The Thai Palace II of Dearborn, Michigan is by far one of my favorite restaurants in which to dine. Recommended to me by my Uncle, I decided to meet him there for lunch one day. The Thai Palace II is very visible from Michigan Avenue due to their enormous sign that towers over the other businesses in the area. I met my Uncle at the restaurant around noon and the place was filled with customers. My Uncle works for Ford Motor Company and he told me that he, along with many Ford employees, eats at the Thai Palace II for lunch every day.

My first impression of the restaurant was a welcoming, warm feeling. I was immediately greeted by the hostess with a smile and she asked my name. I told her and said I was meeting someone and she sat me with my Uncle. The atmosphere was very traditional with Thai sculptures of horses and various other animals, beautiful paintings of different parts of Thailand, and many other decorations. I know these were traditional decorations because I asked the hostess who is an immigrant from Thailand (as well as many of the workers).

I looked over the menu of the various twenty entrees, ten noodle dishes, four variations of fried rice, and ended up choosing the kad pow, which is essentially chicken fried rice with peas, carrots, and onions. With Thai food, you also pick a level of spice ranging from mild to hot. Being a first time customer, I chose medium. The price of all the meals on the menu start from around four dollars and continue upwards with the most expensive meal costing around eight dollars. After we ordered, a pitcher of water and soup was brought out to us. The soup was a cabbage soup with a chicken stock broth. I never really liked cabbage but I enjoyed the soup which was crunchy and tasted like a warm salad soup, as weird as that sounds.

After we finished our soup, our meals arrived almost instantaneously. I looked at my plate and the mountain of rice, chicken, and vegetables and was amazed at the amount of food that I received. I was very impressed by the food and how much I liked it. The food was spicy but rather than spicy like Mexican food, it was more of a hotness that started out small and seemed to build with the more I ate. I was never a huge fan of spicy food but this type of spice I enjoyed very much. I ended up finishing the mountain of food on my plate with the feeling of being full, but not overstuffed, the perfect amount of food.

I have been going to the Thai Palace II for a few weeks now and I would definitely recommend eating there. My meal only costs me slightly under six dollars so the price is perfect for a college student. The only negative thing I found about the Thai Palace II was that the booths were slightly uncomfortable and very old. I would give the Thai Palace II four and a half stars out of five.

Food: *****

Service: *****

Price: *****

Atmosphere: ****