Tea Rose Diner Murray Utah

I am sitting here sipping on a bottle of Los Vascos Cabernet 2007, thinking of the dinner we had tonight at the Tea Rose Diner, 65 E 5th Avenue(4880 S), Murray. More on the wine later. We have been wanting to try this place for dinner for a long time, but it is one of those places that sit in the back of your brain when you are trying to think of places to go, but tonight it was at the top of the list.

The dinner menu is Thai based. If you are looking for a Thai restaurant that has all of the fancy trappings from Thailand, you know . . . the carvings, prints, tchotchkes, gold bling everywhere . . . . this is not the place for you. Having 8 or 9 booths and a few tables in the middle of the floor, the place is small, and is something that should be on main street in mid America, with a couple of old farmers hovering over their coffee, while sitting at the counter. Not the place you would expect to find some of the finest homemade Thai cooking in town.

The Tea Rose Diner is also a bastion for tea, itself. We ordered a pot of oolong tea, and the server promptly asked, what kind? . . . who knew. She brought over the tea list, a binder with about 6 pages of different teas, and 3 different oolongs. We chose the oolong with lotus petals. A most exquisite, elegant, light tea. The lotus brought a floral sweetness and added complexity to your run of the mill oolong.

We started with the Fried Tofu, $5.00, which was better than most, a nice outer crust, moist and juicy inside, served with a sweet/hot peanut dipping sauce. We also ordered the Tea Rose Golden Veggie, $7.00, a selection of veggies (carrots, mushrooms, baby corn, broccoli, peas, zucchini) fried in a tempura type batter, served with a sweet chili sauce. WARNING-these come out very hot, and will burn you mouth. The veggies came out and were piled high on a plate.

For the entrees, we ordered the Thai Chicken Sweet and Sour, $8.50 and the Ginger Chicken, $8.50. The sweet and sour was not your Chinese American variety. Not breaded or battered, the chicken (in both dishes) was tender. The sauce was not gloppy thick and sweet, but more of a thin, broth based sauce. This dish combined the usual suspects, but additional depth and complexity were added by chunks of fresh tomato and cucumber. When I ordered the Ginger Chicken, the server asked if I would like it a bit hotter, I replied yes, not a 3 or 4 pepper hot, but a 1 to 2 pepper hot. It arrived perfectly hot. This dish had the chicken, onion, green pepper, mushroom and baby corn, an a lot of chunks and shredded ginger. Again, a thinner, broth based sauce, not thick. The flavor combination was inspired.

About half way through our dinner, a single woman walked in and sat in the booth behind us . . . . another foodie (we are everywhere). She asked us what we were having. We had a good conversation throughout the rest of our dinner, and hers. She is married, we later found out, and eating her way through the Salt Lake Magazine restaurant section, that is what brought her to the Tea Rose. She ordered the Green Curry and said it was very good. She added to our enjoyment of our dinner. If you are reading this, Thank You!

We left with several containers of leftovers. We then wondered, why did it take us so long to eat there. It won't be long for the next time. You should not stay away either!

Tea Rose Diner
65 E 5th Avenue(4880 S)
(one block west of State Street)
Murray, Utah 84107
Phone :(801)-685-6111
Fax (801)-685-6094

www.tearosediner.net

Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Othello, II. iii. (315)