Tuesdays in August, some of the appetizers are half price: potstickers, scallion pancake, spring rolls, and crab rangoon.
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I forgot to post that here. I never eat crab rangoons since they are usually terrible. They were fantastic here, more like Rangoon purses. Not impressed by the spring rolls, will try the Gyoza tomorrow.
https://thedailylunch-woburn.blogspot.com/2018/08/khao-hom-billerica.html
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Yes, the crab rangoons are more filling than wrapper. Even with delivery, they were shatteringly crisp. Just perfection!
Good to know, sometimes Iâm in the mood for that traditional New England specialty, crab rangoon 
. (Sichuan Gourmet also has good ones, I like ordering them there as a counterpoint to a bunch of spicy Sichuan dishes. Also helps weed out the food police from my dining companions. )
My favorite KH app so far is the beef satay (not on special but well worth it). Itâs tender and the sauce is well-balanced, a far cry from the âbeef jerky with sweet peanut butterâ Iâve had other places.
I imagine itâs baking soda, but whatever they use, their pork, chicken, and beef are sublimely tender, regardless of the dishes they are in.
Though not a Tuesday in August as I write this, I am certainly glad to have finally made it over to Khao Hom for a Sunday evening takeout dinner. We ordered spring rolls with our dinner of pad Thai and duck curry. We donât even normally order spring rollsâmaybe we had summer rolls on the brainâbut these were crisp and light. Everything tasted fresh and spiced in a balanced way. Best of all, not sweet like so much Thai food that weâve encountered locally.
Thank you @greygarious for such a delicious find!
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Another excellent lunch here. Today I had the Panang curry with duck, extra spicy of course. Really excellent curry with a hint of peanuts. Not on the menu.
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Thanks for all these reports. Theyâre terrific.
Quick question: How do you get something not on the menu? (Long a dream of mine, along with being able to say â as many do on the more frou-frou food websites: âI was comped two appetizers and a martini.â) Do you simply order âDuck Penangâ and hope for the best, or does the staff slip you inside information?
She (the owner) told me that they could do Panang curry after they made it for someone else. If I know that a restaurant have served something thatâs not on the menu, I usually just ask if they can do it.
Thanks.
Yes, Iâd order something thatâs on the menu in a heartbeat (tonguebeat?. But I rarely have this inside information. I must get out more, and eat more lunch.
There is a couple of specials in the works here and both @treb and I volunteered to be guinea pigs. The Spicy Crispy Chicken is available now, either with rice or noodles. The Lemongrass Beef is a work in progress. I really liked the Spicy Crispy Chicken. The lemongrass beef needed more lemongrass but had a really nice texture.
https://thedailylunch-woburn.blogspot.com/2018/12/khao-hom-billerica.html
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Thanks for this updated intel. Iâve been wanting to get back there.
During January they will serve chicken or vegetable Pho for $5 every Wednesday, all day.
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Thanks for the info, Peter. I ordered delivery of the Spicy Crispy Chicken today. The woman on the phone told me it was only available with rice but whether this is permanent or they were out of noodles, I couldnât say. She was a little hard to understand. It was good but not something Iâd crave, unlike the Curries and Khao Soi.
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Theyâve been closed for ten days now. Last week, a post on their FB page said they were under the weather and wanted to recover fully before reopening, but this is getting to be a long time, making me wonder if thereâs more to the explanation than a seasonal ailment.
Iâm getting worried too. Sent them a message on FB a couple days ago, but no reply. I didnât see the FB post about being under the weather.
Itâs my understanding that small business loans to restaurants stop after a year, which is when many eateries fail. IIRC, they opened last March. I sure hope this isnât whatâs happen ing.
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Iâm with you. This place is a little gem and I truly hope that the closure is temporary.
We had an early dinner there this past Sunday (before the snowstorm) after we tried and failed to get delivery; our first clue that something was amiss was that their on-line ordering system was down. They werenât closed when we got there, just incredibly short-handed with only two people working (the owner and another woman who works in the kitchen). They told us that the chef was sick and that two other workers (delivery guy and sibling) were away at their grandmotherâs funeral. So it looks like bad luck took out most of their staff at the same time.
I think they put the closed sign up while we were there since cooking, serving food in-house, and dealing with many take-out orders at peak dinner hour was overwhelming for only two people; I know the phone went unanswered a fair bit. Iâm really impressed with how well they did given the circumstances. Some chef-specialty dishes we wanted werenât available (choo chee, som tum) but what we had (e.g. spicy pork larb) was as tasty as ever.
The owner asked us to give them another chance next week. We reassured her that everything was great and that we absolutely will.
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That âsnowstormâ screwed up a lot of things, so we should (as you suggest) be slow to judge.
I mean, just imagine having a colonoscopy the Monday morning after when half the staff are absent, and after a long delay Dr. Top-Dawg Doctor himself/herself , wheels you into the procedure room. Not saying it happened to anybody I know â does one ever know oneself? â just sayinâ, in general, that in a snowstorn everybody deserves another chance. Less-than-ideal meal? Go back. (Less than ideal colonoscopy? Go back. ------ in ten years.)
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