Next time you and your friends are looking for a place to eat after school, scratch the boring fast food and opt for a more ethnic meal of delicious food at a reasonable price.

Located at 278 Main Street in Northborough and only a brief walk from the high school, Yoong Tong serves a plethora of Thai food for dine in and take out. While the food is reasonably priced for the quality, it is easy to rack up a large bill with so many options to try.

The restaurant is run by the Sahasakmontri family hailing from Thailand, ensuring that neither the food nor the atmosphere is overly Americanized. The restaurant is adorned with traditional Thai decorations, and one wall of the dining area is entirely glass, extending over the heads of customers who can eat in tables or booths. This provides lots of natural light for customers eating there for lunch or an early dinner, as I was.

Dining with my mother, we ordered a dish of vegetable Pad Thai ($12.95), chicken satay ($7.95), and scallion pancakes ($6.95). The scallion pancakes, served with a ginger soy sauce, were satisfyingly more airy than typical scallion pancakes, and were complimented excellently with the spicy white turnip sauce that came with the chicken satay. The vegetable Pad Thai, a rice noodle based dish, filled in my mouth with a sweet peanut flavor and a greasy warmth that made me crave bite after bite. The Pad Thai is enough to share with a friend if you are also getting appetizers, but you can also eat it by yourself if you are particularly hungry.

The service was prompt, and only once did the server not realize we needed more water when we ran out. After that, however, our waters were refilled quickly and the staff remained courteous and attentive.

The menu has convenient images of peppers to indicate the spiciness level of each meal, allowing customers to easily judge how much they would likely enjoy the food, although orders can be made hotter or milder on request.

The Yoong Tong website says they will accomodate for any dietary restriction, but if you or someone you are eating with has a severe nut allergy, beware of the abundance of dishes served with peanuts.

Not many people know about Yoong Tong despite its proximity to the high school, and while it may cost a little more than some casual sit down restaurants, every penny is well spent for a meal at Yoong Tong.