When it comes to Asian food, my preference is Chinese or Japanese.

But when a co-worker suggested trying out Thai Hut 2, I figured why not. I don’t often make it to Tacoma’s South End, so I thought this would be a good chance for some culinary exploration.

The trip down Interstate 5 to South 72nd Street was worth it.

Atmosphere: The wood décor creates a warm atmosphere for diners. The artwork on the walls serves as a low-key accent to the overall feeling. There are no mural-size homages to the mother country here. There is a nice mix of tables and booths. Even though just three of us ate lunch on this visit, we ordered lots of food. Our table had plenty of room for all the plates that came with our meal.

Menu highlights: While the menu has plenty of Thai standards, there were some pleasant surprises. Even though we did not sample them, there were a number of salmon entrees on the dinner menu. The appetizer and salad selections are more extensive than other local Thai restaurants.

Dishes sampled: We began our meal with appetizers of chicken satay ($6.95) and crab wontons ($6.95). The four skewers of satay were packed with large, lightly seasoned and moist pieces of breast meat. The generous serving of wontons were well done, with a thick wrapper that was not over-fried. The cream cheese filling was dotted with crab you could easily see and, more importantly, taste.

From the soup menu, we tried the tom kha with chicken ($7.95). While the soup was ordered on the low end of the spicy scale, it came to the table packing more heat than expected. But as one of my fellow diners said, the spice-induced sniffles were well worth it.

As longtime fans of honey walnut shrimp, we jumped at the chance to order the Thai Hut honey walnut salad ($10.95). The shrimp were lightly fried and then coated in the right amount of honey dressing. Even though it was delicious, this dish seemed more of an entree. The salad portion of the dish was just lettuce, and it came with no dressing.

Whenever I try a new Thai restaurant, I always get pad thai. I know, it’s not very adventurous, but it’s a dish I like and it serves as a good standard for comparing eateries. My pad thai ($6.95 lunch/$8.25 dinner) was slightly sweet, with plenty of chicken pieces. More importantly, the fried rice noodles did not come as a large gelatinous pile. It made me feel as if the dish was made to order, rather than the noodles being premade, and the dish slapped together when the order came into the kitchen.

We also had an order of golden cashew nut ($6.95 lunch/$8.25 dinner) – chicken mixed with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, carrots, zucchinis, water chestnuts and cashews. Although the dish was served far milder than ordered, it was still tasty.

Service: Our lunchtime conversation started before we ordered, but our waitress was patient enough to come back three times before we stopped chatting long enough to make our menu choices. That was just the start of the good service we received. Our meal arrived well paced, giving us enough time to enjoy our soup, and then appetizers, before our entrees arrived. The only quibble was the inconsistency in how spicy we ordered some items and the way they came out of the kitchen.

Most unexpected moment: Moments after taking our orders the waitress brought each of us a bowl of hot and sour soup. Not a favorite of mine, but the spices made the warm soup the perfect way to start lunch on a rainy day.

Lunch special: If you’re in the South End, this is a good choice for lunch. The restaurant has a luncheon special, for $6.95, that comes with soup, an entree and rice. Not a bad deal, and the servings are a nice size.

Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640

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Thai Hut 2

Where: 1901 S. 72nd St., Suite A-6, Tacoma, in the Tacoma Place Shopping Center

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Fridays, 1-9:30 p.m. Saturdays, 1-8 p.m. Sundays; lunches served 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays

Particulars: Accepts major credit cards, no children’s menu, wheelchair accessible, 253-475-1214. You can find the menu online at www.allmenus.com.

Price range: $
EDITOR’S NOTE: Drop-In Dining is a dining report about a new or new-to-us restaurant. Reporters drop in unannounced and sample the food, on TNT’s dime, then report what the scene and food was like. Have a suggestion for a drop-in dining feature? E-mail us at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com.