Dena Kitchen — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

Well this is my 1st time coming to this particular Thai restaurant which is really close to Hermosa community despite being in Logan Square. There was some rave reviews about this place. So far the prices are fair and reasonable as well as the generous portion for Thai dishes. The ambiance is modest and NOT extravagant. I noticed they delivered all the dishes all at once which is somewhat of a disappointed. I ordered Dena sausage and the chicken Tom Kha but bit was all delivered in one session including my beef red curry. To start off I have to say the Dena sausage was fresh and delicious. The my used fresh herbs and vegetables such as ginger, onion and hot peppers slices and peanuts as a garnish wrapped with lettuce and cabbage with the sausage. Very tasty. Although question if onions are a native vegetable in Thai cuisine? The chicken Tom Kha is good but nothing spectacular. It has the traditional taste but they didn't put a lot fresh basil leaves and fresh lemon grass. It's odd that certain Thai restaurants use tomato too in the USA. This is one of them restaurants and not really a big fan of tasting tomato slices in the Tom Kha or Tom yum soup. According to owner it's because most people who are non Asian don't like it like that so they have to cater to their orders. Sad. Last but not least was the main order of red curry. I ordered it with beef instead of my typical chicken I usually order it in it was decently delicious. What again was unusual was they used bell pepper which again is something I don't see in most other Thai restaurant. It was "OK" just odd to use bell peppers. It did taste like traditional red curry with the bamboo shoots and some basil. All in all it was "OK" good. I plan to come again every now and then. It is closer to travel than most Thai restaurants that is...

Review: Your cury is very good spicy enough for a good kick and a great meal, Chai was complex and the sweetness complimented.

Tldr: I just wanted food, The restaurant just wanted to make food. Sorry for my mother.

Please be kind. My Mother was not kind to owner (She's old, very nice to Some people.) Mother tries to get fried rice for family, I get green curry and the Thai tea. My mother has thick accent, so does owner. I try but my mother isn't very patient (She's not violent. Again she's old) she rushes her order not letting me or her look closer and gets the wrong types of rice (Deserved lowkey) I don't blame the man at the counter, he was in an a very uncomfortable situation with a woman who didn't like him.

After the owner leaves to make the food. She says the kitchen is dirty when owner is gone, it is not, it's just organized differently then She's used too. Again I try to explain, that's how it is. She waves me off and runs to the car, I stay in the restaurant to go to the bathroom. (Aka breathe and remember it's ok to want to eat food that I want sometimes)

I stay in restaurant until the food is done. I was ashamed and stressed, I said thank you but not sorry. This is what this paragraph for, you guys deserve an apology as good...

I've been a regular at Dena Kitchen for almost 3 years now. It's a quaint little place for yummy Thai meals and I've never been disappointed, except...

After all these years, I recently found out that they don't serve "truly vegetarian, real vegetarian" food till you ask about every fish/oyster/etc. sauce they could possibly be using in their food. Simply asking if the food is vegetarian will not yield an honest (or informed) answer. Don't assume that what you order with tofu/veggies is vegan/vegetarian. The new server, possibly the owner (super-helpful guy with glasses) was the person to enlighten me; a previous server who no longer works there, was the person who claimed food was vegetarian when it was not.

Now, I can almost hear my devout Hindu grandparents chiding me from their afterlives. Regardless, I will continue to dine at Dena, albeit with a much lesser frequency and with a much higher scrutiny on how they interpret my "truly vegetarian, real vegetarian" order.

5 stars for the food, -3 for the past misinformation, +1 for the belated but...