Thai Food Connection opens in Manchester
Not long after Republic Cafe moved all its operations down the street into its sister restaurant Campo Enoteca in August, Thailand native Annie Nault was walking down Elm Street in Manchester and saw a “for rent” sign in the window. She had worked in several Thai restaurants in southern New Hampshire and had been searching for a space that could be her own.
“I knew it was a great opportunity, because I walk around here often and it’s always busy,” said Nault, who comes from Phetchabun, Thailand, and whose mother worked as a high school culinary instructor. “I’ve wanted to open a restaurant my whole life.”
Thai Food Connection, which opened Dec. 1, features a menu of authentic Thai dishes like soups, curries, appetizers, entrees and street foods — all of which showcase the diversity of flavors and options available from within the country, Nault said.
“I knew it was a great opportunity, because I walk around here often and it’s always busy.”
Annie Nault
“In Thailand, when you go to any one place, they don’t have a variety [of options],” she said. “If you want chicken and rice, you have to go to this place, or if you want khao soi [curry with egg noodles], you have to go to another place, and they don’t sell anything else.”
Nault purchased a three-station wok for the restaurant and, during the months of renovation leading up to her opening, added all new furniture, curtains and kitchen equipment. A Thai mural and photos of her homeland taken by her friends adorn the walls, while an open kitchen is featured near the back of the restaurant.
Due to its location downtown, Nault said she expects Thai Food Connection to be a popular spot for takeout during the lunch hour. A full page of the menu is dedicated to lunch specials, like chicken, beef or tofu and vegetable noodle soup; pad Thai with chicken, tofu or shrimp; rice dishes, like stir-fried steamed jasmine rice with a hot basil sauce; and curries, like a mild coconut massaman curry and a coconut green curry with sliced chicken and roasted eggplant.
Other items include street foods like krapow, or stir-fried ground chicken with garlic, fresh chili, onion, pepper and basil; and various house specialties, like roasted duck curry, casseroled shrimp or lemongrass chicken with coconut milk, turmeric and Thai spices.
A chili pepper-shaped icon on the menu indicates that dish’s normal level of spice, but you can request anything to be as mild or as spicy as you want, Nault said.
“When you combine everything and all the ingredients with the chili, it reduces the kick of the spice,” she said, “so it’s not burning your mouth.”
There is also a small selection of desserts, like deep-fried breaded ice cream, a deep-fried banana roll topped with honey, and roti, or fried pan bread, with caramel sauce and chocolate syrup.
Online ordering and deliveries within a five-mile radius of the restaurant are also available, and Thai Food Connection is currently in the process of acquiring a liquor license, Nault said.
Thai Food Connection
Where: 1069 Elm St., Manchester
Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, until 10 p.m.
More info: Visit thaifoodconnection.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram or call 935-7257
Featured photo: Chicken satay. Courtesy photo.
