Duck Dinner @ Elephant Thai

A few weeks ago, a small group of LTHers were treated to a special duck themed dinner at Elephant Thai. I hesitated to post about this dinner because it was a special event comprised of (mostly) items that are not on the regular menu and were cooked special for the occasion. The dinner was so good, though, that I decided that I had to post about it. The evening started with a special appetizer of Naam, a spam-like pork-based sausage product that is described as “drinking food”. Naam is served with pickled ginger, peanuts, onion, peppers and lettuce and is usually eaten accompanied with beer.

Homemade Naam


We were then treated to duck soup over noodles. The broth was very rich and delicious and reminded me of the broth used in boat noodles. I really enjoyed this dish and it was the highlight of the evening for me.

Duck Soup Over Noodles


This was followed by Duck Basil, which could have been a little spicier for my taste, but was good nevertheless and probably right in line with most people’s spice tolerance.

Duck Basil


We also had duck on rice with ong choi. This dish was quite good as well and was a good counterpoint to the spicy basil duck

Duck on Rice with Ong Choi and Preserved Ginger

Just to round things out, and for a change of pace from all duck all the time, we also had a few other dishes including papaya salad with sticky rice.

Papaya Salad


Also, a reprise of Ann’s fabulous Thai Grilled Chicken

Thai Grilled Chicken


And delicious Tilapia Pad Cha, which is available from the specials board. Note; the version in the picture had two types of Thai eggplant. The version we were served at the duck dinner did not have the little pea sized, slightly bitter eggplants that appear in the picture below. I think they were available in limited quantity and might have been gone by the time the dinner was held.

Tilapia Pad Cha


Rounding out the dinner was fresh mango over sticky rice.

Fresh Mango


A special thanks goes out to Ann for preparing such a fabulous duck themed dinner for us, and to GWiv for providing the pictures. In my haste to get this dinner organized, I forgot to bring my camera. As always, the company of fellow LTHers added to the enjoyment of the dinner immensely. BTW, David Hammond can really eat a lot of soup.

As with nearly all dinners at Elephant Thai, there was an impromptu ice cream tasting at The Chocolate Shoppe after dinner.

Elephant Thai
5358 W. Devon Ave
Chicago, IL
773-467-1168

The Chocolate Shoppe
5337 W Devon
Chicago, IL

Wow, looks great!