Surin 280 — Restaurant in Birmingham

Called ahead for a lunch reservation for 8. At our arrival everything was set for an enjoyable lunch: A prepared table in a setting that left room to move, a fast and patient waitress, good company, good acoustic and plenty of natural light. The menu did not specify a vegetarian option, which is an interesting challenge for a vegetarian guest. The traditions of Thai cuisine define vegetarian along the lines of "no-meat-visible". Even if you order a vegetarian dish you still might find beef stock, fish sauce, or shrimp paste in your meal. The Theravada branch of Buddhism allows meat and ordering a Buddhist meal is definitely not a guarantee for a vegetarian dish. That said it can be a little taunting to order vegetarian in a Thai restaurant and it would be highly appreciated if they would provide a footnote or even offer a vegetarian dish on their lunch menu. After quite a back and forth I decided to order "Spicy Basil Leaves" with Tofu. I love Thai basil and found the amount used to prepare a dish called Spicy Basil Leaves a little shameful, worse, I ordered this dish, to which I had gravitated because of 3 chili peppers pictured next to the menu item, as Thai hot, scorching, heavenly hot to end up with something slightly above mild. The Tofu was not marinated or deep fried, the green string beans limpy, the bell pepper soft, and the portion of the item that I had ordered from the dinner menu was on the rather...

My wife's fave. Went for lunch this day. We both had the Coconut-tofu soup. She had her usual Pad Prik Pork and I changed from my usual Soft-shell Crab to try the Curry Duck. Wife was happy as ever with her spicy pork dish. The Curry Duck was really good, I was surprised something sweet was in it....turned out to be pineapple. Overall duck was a good balance of spicy with sweet & sour. I'm not a sweet and sour person but I recommend this duck dish to people with that kind of pallet. They have a Basil Duck that I have had in the past at the 5 Point South location and it is very good, though I think it is not on the lunch menu. You can order from the dinner menu at lunch. I recommend doing that if you are hungry. The Soft-Shell Crab is on the dinner menu and is a larger portioned dish. All of the dishes mentioned come with rice on the side. My daughter when she goes here usually gets Sushi which looks fresh and good to me......she really likes it. Oh yes, nearly forgot: most of their dishes have bell pepper as an ingredient. The sea- food soup is awesome with fresh slivers of ginger and the Coconut-shrimp is more satisfying than the tofu.We took to- go orders of both Coconut-tofu and Coconut- shrimp with us this day. Service at this Surin and the 5 Point South location has always...

Surin has long been one of my favorite restaurants. Since the service/food has begun to deteriorate at the original (5 Points South) location, I've begun frequenting Surin 280 instead. After all, the parking is easier, the food is the same, and the service is better!

I have several favorite dishes that I alternate between at Surin. The Veggie Delight with Chicken: stir-fried chicken with zucchini, carrots, green beans, onions and cabbage cooked in a mild garlic/ginger sauce served with rice; the Spicy Beef Salad: tender strips of marinated beef tossed with lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and onions in a spicy asian dressing, served with rice; and the Spicy Beef Noodle, a delicious combination of wide rice noodles with beef and tomatoes cooked in a rich, spicy, brown sauce are all favorites of mine.

I've found the service to be excellent at Surin 280. Surin servers are never bothersome; always showing up when needed and never seeming to push extras on customers. I definitely recommend trying and/or...