I was in Hattiesburg for lunch today and went to a gem of a Thai restaurant. Jutama’s Restaurant has a very friendly staff and offered a pretty deep menu of curries, noodles and specialties of Thai cuisine.
I judge a lot of Thai restaurants by their Tom Kai Gai. Combining coconut milk and lemon grass, ginger, lime, mushrooms and chicken into a taste of heaven is an art that Jutama’s has in abundance. I slurped up every bite and it certainly tasted like more.
However, we had both ordered entrees, so no more soup for me! For the main dishes, I went with the chicken in peanut sauce and the sauce was a little thin but nicely flavored.
I was so impressed with the carrot art that I took a separate picture of it:
Michelle ordered the Drunken Noodles. She requested they serve them at 4.5 (on a 5 point heat scale), so it was a little hot for me. Not to mention, she ordered it with tofu. Not bad flavors once your sinuses cleared from the spice.
We ended the meal with mango, sticky rice and coconut cream sauce. It was another piece of art for both the eyes and the palate.
If you’re ever in Hattiesburg, I would most sincerely recommend this restaurant. Authentic Thai is hard to find in the deep South but having such great tastes plus such great service makes Hattiesburgians very lucky indeed.
