Review: Pataya Thai Restaurant in York County, Virginia

I love Thai food. One of my favorite restaurants features Thai food and is just a few blocks away from where I live. Because I enjoy it so much, I don't often venture out to try other Thai food establishments. However, recently I did and the result was wonderful. Pataya Restaurant is located at 5218 George Washington Highway in York County, Virginia. It is tucked into a shopping center, making it a bit difficult to find unless you know exactly where to look.

Walking into Pataya is like walking into the ocean itself. The walls are done in varying shades of blue to mimic the lower, middle, and upper ocean and the waves of the sea.

Aquariums full of fish are built right into the walls to add to the overall effect of a calming oceanic visit. Even the tables are done in shades of opal, blue, and green to look as though they were carved right out of the ocean floor.

The restaurant is modern. Absent is all of the clutter that is often found in American steakhouses or even warm Italian kitchens. It works, however, for this particular facility.

We were greeted at the door by a maitre'd who seated us immediately and handed us our menus. He also promptly delivered water in lovely goblets. As we perused our menus, he went about his other duties but returned as soon as we closed our menus, indicating that we had made our decisions.

The menu is varied with everything from appetizers to salads and main courses to desserts. There were dozens of options to choose from including chicken, pork, beef, and many different kinds of seafood.

The restaurant makes their own noodles in both standard Oriental style as well as wider choices. Rice options also varied from white to fried to other alternatives.

I settled on ginger noodles and my husband went for fried rice, Thai style. While we waited for our main courses, I enjoyed a delicious crisp green salad with the establishment's house dressing. My husband opted for Tum Yum soup, which he pronounced outstanding.