Penn’s Thai House isn’t much to look at, but its food is a lot to taste

OK, this is totally an exercise in not judging a book by its cover, as Mama used to say.

The seen-better-times strip mall where Penn’s Thai House is located (just down the street from the Galleria at Sunset mall) isn’t much to look at. The restaurant’s signage is a little confusing and may hark back to an earlier name. And the interior, while mostly neat as a pin (except for a fish tank that needs to be cleaned) and decorated with pieces of Thai-inspired art, doesn’t exactly have the charm of some of the more prominent Thai restaurants in the valley.

But all that will be forgiven once you’ve eaten.

On its face, Thai food sometimes seems simple — simply prepared — but that’s not really the case. It’s elemental food, with the magic coming about through skillful combining and seasoning.

We’ll start, as we did, with the summer rolls ($7.95). Called fresh rolls in some Thai restaurants, they were, as always, wrapped in rice paper that had been softened in warm water and rolled around a mixture of lettuce, cilantro, basil and shredded carrot, with a few shrimps. The two fat rolls were cut in two and served with an appealing peanut-soy sauce that wasn’t the cloying type we sometimes encounter. But what really was different was that the rolls didn’t contain the glass noodles we usually find. This may be a plus for some people (I’ve heard a lot of kvetching about those noodles over the years), but I kinda missed the textural contrasts.

Panang curry with tofu ($10.95; same with chicken, pork or beef, $12.95 with shrimp or $14.95 with seafood) was a pure rendition of the classic: rich with the flavor of coconut, slightly spicy, with the heat coming from red chile. The tofu was nicely done, just crisp around the edges.

We also had a Penn’s Thai House specialty, the crispy garlic chicken ($9.95). It was very good, with the big chunks of chicken indeed crispy and free of grease. But considering the name, and the fact that the menu said the chicken would be bathed in a “rich garlic sauce,” we expected a little more punch in that area; would that they had been as generous with the garlic as they were with the chile.

And a Thai iced tea ($2.50). You might think this is a simple thing, difficult to mess up, but there you’d be mistaken. This was one of the better versions in the valley, the Thai tea balanced with just the right amounts of condensed milk and ice to make a refreshing drink that tamed the chile pepper.

It’s true that Penn’s Thai House may not be much to look at, but never mind; rest assured that its food is a lot to taste.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Email Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Find more of her stories at reviewjournal.com and bestoflasvegas.com, and follow @HKRinella on Twitter.