AP's Seafood Buffet

Don't go for the seafood.

Ap's has been in Jacksonville for as long as I can remember and are one of the last of the old hard-line seafood establishments. Back in the day, seafood in Arkansas meant fried shrimp, catfish and deviled crabs. And at Ap's it still does. And I believe you will find that fare okay.

But if you go there for the Thai food, you will be more than pleasantly surprised. The first hint I had of it was the cucumber salad on the buffet. I mentioned that I liked that at the Thai restaurants, and the owner enthusiastically handed me a special Thai menu.

"You like Thai food?" she asked.

I looked over the menu and saw many familiar things and a couple that weren't so familiar. We vowed to come back and just eat Thai food at a later date.

Today we went and did just that. We tasted the chicken curry which was a very spicy and flavorful red Thai curry with lots of bamboo and chicken. The beef salad was fiery hot and had a strong herbal taste that I found quite pleasing.

At that point the owner came to our table and said, "They're making noodle, slow down!" And then she brought out a large bowl of noodle soup. That was worth the trip by itself.

A rich beef broth, spicy, with a hint of fish sauce and large tender strips of beef with noodles and fresh green onions. We got chopsticks and a couple of small bowls and lit into it like nobody's business. My eyelids are heavy as I sit before my computer.

Next time we'll try the Tom Yum Soup with shrimp and mussels in it. I'll bet it's even better than the noodle soup.

AP's Seafood Buffet
123 S. Jeff Davis Ave, Jacksonville Arkansas

Strongly recommend the Thai food!