Blue Elephant has been on the border between Roger’s Park and Edgewater for about a year (1235 W. Devon Ave). As of late Indie Cafe has been getting lots of props. They both blend Thai with other Asian foods.

I’ll confess I am a Thai Pastry fan that has never been to Arun’s. I will have to go back to confirm this but I found Blue Elephant’s panang better than any I’ve had in a long time and I eat panang often. It was creamy but not too creamy, spicy but not too spicy, sweet but not too sweet… The ingredients were fresh and not overcooked.

The Flaming Shrimp and Scallop was also astonishingly good, sweet and hot. The scallops were sea scallops and not the smaller bay scallops that you sometimes get. The shrimp inflatable obstacle course were much larger than I’m used to as well. All ingredients seemed very fresh and of good quality. There was nothing similar about the ingredients between dishes.

For an appetizer my wife ordered the crab rangoon and we both thought the sauce was fairly unique and sweet. The appetizer came with a small salad with a miso dressing that really was an original pairing and worked well. We also got a free order of gyoza (Japanese rice-noodle dumplings) that were very tasty as well and served in a somewhat standard and very tasty Japanese dumpling sauce.

The restaurant is small with an open kitchen and in the summer they open a patio that doubles the capacity. It’s BYOB and a good Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc would do the trick. I always say “Why drink anything else when you could drink Champagne?” I’d recommend the Jean Vesselle Champagne (YES Champagne) or the Bernard Massard sparkling wine. They each run $13 (YES, Champagne for $13) from Sam’s Wine and Spirits. Considering I was so happy with carry-out I will make a point to eat in next time and try some of the more unusual dishes like blackberry duck. They do have a kung pow noodle dish as well as a soba dish or two. I will have to go back to get a handle on how they treat non-thai fare but I am looking forward to it. Blue Elephant was a terrific surprise and will surely become a new regular spot.

Map Blue Elephant