Kar-Ma, the story of a curry love affair

Ever dream about a certain meal you’ve had or let it haunt you during waking hours? Yea, me too. My latest specter takes the form of Panang Curry from Kar-Ma. This is one of my favorite curries to order anywhere, but here it is even more special.

I have tried this restaurant several times since December, but so far I have not had much opportunity to explore other items on the menu. Last time, I was determined to try something Laotian on the menu. Yes waiter, I’ll have the lad, pra , pad, ra, oh … Panang curry please. Damn, it got me again.

Am I dreaming again or is this real?

This last visit, I made sure I had other people with me so I could try their food. For appetizers we ordered spring rolls, summer rolls and the golden bags. All were very good, attractively displayed and accompanied by very complimentary sauces. The spicy sauce with the golden bags was my favorite, with my least favorite being the spring roll sauce - it seemed to be adorned with yellow mustard that detracted from the overall taste. If I had to choose one appetizer, I’d definitely go with the summer roll – I really believe they are not rolled until an order is placed. VERY fresh tasting with that cool bite of fresh cilantro.

Spring Roll and Golden Bags

The Ultra-Yummy Summer Roll

For main dishes we had the Panang Curry (imagine that!), the requisite Pad Thai, shrimp Pra Ram and a more Chinese style of dish, the Sesame Chicken. The curry was as good as always: creamy and slightly sweet from the coconut milk. As always, I had them leave the peas out- they are a distracting texture in a curry. I ordered it at the top of their spice level (3) and it was just about right. However, I wouldn’t mind if they were to introduce a new higher level for curries, they just never come out as hot as stir fry dishes of the same level.

The Pad Thai was very traditional and had a sweet, mellow, well balanced flavor. The Sesame Chicken was surprisingly good, tender pieces of chicken golden fried to a perfect texture and served with an elegant looking orange brown sesame sauce that was very pleasing to the taste buds. The shrimp Pra Ram was a real standout. Tender shrimp, fresh spinach leaves, carrots, baby corn in a very light yet savory peanut sauce.

Pra Ram

Sesame Chicken

Pad Thai

This place is small – maybe 12 tables – so if you plan to go on a Friday or Saturday night, maybe plan to either side of 7:00. Better yet, try it for lunch. Low prices, good portions and sans crowd. Great food, great service, great atmosphere – and now they have their liquor license. I think I see more Thai curry in my very near future.