Khob Jai

I read an article about Khob Jai. I read the reviews I could find. We went for lunch with an Asian friend. We parked behind the restaurant and entered from the back. A lone waitress was at the long soda fountain counter talking with a customer who may have been there to get carry out. After several minutes he left and we were told to sit wherever we wanted. Our beverages arrived and I inquired about which dishes were the Laotian? She went to inquire. I decided on a stir fry: Hot Basil Leaf with Pork ($ 8.89) the others ordered Pad Thai ($ 8.95). I asked about the spice level, one to five, I chose level five. I was not disappointed. The Thai Holy Basil was fresh and tasty and the small red hot peppers were awesome. The curry leaves lent an excellent balance. The rice was nice. The Pad Thai came without lemon or lime wedges. Lemon was brought once we, at last, caught the eye of the waitress.
The restaurant is located in what appears to be a former soda fountain/​diner. Lots of Velvet Ice Cream memorabilia everywhere with a few Laotian touches. Eclectic comes to mind. The thing I hated was the baseball game blaring from an overhead television. We sat as far from the tv as we could. I suppose to hear the game above the sizzle of the wok requires a very high volume.
We liked our food very much and I was grateful to have level five spice the first visit. Our waitress seemed to be inexperienced but did try. The service was slow so we know our food was freshly prepared. We were the only people there.

On the basis of the reviews by the two Michelle’s, four of us went to check out Khob Jai. Bottom line: very good.
The menu has both very American dishes and dishes from South Asia. We were all interested in the Asian specialties. I ordered the Massaman Curry ($ 8.49). It was very good with authentic Asian spices. It was a little sweet and not as spicy as I prefer, as if it had been altered to fit American tastes. Next time I will ask for it to be spicier, but there definitely will be a next time! Others ordered the Pad Thai with Beef ($ 8.95) and the Chicken Red Curry ($ 8.49). Everyone was very happy with their meals.
There was one worry for the future. It took more time than usual for the meals to be prepared. The waitress explained that the kitchen had only one wok. The wait wasn’t too bad, but don’t go if you are in a hurry. The future worry is that this happened when there was only one other occupied table in the restaurant. This restaurant definitely deserves more patronage, but if that happens, I hope the owner is prepared to speed up kitchen operations to avoid customers unhappy with long wait times.