RESTAURANT REVIEW

Anny's Thai

The name is simple, the imaginative and artistically prepared food you dine on here is not. While she herself is a warm, easy to love person, the plate is where Anny (as she is known to friends, family and loyal legions of fans who adore her food) comes alive.

In an odd spot that hasn’t always been kind to restaurants on the south side of Sample Road in a red-roofed strip of rather uninteresting storefronts (next to Wong’s), is another of our area’s truly hidden jewels. Walk in, and the transformation is immediate. Greeted by the 6-seat Sushi bar at the opening to the lovely dining room, it’s intimate and immaculately clean and where Anny often holds court. The first female Sushi chef in Broward County, she relishes the accomplishment. “As a culture, the Japanese haven’t always helped their women excel. In my other restaurant we hired a Master Sushi chef and learned from each other. He taught me the intracacies of Sushi, I showed him Thai.” Knowing Anny, Sushi-making appealed to all the things she gets joy from: her love of orchids, fine food combinations and making everything pretty. “I love combining the textures, the fresh ingredients, the colors and tastes that go into Sushi.” A bite of Anny Roll, ($12.95) needs no further explanation. Served like a fine work of art on a plate, it has crunchy tuna, masago, scallions, a hint of sweetness, and a combination of perfectly matched flavors in a sauce that is simply divine. Her Tuna Tatake platter,($9.95), brought paper thin slices of gently seared tuna, in a light Ponzu sauce, that had each piece of tuna, draped like a petal on a peony. Admiring it brought the same pleasure as devouring it.

“It’s my sauces,” said the ever-perky Anny when asked how simple raw tuna could taste so extraordinary here. “I’ve been a chef almost 30 years. I understand spices, and flavors and after all this time, make the combinations that are special unto me.” OK. It was a nice way of telling me there ain’t no way I’m giving you my recipe, but short of that, tasting her food gives what she answered, clarity. Even though a classically trained (in Bagkok) Thai chef, she has taken her schooling, innate talent and hands-on culinary experience and now applied that to even the simple complexity of something like Sushi and the results are intoxicating.

But even the die-hard sushi lover, needs to tear themselves away to sample Anny’s Thai. For it is here this woman excels …and always has. And after all these years -- and accolades, spanning back to when she and her former husband owned another Broward restaurant that under her Executive Chef-ing, earned accolades including being voted “One of the Best” by the Miami Herald; the best “Dining on a Budget” award from South Florida Magazine and an EXCELLENT rating from Zagat -- instead of burn-out; the fare Anny turns out every day and night still burns with passion for her craft. “But the food’s not hot,” laughed the fun-loving Anny. “Sure I can add whatever fire someone enjoys, (we make everything to order) but the dishes on the menu are made milder for the mainstream palate. I want people to taste the real flavors of the food.”

Anny’s Roll

Her Crab Rangoon appetizer is phenonmenal. Truly one of the most incredible anywhere. ($4.95). Anny combines American (yes American) cheese, cream cheese, a hint of her curry, in an ever so light wonton wrap and lightly fries this to crazy-good perfection.

The Shrimp Pad Thai ($14.95) was an overflowing platter of the deliciously delicate rice noodles coated with a rich, flavorful sauce, (another secret) that was superb. Anny's specialty is a seafood dish we have no prayer at pronouncing: namprikpao ($32.95). It had a giant lobster