A Somewhat Saucy Restaurant

1200 S. Thompson St.

Springdale

Our hungry party of five rolled into Springdale around lunchtime, and we stopped to try Silk Road Restaurant. We seated ourselves in a large corner booth, and the restaurant offered quick service, bringing iced tea and soda while we waited for our food.

An order of Thai spring rolls ($3) started our meal. We used the appetizers to try the varied selection of condiments at the table. Several red and green pepper sauces were available, in addition to a milder selection including sweet peanut and soy sauces.

Two members of our group hoped to find satisfaction for their hot-spice cravings, but their dreams of five-star fire faded. One ordered the red curry combo ($7).

“It was pretty good,” he said, “but the red pepper sauce that I put on my rice and the red curry really made the meal.” The dish was served with vegetables and four meats — chicken, shrimp, squid and beef — and the diner requested the addition of pork. However, the dish had less meat than other red curry dishes the diner has sampled from local Thai places.

The other spice fan, one who likes every meal as hot and spicy as the restaurant can legally make it, ordered the Panang curry shrimp ($5.50).

He liked the size of the shrimp and said the overall meal was “good, but not phenomenal.” He continues to search for a meal in Northwest Arkansas that is hot enough to make him yell.

Two members of our party marked the middle ground between hot and mild. One said he likes spice as a complement, not as an overwhelming characteristic of the food. He joked that he should have ordered four glasses of iced tea before eating the spicy seafood combo ($9). But, he said, the meal, loaded with shrimp, squid and crabmeat, was excellent.

The other ordered the Ladna seafood combo ($6.50) with shrimp and squid. She described the compilation of wide noodles and seafood in a brown sauce as yummy, but she said that next time, she would order a dish with a little more heat.

The “no peppers, please” diner at the table tried the Pad Thai with shrimp ($6). A large portion of rice noodles, scallions and big shrimp in a brown peanut sauce suited her tastes.

“The noodles were really good,” she said. “I was stuffed by the time I finished the meal.”

We enjoyed sampling the authentic fare at Silk Road, and we’ll return to try some of the other meals.