Tasty Thai/Vietnamese Dinner in Sarasota, FL
Can’t decide between Pad Thai and Pho? If you choose to dine at InfuZions then you’ll be able to satisfy your tastes of both cuisines. InfuZions is located in the Parkway Collection shopping center, in a modest storefront next to the bustling Detwiler’s market. I’ll be honest, I must have walked past this place a hundred times until just recently. Now, I’m kicking myself saying “what took me so long?”
We dined there just last week with friends. I made a reservation “just in case” because it can get quite busy especially with our snowbird population in full force. We were seated in a back booth that has perhaps seen better days. The restaurant is brightly lit with a lot of modern fixtures and interesting, kitschy details. The decor is a typical mixture of Thai influenced artwork; paintings and scenery with elephants and other asian inspired pieces.
The large menu is divided by country with explanations of the cuisine of both Thailand and Vietnam. The fare of Thailand is most influenced by China and India, whereas Vietnamese food is a combination of the Chinese and the French. InfuZions also caters to the vegetarian and vegan customer, as is noted by a prominent sign as you enter the front door. In fact, my first meal here was with the Meetup group, VegSarasota, as they hosted a Vegan lunch for its members a few months ago.
On our couples dinner, we all started with the Summer Garden Rolls, a Thai appetizer. The platter was a fresh beautiful display, with a peanut drizzle to decorate the platter. The roll was sliced into 7 pieces and served with a delicious peanut sauce. If you’re not familiar with the summer roll, it’s a rice paper wrapper that’s filled with thin rice noodles, cucumber, carrots and avocado. It looks like a sushi roll, replacing the nori wrap for the rice paper.
I ordered the Pad Thai Tofu and was happy to know that the restaurant can accommodate my vegan request. Typically, Pad Thai is made with egg and fish sauce, and they will gladly leave out both upon request. The very generous portion was so flavorful with a highly dressed peanut sauce. I have had Pad Thai elsewhere and the sauce can be thick and overpowering. This dish was just right. And I mentioned the large serving––I had more than enough to take home for my lunch the next day. In fact, all four of us took a to-go container!
My husband ordered the Drunken Noodles. This was also from the Thai section of the menu. Drunken Noodles are a wide, flat rice noodles served with red and green peppers in a red chili paste sauce. It’s definitely on the spicy side.
Our friends both ordered Thai dishes as well. They chose the Thai Garlic Tofu and the Thai mixed vegetable dishes. Both were delicious served with while jasmine rice on the side. They are fans of Pho also and had a tough time deciding on their order that night. It definitely means they’ll be returning to try another dish.
InfuZions is a family run business with helpful, friendly servers. Entrees are very reasonably priced, with Pho starting at $10 and other entrees priced at $11 and up. On our visit, a Friday night, nearly every table was taken and the bar seats were full as well. We sat at our table long after we had finished eating and never felt rushed to leave, except that at 10:00 the servers wanted to go home! I guess we felt that comfortable.
Give InfuZions (6090 Lockwood Ridge Rd, Sarasota, FL 34243) a try the next time you’re craving some delicious noodles or Pho. You won’t be disappointed.
Photos courtesy of Heide Schild.