After discovering I was forever banned from the ‘gluten life,’ I quickly learned rice was my new best friend. A secret favorite of mine is the well-known pad Thai dish. Contrary to popular belief, pad Thai is made with rice noodles, thus worthy of membership to my exclusive clique.

My friend invited me and a few other girls to dinner at “a cute Thai place downtown” months ago, and I immediately fell in love. Galanga, the baby version of Cozy Thai (located on S. Allen St.), is now my Chipotle equivalent for Thai food cravings.

thai

Photo by Nitsa Skenderis

Around 7 pm on a predictably busy Wednesday, I approached the familiarly warm Galanga sign hovering over the artistically lit bistro to meet Allie for a celebratory ‘you got the job!’ dinner.

thai

Photo by Nitsa Skenderis

Welcomed by the inviting spotlights, modern tables and a view of our fabulous reflections in the scattered mirrors, Allie and I eagerly gave the friendly cashier our identical orders. We grabbed a table for two and became immersed in our conversation.

thai

Photo by Nitsa Skenderis

Four short minutes later, my lucky number was called to claim my prize. Already drooling, I wisped my tray away from the counter and darted back to my table. Instead of torturing Allie, I patiently waited for her number to be called before devouring my tastefully saucy and mouth-watering Chicken Pad Thai.

thai

Photo by Nitsa Skenderis

Feeling spontaneous, I marched back to the oversized menu above the cash register to scan the featured beverages. I’m not a huge tea junky, but I decided to try the Thai iced tea. The ombré drink I was served was perfectly chilled, mildly sweet and topped with fluffy whipped cream.

Scraping the pieces of noodles left in my bowl, I realized closing time had approached, forcing us to leave the serene ambiance. Blushing, we cleared our table and scurried toward the door as the staff hollered, “Have a great night!” to which we replied, “See ya soon!”

 

cheap

Location: 454 E College Ave, State College, PA 16801
Hours of Operation: Mon-Fri: 11am-3pm, 5pm-9pm, Sat: 12pm-10pm, Sun: closed

 

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