Thailand’s Textures and Flavors Come to Lincoln Square

*****  Lincoln Square is a neighborhood of Chicago located on the North side. It is very close to what is the Ravenswood area and is that spot where Lincoln Avenue leads on to Western Avenue just before hitting Lawrence Avenue. On Westren Aveneu, just before you hit Lawrence Avenue, on the East side of the street, there is now a special place that one might call a “destination dining spot”. It is called Madame Puffs , A Thai Bistro, located at 4825 N. Western Avenue. When you enter the restaurant you will feel the warmth and charm of the staff, all of whom will do all they can to make your visit one that will be a memory worth sharing.

We were greeted by Barbie and escorted to a table that is in the front of the space allowing us to look out onto Western Avenue. Being a Sunday evening, most of the dining was pick-up and carry-out, and of course, being one week before Mother’s Day, many people are waiting until next week to dine out. There were no cocktails for Jane, Frank, Cary and I as Madame Puffs , at present, is a BYO ( bring your own) alcohol. They are applying for their license, but until they obtain it, you can bring any type of alcoholic beverage with you and there are no fees for glassware or ice or corkage fees. They are there to make your experience perfect, and will do so.

Our server’s name is Sirisopaporn, but to make it easier for us all, we called her “SIRI” and it worked. Barbie assisted us with the menu as we allowed her to bring us the food for which they are known for. We started the meal with many appetizers, the first being Chicken Curry Puffs ( please note that the restaurant name has “puffs” in it, so there are many puffs on the menu). Barbie did explain that these are Thai “empanadas”, which makes a great deal of sense. They come in Curry Chicken, Basil Chicken, Mixed Veggies and shredded Dried Pork with a chili paste.

We had the Fortune Crab Rangoon- crispy wontons filled with  cream cheese and imitation crab. They were delicious.

The Aromatic Herb Satay is grilled herb-marinated chicken served with a creamy peanut sauce, refreshing dressing and toasted bread.

The next appetizer – Crispy Larb : fried minced pork balls with Thai herbs served with fresh greens for the perfect balance

and last, but certainly not least, the Fried Spring Rolls: golden fried spring rolls stuffed with veggies, ground pork and shrimp paired with a sweet plum sauce ( that was very tasty)

The salads called Chicken Larb Salad is a spicy Thai minced chicken salad served with crisp greens. Tasty and a little zip.

with that we enjoyed a Creamy Yum-Yum Soup ( we all shared one tureen into little bowls). This is a creamy yum yum with river prawns ( Frank kept calling them shrimp) infused with the smoothness of fresh milk and aromatic herbs. The prawns were huge and much tastier than we thought they would be.

While we were filling up, the entrees were about to be brought out, so we allowed them to take some of the items to put in take-home packages so that Frank could share some of the delightful dishes with his family. Our entrees were:

Chicken Breast: with panang curry and blue jasmine rice

Kao Soi with Ribeye and Pad Thai with jumbo shrimp

You can select your own combinations by selecting  one protein , one sauce and one side from a great number of choices.

Dessert had to be done, despite our being quite satisfied by the delicious experience we enjoyed, but since Puff are Madame’s thing, why not have a pineapple puff ( yes, the same type of puff that we enjoyed as an appetizer, but this time filled with fruit) BRAVO! and then, for the mango lovers ( Frank and I ) their mango Sticky Rice- cool and tasty.

By the way, since we didn’t do cocktails ( we did not bring anything and it was raining) we enjoyed the ice tea, hot tea and water.The hours for this fine dining experience: