Abb Air Thai - Chatswood — Restaurant in Sydney

After reading really positive Google reviews I decided to drop by for a meal. I ordered green curry, a Thai noodle salad, duck soup noodles and a coconut jelly and sweet potato type of dessert.

I can handle fairly spicy food but the rest of the people that came with me can only handle light spiciness, and therefore I asked during ordering to make the spiciness only a little bit (mild).

However the salad came out very spicy, to the extent the others couldn't eat it at all, and it ended up being me eating it. It was so spicy that I struggle with it myself, turning a highly anticipated dinner out into an mouth burning ordeal washed down with cups and cups of water. Additionally both the green curry and salad were overly salty (more cups of water).

The next part is more subjective so I'll mention it upfront (I'm not a professional food taster nor an expert food critic). The duck soup noodle, while mild and pleasant, the meat felt a little sandy and I wonder if it isn't the freshest. Also after the meal I was thirsty for hours, which is the sensation I get after having MSG. I can't prove they used MSG or not, so this is my speculation.

On the plus side, the service was friendly & nice (thumbs up for the lady helping us), the restaurant looks nice, the meals look beautifully presented (let down by the actual taste), and the dessert is good, so there are positive factors.

Overall though the food was not the highlight of the dinner.

The final part of speculation. I went back to read the several 5-star reviewers. Each of them have left almost 5 star reviews for all their other reviews, picture perfect photos for the restaurants (often full course meals filling the whole table, all untouched, like a photo op). Furthermore the different reviewers often cycle around to the exact same restaurants, leaving all with flying 5 stars. Is there a pattern here, or are these 5-star reviews team all a coincidence?

I urge this restaurant to quickly improve on the food and put quality control in their taste testing department. Short term customers come based on marketing, long term customers only return for good food.

I of course welcome comments from the restaurant management, always happy to get...

I came here after seeing all the glowing 5-star reviews, but the experience didn’t live up to the hype at all. The food was overly salty, the flavours were off-balance, and honestly felt rushed and poorly prepared. After that, I went back to the reviews and noticed something really suspicious.

A lot of the 5-star reviews read like paid influencer posts, not genuine diners. They’re full of over-the-top language like “OBSESSED with how authentic and delicious the food is!!!” and “EVERY dish was ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!!!” Many even list prices for every single dish and drink, which just feels staged—who actually writes reviews like that unless they’re promoting?

There’s a repeated pattern of the same phrases, emojis, and even the same dishes being praised again and again. And when you look at the negative reviews, the tone is completely different—they’re plain, honest, and critical, calling out serious issues like cold rice, tough meat, watery curries, and even feeling sick afterwards.

It really feels like the high rating here is being artificially boosted. Just be cautious, I'm not convinced this is the “best Thai on the North Shore” as some of these reviews claim. If anyone does eat here, please put up your honest review to encourage any business to work on quality instead of...

I randomly walked passed this restaurant and only stopped because I saw an advertisement for this durian sticky rice at their shop front. I love durian and I also adore this Thai dessert. I told the lady I would like to buy it as takeaway and paid $15. A few minutes later she handed me the dessert, packaged inside a large brown bag. As I left the restaurant, I took the dessert out to see it. What I saw was a massive disappointment. I couldn’t believe this restaurant had the audacity to sell this to their customer. It was the saddest looking durian sticky rice ever! How dare they take my $15 and served me this? It looked as though someone had eaten half of my dessert! If they’re going to be stingy on the durian at least be generous with the sticky rice! I’ve eaten this dessert many times and this was the worse experience in terms of value, presentation and customer service. This explained why no one was dining at the restaurant at the time I ordered. My first and last time as their customer. First impression last, better remember that the next time they try to rip someone off...