New Jersey's The Best Thai Food/About Us

BY Jannette Goleme
For Metuchen Minute

At the end of a little street in Metuchen sits a small restaurant, whose fine cusine is in no way small. Radhana’s Thai Kitchen offers a large menu of authentic Thai food that is varied and sumptuous.
Opened in 1993, the restaurant is owned and operated by Sutheerat and Thipparat Tangtrakul, husband and wife. Before coming to Metuchen,Sutheerat worked for five years as a chef in restaurant in Somerville. He also worked in his brother’s restaurant in Lambertville. The couple both attended cooking in Thailand and had a small restaurant there. Sutheerat is the chef at Radhana’s and Thipparat served as hostess or in whatever other capacity is needed. It is a family business and the couple’s sons Atakorn and Thakoon occasionally help out in the restaurant too.
The menu at Radhana’s offers a large assortment of Thai delicacies. Lunch entrees range from $6.00-&7.25. Dinner starts at $6.25 with the most expensive entrée at $13.50. Some of the frequently ordered dishes are Pud Thai, stir fried three flavored noodles with shrimp, egg, bean sprout and ground peanut, Kang Ped Gai, chicken in spicy Thai curry coconut milk, lime leaf, and Thai basil and Yum Nua (Beef Salad), sliced char-broiled tender sirloin beef, onion, cucumber, tomato, and scallions with hot spicy lime juice dressing. Favorite appetizers include Tung Tong (Golden Bags), crispy fried flour bags filled with chicken, shrimp, carrot and corn served with hot sweet and sour sauce, and Koong Hom Pa (Crispy Shrimp), crispy fried shrimp in egg-roll wrapper with three flavors sauce. I would like to recommend the poultry dish, Par-Ram-Long Song Gai (Chicken in peanut sauce), steamed chicken with house peanut sauce on bed of steamed broccoli. The chef prepared me a special portion of this dish, and I am still relishing the thought of it. It was a bit spicy, but not in any way overpowering, very tasty, and quite satisfying.
Radhana’s also offers a separate vegetarian menu. It includes appetizers, soups, side dishes and entrees. Many of the dishes are made with Tofu or fried gluten, which substitute for meat.
Finish your meal at Radhana’s with an unusual dessert. These include Kaow Neo Moon, steamed sticky rice topped with coconut milk sauce, Sung-Ka-Ya, Thai coconut milk custard, Kloy Tod, fried spring roll wrapped banana topped with honey and sesame, home made coconut milk ice cream, and sticky rice served with sliced mango.
Radhana’s open for lunch Tuesday through Friday 11:30 AM.-2:00 PM. And for dinner, Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday 5:30 PM.-9:00 PM., Friday and Saturday they open from 5:30 PM.-10:00 PM. Reservations are suggested on theweekend. They are also open for private parties on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and can hold up to 32 people.

Home News Tribune Oct. 31. 2002
Talk about a delicious adventure: This Is one of the most well run little dining shows that I have discovered this year. Owners Sutheerat (Jeed) and Thipparat (Tammy)Tangtrakul, who are husband and wife, create consistently fabulous selections of authentic Thai food, in Metuchen, day after day, Opened since 1993, Radhana Thai Kitchen, treats you to culinary fancy, which are healthy, light and without heavy oils. The Tangtrakuls both attended cooking school in Thailand, where they operated a smalt restaurant, much to the delight of the locals.
Chef and Owners, Jeed & Tammy With Gail Gerson Of Home News Tribune		Mr. Sutheerat is the innovative Chef, preparing traditional dishes that turn the ritual of dining into a triumphant experience, The little restaurant Is really like sitting in a family dining room with service as pleasing as the glorious dishes we tried. The setting is simple, but the food is very exceptional. Before coming to Metuchen, Chef Sutheerat was well known In Middlesex as a chef who prepared cuisine light, flavorful and filled with goodies, This is a family dffair with Mrs. Tangtrakul hostessing and sons, Atakorn and Thakoon contributing to the stellar performance in the kitchen. Thai food has many dif?ferent influences including Chinese and Indian, with an array of flavors suiting all tastes.
The preparations are considered quite healthy Our critics were ecstatic as each dish is a true gastronomic souvenir. The large assortment of Thai selections impressed all of my researchers. The menu consists of appetizers, soups, salads. Thai Curry dishes, chicken, beef, pork, duck, vegetable, sea?food, noodle and rice. Lunch Is a steal with entrees ranging from $6.00 to $7.25 and dinners starting at $6,25. Appetizers everyone enjoyed were the delicious Ka-RI-Puf, a Thai style Chicken Curry Puff ($4), the delicate Dumpling ($4,50), the Tung Tong, which were superb crispy fried flour bags filled with chicken, shrimp, carrot and corn, and drizzled with a hot sweet and sour sauce ($4,50), The wide selection of soups would surprise anyone, Lunch Is a steal with entrees ranging from $6.00 to $7.25 and dinners starting at $6,25. Appetizers everyone enjoyed were the delicious Ka-RI-Puf, a Thai style Chicken Curry Puff ($4), the delicate Dumpling ($4,50), the Tung Tong, which were superb crispy fried flour bags filled with chicken, shrimp, carrot and corn, and drizzled with a hot sweet and sour sauce ($4,50), The wide selection of soups would surprise anyone,
Billy Oren,WRSD 88.7 AM.& Former NY Giant Billy Taylor With Atakorn		We tasted six different soups, each more interesting and delectable than the next. The USA Today researcher, Tom Anzalone, raved about Tom Ka Gia, a luscious chicken, prepared with hot, spicy, sour, coconut milk soup, "The soup was fantastic. Just the perfect amount of flavors." Former New York Giant, Billy Taylof, savored every bite of his Yum Nua, sliced char-broiled tender sirloin beef, onion, cucumber, tomato, scallion and spicy lime dressing ($5.50), "The beef was so tender, and the flavor outstanding." The entrees:arrived, and we were thrilled. Len Trugman of Channel 7 News sold his comeback dish was the Ped Sam Rod, an amazing pan fried duck,
with hot spicy three flavor sauce, pineapple and Thai Basil ($13.50). "This was the best tasting duck dish 1 have ever experienced," Other' dishes sampled, which we recom?mend are the Par-Ram Long-Song Gal, with a tantalizing Chicken Peanut's) Sauce, ($10.25), the Kang Hung Lay^ Nua (Beef Curry $9.95), the best Padgj Tai Noodle In the universe($7) and my( favorite, the very special Koong Mor-K Din, shrimp with ginger, and delicate;! vermicelli noodle, The Shi-Ta-Ke Isf another must try with mushroom and? scallion ($]2.95), A perfect and very sweet ending to a grand dining experience were the homemade desserts. The l-Tlm-Ka-Tl, a home?made coconut milk ice cream U$2.75) was delightful, as was the popular Kloy Tod, a fried-spring ro'l wrapped banana topped with honey and sesame seed ($31, Owner/Chef Sutheerat is a true cooking talent,, who prepares dishes with the sure "hand of a master- the result many great tastes that employ superb fresh Ingredients with dishes, I will return for again and again, This is the best undiscovered dining find of the year.