Ban Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Reykjavik

This wasn't Pad Thai.

Hello guys, I had a chance to visit Iceland and had a lot of Iceland foods. They were all amazing, Reindeer Bread Bowl Soup, Lamb hot dog. However, I was craving Thai food a bit and wanted to know how Thai dishes in Iceland taste like.

We walked pass a couple of Thai restaurants and my friends said, let's eat here. There are so many recommended stickers on the windows, like Best Thai food of 2012, Great Thai food of 2013, Amazing Thai food of 2014, Fantastic Thai food of 2015, and bla bla bla. So Ban Thai, we picked you!

After I addressed myself to the server as a Thai traveler, I placed the order. Obviously, if I can pick only one then it has to be Shrimp Pad Thai.

'3,900 Kro' Server said, and it paused me for a second to calculate it into USD. 'Wow, almost $30!. This is going to be the most expensive Pad Thai I've ever had (probably the most expensive Pad Thai in the World!)'. But I think it's Iceland's price and just one time. Stop hesitating and try!

'How's Pad Thai here? Aroi-Mai-Krub?' I asked the server in Thai. 'Even better than in Thailand' the Server said back confidently.

After nearly 20 mins, I got my Pad Thai to go. It's very light which was opposite from what I had seen when another customer was served Pad Thai during my waiting. 'It's ok, don't judge the book by its cover, then don't judge the food by its weight.' I told myself to stay positive.

Alright, it's the moment of truth. I opened the box and found a small portion of noodles with 5 small shrimps, scallion, nut, carrot, and chopped cabbage. 'Wat Da Fak!' I screamed and my friends came to see me. 'Is this really $30?' They asked frustratedly. 'Unbelievably little' some said,

I was trying to keep myself cool and told them to wait until I had the first taste and then we talked.

After the first bite, Oh My God! Is this Pad Thai? This wasn't Pad Thai not even close to something called Pad Thai!

First, Noodle was so broken. You don't need a chopstick, rather used a Fork and it was very sweet, like a sugar box spilled on it with a scent of Paprika powder which was not typically used in Thailand.

Second, they used scallion for Chive, which was ok. Some restaurant in NY used it too. I could take it. but carrot, chopped raw cabbage were unacceptable.

With 5 small little tiny baby shrimps size 25-30, and peanut without grounded it. These was so disappointed.

To conclude, Not recommended for Thai and for all. Unless you want to break your bank to try something, not even Thai food.

Honestly, I can take it if the server didn't say 'Our Pad Thai is even better than in Thailand'. This was a big lie. Perhaps, if she said the truth like our Pad Thai is not good, you should try something else. That would be totally fine for me.

And I will not believe those fake award stickers on the...

Worst experience ever made in any restaurant! First of all the service was really bad. She was constantly busy and didn’t take notice of us, then she didn’t understand English properly, but the worst of all was my main dish. After ordering two starters, a bottle of wine we also ordered two main dishes. Mine was the size of a starter or even smaller and was served cold and not spicy (3 Chili’s on the menu) and my wife’s main course had one Chili and was more spicywe tried to get the attention of the waiter, but she was too busy running around and didn’t take any attention. Then finally when she came I told her that I was not happy with the meal and don’t see the point in paying for it and I want to order something else. The second time the portion was correct, but the best was at the end when we wanted to pay, he charged us the full amount for the small main course at the beginning and we refused to pay it and he called the police! We waited for the police to come and his agreement at the end was to charge us half of it or he will press charges against us! What in Jesus Christs name is an owner doing after we spent more than $160 for another $16??? I would be so ashamed if I were him. Despite the fact the the mixed seafood soup at the beginning had exactly one (!) calamari ring in it and nothing else and we didn’t complain! Absolutely embarrassing! So think about...

Don’t know what you want for dinner? Go to Ban Thai. Craving spicy food in a country where black pepper is considered daring? Go to Ban Thai. Want to feel like you are transported to Thailand on the most dreary winter days in Reykjavík? Go to Ban Thai. I am astonished how any place with such an extensive menu can consistently maintain such high quality food, on an island where supplies are challenging, but they hit the bulls eye every single time. We are slowly making our way through the menu (weekly visits over the last 2 years since moving to Iceland) even though there are favorites I want to keep ordering. Having eaten Thai food all over the world including repeated trips to Asia including time spent in Thailand, I can say that Ban Thai is up among the world’s best Thai restaurants. Colleagues and guests we have brought here all agree. Anyone who says otherwise is used to the sweet gloppy crap served in the name of Thai food only. From the minute I first opened the menu and read the treatise on Thai food, I knew we were in for something truly special. And even though I pride myself on having an asbestos mouth/chilihead, that jungle curry allllmost defeated me (in a good way, I took it home and enjoyed it for lunch). Believe the spice recommendations. If you are a foodie- this place is a...