Ben’s Thai Food – Chicago, IL

Callous-un ordered in some Thai food for us, since it was clear we weren’t going anywhere after we all felt how comfortable her couch was after a hard day of kickball and drinking. She called Ben’s and had it delivered.

I ordered fresh spring rolls, since that’s sort of a barometer for most Thai/Vietnamese places I eat at. I also got spicy chicken with noodles since it sounded right. The food came much faster than I expected, so we were only just beginning Trekkies when the food showed up.

The spring rolls didn’t look all that appealing to be honest. The rice paper wrap was a little floppy and had a weird texture. The flavor wasn’t much better, either. It was pretty bland (again the wrap had an odd flavor – Belcher would call it a “wang”, which always cracks me up) and the sauce – after I dumped it all over myself – was blah also. It sounds like I’m complaining a great deal, but I sure managed to eat all of them before anyone could ask to try one. Haha.

The chicken dish that I ordered was a little bit better. Not great, by any stretch, but was certainly palatable. The spice level was pretty right on – solid spice with sweating, but not crying: perfect. Good ratio of noodles to vegetables, but aside from spiciness, the chicken flavor just wasn’t very prevalent. Not sure how you can fix something like this, but it seemed to be pretty lacking in a lot of flavors.

All in all, it was edible, but I wouldn’t give Ben’s very high marks. And I say this not knowing the name of the place was actually Ben’s (until writing this review) and not something more Asian-sounding. I’d probably find another Thai place to eat at next time, but it might be the only Thai place that delivers around Callous-un – I just don’t know.

No top 5 for this place.