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| The entryway |
Exterior: 3/5
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| Not the most inspiring sight at dusk. |
Jay's is located in a strip mall on the South Side that's also home to a Mexican restaurant, a bakery, and a textile shop. It's a well-trafficked area so the storefronts are a familiar sight for most Kokomo folks. The parking lot is small, but most of the people parked there on the evening we went were eating at Jay's which we thought was a good sign. The facade features dated signage that you probably wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it.
Ambience: 3/5
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| I enjoyed the efforts to accent how spacious the restaurant is. |
Jay's was (as far as I know) the first Thai restaurant in Kokomo and it has been around for years. It had been a very long time since I ate there, and sometime in the interim they had done some work toward branding and refurbishing their interior. The peppy green color made the ambience lively, although the tables and chairs didn't quite match the wall/floor vibe. I wanted it to feel like something other than a big green room, though, so I hope they keep decorating. Overall I have to say everything seemed clean and well-kept, which was a relief when my 1YO got loose and started scuttling around on the floor.
Variety: 4/5
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| The menu isn't huge, but it has the staples you'd expect. |
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| Pud Z-Ew with Beef |
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| Crispy Chicken |
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| Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken |
The menu here is very "This is an American Thai restaurant" with the dishes you'd expect. I was happy to see larb on offer, which you don't always get. My partner and I were both able to get our go-to favorites, pineapple fried rice and pad see-ew.
Quality: 2/5
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| Iced Thai tea |
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| Vegetarian spring roll |
Unfortunately we were underwhelmed with our meal. My partner said his rice was fine but didn't have much flavor other than the oil it was fried in. The spring rolls were weird - mostly cabbage with a lot of black pepper. I was a little worried when they brought my noodles out because it looked like they had brought chicken instead of beef. It's a good thing I took a bite out of it before I sent it back, because it did taste beef-ish; it was just really pale beef, I guess. Now the one stellar part of this meal was the iced Thai tea I ordered. It was presented well and tasted great. We were also a little disappointed in the service, though. We had to remind the staff to bring us silverware and napkins. The food came out a bit slowly, but it seemed like there was only one person working in the back so I don't fault the servers for that at all.
Kid-Friendly: 4/5
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| Sampling an ACTUAL VEGETABLE |
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| Fistfuls of rice |
In my experience it's a rare Thai joint that bends over backward to make picky American kids happy, which I think is good for them. My 4YO contented himself with the fried chicken covered in sweet-and-sour vegetables and was actually willing to sample the vegetables, which was nice to see. The baby enjoyed some pineapple fried rice. I was relieved that the staff were friendly and understanding because by the end of the meal both kids were fussy and climbing up the walls.
Would Eat Again?: Yellow Light
I really wanted to find reasons to like Jay's, because it did the brave thing of introducing Thai food to a Midwestern factory town. But I didn't have anything here that made me say "Wow that was a great experience." I would probably bring my kids here before taking them to the fancier Thai place that opened up recently just because Jay's seems like a friendlier environment for baby shrieks and kid grumps. But in the balance I don't know that this really scratched my itch for Southeast Asian food.
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