Tim Thai Restaurant, Westminster, MD

Tim Thai Restaurant is a locally-owned restaurant in the small town of Westminster, MD. If you’re ever out that way, stop by for their delicious cuisine.

Hazel and my mom began working together when I was about 12 years old, and she and my parents became very close friends over the years. Hazel is very much an adventurer, and when she retired she moved first to Colorado, then Montana, then back to Winchester, VA. My mom and I drove out to see her in Colorado in 2001, and on our way back was my first visit to Stillwater when we visited a couple of the football coaches whom I had worked with at Maryland.  Hazel now lives in a retirement community in Westminster, MD. My parents visit her periodically, and while I was home visiting it was the perfect opportunity to go and see her as well.

Westminster is a small town in western Maryland, about 45 minutes northwest of Baltimore. Before getting to Hazel’s home we drove around downtown. It reminds me of downtown Annapolis, with cobblestone streets and old buildings. I told my parents it’s kind of like a step back in time, and I’m convinced everyone who lives there has probably spent most, if not all, of their life there.

I had looked online for places to eat, and came across Tim Thai Restaurant. When I found it on TripAdvisor, it was called Thai Classic, but then I learned that it had recently changed names. It had gotten great reviews, and was listed as the #3 restaurant in the area.

Tim Thai is a very small restaurant, seating about 45. It looks even smaller because the walls are a very dark burgundy color. The wood floors and tables, as well as the large windows up front, lighten up the space just slightly. But they do have brightly colored photos of Thailand scenery on the walls. There were only 3 staff working, and I am quite confident they were all family. The wife was the hostess, husband was cooking, and son was the server. They spoke broken English, but it was good enough to understand without too much effort.

When we arrived there were just a few other tables of customers there, but over the course of the meal more and more people arrived. McDaniel College is only a few miles away, and they offer a discount for faculty/staff/students. I’m sure during the school year this place is packed for lunch.

They have a small lunch menu, which works really well for me. And all the dishes come with soup/salad and an egg roll.

My mom got the soup.

It came out screaming hot, and you could see the steam. My mom is very sensitive to salt and thought it was much too salty. I tasted it, and it was a bit salty, but the broth had very good flavor and the bowl was full of vegetables.

My dad and I both got the salad.

I liked the presentation, with the cucumber and tomato on top. It wasn’t a large salad, but that’s really okay. The dressing was their house, homemade dressing.  It had excellent flavor, and they gave you just enough for the salad. The spring roll was freshly made, crispy and delicious. I also enjoyed the dipping sauce for the spring roll.

As we were deciding what to order, a guy at the table next to us recommended the drunken noodles.  He said he didn’t want to bother us, but he gets it weekly and wanted to make sure we had a good experience. I love people like that! You won’t see that happening in a big city. I had already been thinking about getting it, and this solidified my decision. My parents got it with tofu, and I got mine with pork

I’m not a huge fan of tofu, but I tried a bite of my dad’s and it was delicious. The saute adds wonderful flavor. My mom said that theirs was a little overdone, and you could see the char on the tofu and vegetables.  I don’t feel like it was burnt though, and to me char means flavor. I’m guessing either the wok was too hot or it was cooked for a little too long.

My dish was excellent, and had so much flavor from the spices. The pork was slightly overcooked for my tastes, but that can easily happen with thin slices of white meat. I was quite surprised that we had different vegetables, since we both all got the drunken noodles. My dish only had onions and red peppers, while my parents also had beans, broccoli and carrots. So of course I stole a few extra pieces of veggies from my dad.

After lunch we drove around downtown to show Hazel the area. We found McDaniel College, which is a very pretty campus. Truthfully, the whole area is very nice. The area immediately surrounding downtown is untouched by much commercialism, and there are so many rolling hills and trees. But honestly, my only visits to Westminster will be to visit Hazel. And when we do, we’ll be having lunch at Tim Thai.