitalizing on this lunch hour market. There's Buok Fresh with build-your-own bibimbap bowls, Tiffin Fresh Kitchen with their take-away curries, and Filistix, a university campus staple that recently made its way across the river.
Another good example is Chix Shack, sister restaurant and more casual counterpart to Sawaddee Thai in Sherwood Park.
Located on the main level of Capital Centre, Chix Shack is a counter-service restaurant serving up a small but mighty menu of Thai noodles, curries, roasted chicken, and salads. Although they've been open for a little over two years, GY and I decided to finally try it out for dinner one night.
Decor is minimal and seating isn't the most comfortable, but everything serves its purpose. After we ordered at the front counter, the food was brought out to our table in a timely manner. Utensils, napkins, and sauces are self-serve.
With "chix" in its name, we thought we should at least order a half chicken ($13.00) for protein. The chicken is a common Thai street food known as "gai yang." It's traditionally grilled after marinating in a mixture of fish sauce, garlic, and lemongrass. The chicken had a nice even browning of the skin, but I did find the meat to be a touch dry. It could have just been the batch we got as it was later in the day. It's also served with a tamarind-based dipping sauce.
We also ordered the som tum ($12.50), a common pairing with gai yang. It's a green papaya salad, shredded with carrots, tomatoes, green beans, and crushed peanuts. The resulting salad is acidic and fresh, but deceptively spicy. It was quite addicting actually, and a nice palate cleanser in between bites of everything else.
We also couldn't pass on ordering a classic Pad Thai ($13.50), stir-fried rice noodles with tofu, egg, chicken, peanut, and tamarind sauce. I really enjoyed the pad Thai I had at Sawaddee, and this version was certainly no different. Good texture and a balanced proportion of ingredients. The flavour leans toward the sweeter side, but you can always rectify that by requesting specific heat levels.
Chix Shack is a no-frills casual place, but they let the food do the talking.
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