Aroy Thai

Aroy is a favorite stop of mine - authentic Issan(northern) style Thai made with lots of flavor and spice. I highly recommend the pork neck salad - Aroy makes their own toasted rice powder and, along with the other flavors, creates an amazing taste not to be missed!

After seeing Aroy Thai featured on local favorite Check, Please! last weekend, we thought the coldest day of the year a perfect time to go on a field trip to Ravenswood and eat a spicy lunch.  . There's not much inside the restaurant that sets it apart from any other Thai restaurant you'll find in Chicago. A lullaby track played languidly in the background as we were shown our seats by our smiling waitress with the restaurant half full during lunchtime. Its dining room is small and seats only around 16, and diners sit in close proximity (which made me a bit self-conscious jotting down notes as I reviewed the menu for later blog publication). I noticed a couple of electric space heaters in the corner but little else, with the focus all on the food. Rightly so. Food is the name of the game for us and we don't care too much about interiors at all, so long as its comfortable.While deciding what to order, my girlfriend and I had our usual tussle about whether we'd order crab rangoon as a starter. I do not like crab rangoon. As they contain imitation crab and cream cheese, their alleged provenance of being even remotely Asian is fictitious. Where did they come from, you ask? The debate of their origin is far from settled. Some think that crab rangoon originated at Trader Vic's in San Francisco in the 1950s. To me, they are definitely the chop suey of Asian appetizers. And in my humble reckoning, they should be eaten once a year at most. But alas, my girlfriend usually wants to order them while I seek to avoid the self-loath that comes with eating any of them with an already-protruding tummy needing no further assistance from deep fried wontons. Via Google research, I have also determined that eating a set of 6 'goons contains 70% of the American Heart Association's recommended daily saturated fat intake. Dr. Shrewd says avoid.As we debated the relative merits of deep fried dough, an odor reminiscent of a turd passed into my olfactory. This stopped the conversation for a moment as we tried to determine which menu item the scent was connected to, with no avail. In a restaurant full of mystery (I imagine there is a completely separate Thai guy menu for Thai guys), there is also the mystery of which menu item smelled slightly like a poop. Please let me know if you solve it.Instead of a deep fried heart attack, I got my girlfriend to split a salad as a starter. The papaya salad with shrimp, with over 21 mentions on Yelp, seemed like a good, social media-approved entry point into authentic Northern Thai food. At first we were confused about the long green ribbons of plant matter in the salad. "Is it cucumber," we wondered aloud. It wasn't, it was the papaya itself, which is described as "young" and having a different taste than fully-ripened fruit.This was probably one of the most unique salads I can recall trying. The taste fuses the kick of chili peppers with the brightness of citrus juice (and whole chunks of lime) with the crunch and richness of peanuts and pork rinds with chewy, uncooked green beans. Every menu item we ordered we had selected the 'medium' spiciness level (the waitress will ask you), and this was probably the hottest thing we had. Highly unusual when the salad's a fire-throwing snack eh?One thing I liked about the salad was its lack of homogeneity - some bites were spicier than others, some were dominated by the pork rind, while others were influenced by the zesty, acidic notes of lime. You definitely have to grind your molars in order to chew it up. Since eating it was a lot of work, it would be nice to pair this dish with a soup or something that doesn't compel you to labor so hard to chew for your second course. During the salad course the chef / owner came out of the kitchen, smiling and slapping me on the shoulder as I sweated, asking me "Is that a little spicy?"

Aroy indeed!. "Aroy" means "delicious" in Thai, and I couldn't have picked a better name myself for this Ravenswood storefront that sits in the shadow of the Damen Avenue Brown Line station. The regular menu is standard issue Thai fare, but Aroy is one of a growing number of eateries that have begun to provide English translations of their special Thai-language menus. Standouts like khaw muu yang (grilled pork neck served with a Thai-style homemade sauce), neua naam tok ("waterfall" beef filet salad with chili, red onion, green onion, and roasted rice powder), and phat phrik khing muu krawp (chili and ginger stir-fry with crispy pork) make you wonder why you spent so many years sticking to pad thai and green curries. But even this self-identified food snob has a soft spot in his heart for ersatz classics like crab rangoon, and Aroy's version of the ubiquitous artery-clogger doesn't disappoint.

Recommend the morning glory and beef boat noodle dishes. Crispy pork and century egg dish was too soggy and not as crispy as it should have been. Amazing service, super friendly staff. This restaurant is cash only!!

Pretty authentic for what it is! Just much more expensive than what it should be Amazing pad Thai and mango stick rice (seasonal and limited quantity)

wow! my Thai friend said this is her favorite place so that is why we went. it did not disappoint. the food is super affordable and they give u great amount. highly recommend the chicken satay and the masuman curry. we got the crying tiger thinking it would be the same as Opart Thai, but alas, it was not. It is cash only so please bring cash if you want to avoid ATM fees. Staff is very friendly!!

Amazing. The food is delicious and good service. I never wait long for the food.

Truly Delish! They utilize a 1-5 spiciness scale which is brilliant. This “boat noodle” dish with pork was fantastic, as was the lemongrass seafood soup! Two of the better Thai soups I’ve ever had.