You’d think Houstonians would avoid spicy food when it’s over 90 degrees outside. Yet at one of the city’s oldest Thai restaurants, a steaming bowl of noodles made the summer heat feel like an afterthought. Even with a mostly empty dining room, a steady stream of customers picking up to-go orders suggested others felt the same.
From the outside, Morningside Thai can be easy to miss. Tucked into a medical plaza just south of West University Place, the tiny restaurant at 2473 S. Braeswood Blvd. has quietly become a destination for traditional Thai cuisine over the past four decades.
The restaurant has been part of Houston’s dining scene since 1985. Though it has changed hands across multiple generations of owners, Morningside Thai has remained committed to serving traditional Thai dishes that balance the bold sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors found throughout Thailand.
For such a small space with fewer than a dozen tables, Morningside Thai packs a lot onto its menu, offering everything from homemade curries and noodle dishes to marinated meats.
While many of Morningside Thai’s dishes are built around the same core ingredients and bold seasonings, each showcased a different side of Thai cuisine. The best-selling pad thai leans sweet and tangy, while the saucy pad pett delivers a richer, spicier flavor. Even the moo ping—grilled pork skewers served with sticky rice—stood apart with its own smoky, savory taste especially when dipped in its accompanying chili lime sauce.
But Morningside Thai’s appeal extends beyond its savory dishes with its specialty drinks and desserts proving just as memorable as its entrees. That was especially true of the refreshing iced Thai tea that helped beat the Houston heat at the start of my meal and the warm coconut sticky rice topped with fresh mango, a customer favorite I ordered only after a neighboring mother and daughter warned I’d regret leaving without trying it.
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