Inmate: Tan, Jackie

Inmate number: 8679-034

Location: Washington State Penitentiary

Crime: First degree murder two counts, burglary

There are few things in this cruel world that hit the spot quite like good curry. It’s hard to find places that serve up some wicked curry, but one place, Diamond Thai in Sioux City, Iowa, knows how to. My parents used to make a lot of Thai curry before I took them out and ended up in here. I wanted to bring back those childhood memories eating tasty Thai food while hating my parents, so I chose Diamond Thai as my last meal.

The restaurant is a hole-in-the-wall kind of place that sits off West 7th Street next to an old market and an abandoned store. The outside is deceiving, though, because the place is great. The inside is decorated in a lot of original oriental artifacts and artwork. There was even an offering to ancestors in the entry way when we walked in. It is a bit small on the inside, but it just adds to the coziness of the atmosphere.

An offering in the entry way.

Unlike my parents, the people who ran Diamond Thai were very friendly and made you feel at home. The waitress was always smiling and enjoyed our company. She seemed to love her job. She gave us some menus and when I began to look through it I realized I was in Thai heaven (that’s probably as close to heaven I’ll be going). They had a good amount of curry recipes as well as traditional pad thai and other dishes. It took me a long time to decide, but I went with the simmered duck curry, which had duck, green peppers, tomatoes, and pineapple simmered in red curry sauce. For an appetizer I ordered fried tofu with peanut sauce.

Bland and colorless fried tofu. Perfect for the yuppie hipster.

The appetizer arrived and it looked a bit boring and brownish grey, which I suppose is what to expect with tofu. It tasted as bland as it looked, though the peanut sauce was tasty. I worked my way through the small dish, each bite getting more tasteless than the first.

Not too long after finishing, the waitress brought out our meals. I literally had a boat full of food (the dish was in the shape of a boat) and a big bowl of jasmine rice. I wasted little time as I quickly dug in to the meal. It tasted better than from home! The curry, which I ordered at medium heat, had just the right amount of heat and flavor. The flavor was… well, hard to describe. I wanted a straw to drink it up. The duck was great; it tasted a bit like the dark meat of a turkey with a little bit of a wild flavor to it. The veggies were not too soggy and the pineapple accented the red curry perfectly. The jasmine rice soaked up the curry sauce and made the meal more hearty and complete. I could’ve eaten another 3 of those if I had any room in my stomach.

My meal: Duck, green peppers, tomatoes, and pineapple simmered in red curry.

I convinced myself that I had just enough room for a little dessert, so I ordered mango and coconut rice with cream. It tasted a lot like a peach cobbler. The mango was easy to cut in to and had a warm but fresh taste. The coconut rice tasted a bit like tapioca pudding.

Mango and coconut rice.

I finally had enough and could barely move any longer. Diamond Thai is one of my all-time favorite places to eat. It was food to die for.