My parents and I are big fans of Thai food. Several years ago, my father shared an interesting confession. It went something like this: “Your mom and I prefer Thai food to Chinese restaurants.” For my father, I think his preference for Thai is a combination of preferring super spicy foods and the shrimp dishes. Mom loves the vegetarian options that Thai restaurants usually offer. I’ve also been a vegetarian or most of my life, so Asian cuisine in general is a staple when I’m eating out.
I’ve frequent Thai restaurants around Kansas City and trying new ones is always at the top of my constantly growing “restaurants to try” note on my mobile. I’ve been a fan of Lulu’s for two decades. In south KC, I’ve dined at Thai House several times over the years.
My Thai favorites are any hot and spicy curry sauce, anything with mushrooms, anything that goes well with tofu, Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, and Pad Woon Sen. Yellow, Green, and Massaman curries are super faves. Basil fried rice. Lulu’s Noodles has an awesome wild mushroom curry.
The food scene in Martin City has been growing, expanding and blossoming. So I was very intrigued when I herd that RC’s had added a Thai restaurant upstairs. The last time I had been in that space was for a get together, ten years ago, of high school classmates from Blue Valley. At that time, it basically had a sport grill and events space vibe. Perfect for our event.
The space doesn’t look that much different, which surprised me, as I was expecting a Thai restaurant of some kind. Rockin’ Wok is operating out of a kitchen behind the bar. While it appears that they do lots of take out, I could totally get down with watching sports and shooting pool with friends and enjoying some fresh Thai food.
I got their Pad Thai with tofu and veggie spring rolls for take out. My father got a shrimp dish. I was happy with the Pad Thai. Good flavors and textures. Big portions for everything. My father was disappointed with the spice level, which was my mistake. It feels like we got the default spice level, which I generally call Midwest mild, when both of us prefer much spicier Thai. I would suggest getting your order at least at their “Hot” level. Otherwise, I look forward to trying more of Rockin’ Wok’s food.
330 E 135TH ST KANSAS CITY, MO 64145
(816) 268-3330
https://www.rockinwokthai.com/order
Advertise with Chuck Eats KC