The opening of a new year on the calendar also means the opening of the second half of the local theater season. That brings trips to Webster Groves for many of us, and the opportunity for a pre-theater dinner at a restaurant that’s been in our sights for a while. Tei Too is an offshoot of Nippon Tei, the sushi/pan-Asian spot in Ballwin. But this is a much more casual storefront where orders are taken at the counter, and then brought to your table. There’s a slight hint at the atmosphere of student life. And food arrives promptly. We arrived at 6 p.m. on a recent Friday and were finished in less than an hour. But the crowd grew, and pre-theater diners who arrived closer to 7 probably had to hustle to make an 8-o’clock curtain. Lacquer-red walls give the first hint that Tei Too might not be the same old thing. And the menu raises the pulse even more, with choices from Vietnamese-style pho to Japanese yaki soba noodles and an Asian steak-and-cabbage salad.
Dumplings are hard to resist in any Asian restaurant. These pot-sticker-style fellows, smaller than the St. Louis norm but in greater numbers, had a thin skin only slightly resistant to the tooth, and a juicy, meaty filling laced with ginger. The tart-salty sauce, mainly soy and vinegar as far as we could tell, seemed more lively than average, and the tasty dumplings obviously had been freshly cooked. Tei Too proclaims satay and noodles as the house specialties, and since we believe that a restaurant should lead with its specialty, we started with the chicken satay. In our experience, it’s made with white meat of chicken, cut so thinly it always dries out on its skewer. Tai Too’s meat has been marinated a little so there is seasoning beyond salt and pepper. Our primary reason to order it, however, is to eat the sauce, that peanutty, curry-esque delight. The house version is laced with coconut milk and small chunks of peanut, good enough to eat with a spoon if the diet can take it. Mussels were good-sized, lightly cooked and still juicy, sauced with plenty of fresh red and green sweet peppers, some green onions and a little carrot, all in a tangy soy-ginger glaze; rice came alongside to mix in or take straight. The broth was excellent by itself. But the really exciting entree was the Burmese noodles. Noodles rode in a creamy curry broth of marvelous flavor. Slightly sweet from what we think was galangal, a root sometimes used in Southeast Asian food, and overall slightly hot-spicy, it was slurp after delicious slurp with an occasional pause for a bite of a tart cabbage, some half-moons of raw red onions and a handful of crispy, curly fried wonton-like noodles that topped it off, as well as some overcooked. It was an exciting dish, like nothing we’ve had around town, thanks to thatcurry sauce the color of moonlight. A meager selection of beer and wine is available, but the menu shows no desserts. On this block, however, there are at least two other spots that specialize in them, so the sweet tooth can avoid a sulk. No reservations, either, so get there early if a curtain awaits. And there are a number of six-top tables; on some nights, sharing may be necessary.
A worthy stop.
Tei Too
8158 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves
314-961-8889
Lunch & Dinner Mon.-Sat.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Yes
Smoking: No
Entrees: $7-$15
Comments
3 responses
My wife and I both love Thai food. We will have to head over to Webster Groves and give it a try.
It’s not a bad spot. They have a great twist on crab rangoon–so great that I crave them and they’ve ruined standard crab rangoons.
This place is excellent, we love it! It’s tasty and inexpensive, but the annoying thing is that you have to order at the counter first (including drinks)and then the waiter brings your food to the table. I suppose the system is akin to dining in at Imos. Don’t let that bit of awkwardness stop you from going, though, it’s well worth it.