Simply Thalia is a bistro lounge restaurant serving authentic Asian Fusion Cuisine with a twist.
I’ve frequented the restaurant quite often through the years for dining in and pick-up. The convenient Loop location in the Pedway of Block 37 is only a few blocks from my office.  It’s easy to pop in for a lunch meeting or pick up dinner on my walk to the train in the evening.

The unique menu offers one side Pan-Asian fare; so you’ll see Malaysian, Thai, Taiwanese, and Chinese dishes and the opposite side Japanese cuisine, where you can select sushi, maki, and bento.

I haven’t experienced a bad dish, and I’ve tried many things.

Some of my favorites are:

• The Volcano Soup:  a spicy seafood soup with shrimp, calamari, mussels, scallops, mushroom, tomato, and cilantro.
•  Kama Sutra: a combination of different types of seafood, with a spicy sauce, fire cooked and served over a spoonful of sushi rice and a touch of lime creating a wonderful flavor combination, like whoa!!!!  My son said it was the best sushi he’s tried.
• The Fat Boss Sushi Roll:  Scallop, Ebi, avocado, spicy mayo, Masago, and spicy sauce
• Thalia Laksa (Malaysia):  A hug in a bowl featuring generous portions of seafood, including calamari, shrimp, fish cakes, and mussels, in addition to tofu, bean sprouts, boiled egg, scallion and rice noodles!  It also includes a spicy heat which is always a plus.

Thalia Laksa Mao Boa Appetizer

Other recommendations include best seller Panang Chicken Curry (Thai), and the Mao Boa appetizer, which is a Chinese steam bun with barbecue pork inside.  The bread is slightly sweet, yum.

Everything is steam prepared in the restaurant!  Conscious efforts are made to keep all dishes oil-free, fat-free, and gluten-free.  Nothing’s fried! That’s remarkable.  There isn’t a fryer in the restaurant!  Even the health conscious can feel good while dining here. The chefs use the ingredient’s natural oils in preparing dishes.

Chicken Panang Curry

They will also accommodate dietary restrictions, just speak with the waitress regarding special requests.

Noteworthy Mentions

Tom Yum Soup

• Anytime Thalia’s noted on the menu beside an entrée name it denotes a restaurant specialty.  
• Many vegetarian options
• 4-Course lunch specials every day from 11am-3pm
• Happy Hour Monday-Saturday from 3-8 p.m.
• The restaurant will accomodate different dietary requests

Kama Sutra

Lunchtime presents a great opportunity to sample a variety of things off the menu as they have 4-course specials every day from 11 am-3 pm.  For $11.99 you get one of each: soup, appetizer, salad, and entrée.  That is such a great price for lunch in the Loop!

If you can’t make lunch, there’s always Happy Hour Monday-Saturday from 3-8 p.m with different special for every day of the week.  You can’t beat $5 Wine Wednesdays, $5 Martini Thursdays, and $3 Beer Fridays.  Saturday combines all of the offers from the week so you can get any of the daily Happy Hour specials.

With its convenient location and unbelievable specials, there’s no reason not to try Simply Thalia in the Loop.

Maybe, I’ll see you there!