Jasmine Thai Yotsuya — Restaurant in Tokyo

Summary: Disaster of a restaurant for Japan, overpriced and terrible food, non accommodating and rude staff, no wifi, overall worst dining experience I’ve had in Tokyo in 3 months. Leave this place to the salarymen whose only standards are if they serve the beer they like.

Absolute disaster of a restaurant and probably the worst dining experience I’ve had in my past 3 months in Tokyo. I came around 5:10pm and the sign outside said it was still closed when they should have opened at 5:00pm. I had to awkwardly walk in to the ‘closed’ restaurant after waiting a couple minutes and find someone to eventually get seated. I started looking at the menu and could only find a seafood version of pad ki mao (drunken noodles), which is usually a staple dish at Thai restaurants. When I asked them if they could change it to chicken or pork, I was told no and then pointed to another fried noodle dish with chicken (will come back to this). I asked for more time and the waitress just waited around me at the table while I was trying to look through the menu and decide what to order. After a couple minutes she asked if I had decided and I said not yet for her to rudely turn around and just walk off while sighing/mumbling to herself. Although I was disappointed with not being able to get pad ki mao, I settled for the other noodle dish the waitress recommended. The waitress from before did not come back/I could not see her for 10 minutes or so and I had to call out to another server to place my order (typical in Japan but still annoying when she said she would come back). I also ordered an overpriced thai milk tea (900 yen?? More expensive than any Thai restaurant I’ve been to in America!!) which ended up coming out first. The Thai milk tea was filled to the brim with ice and probably had 4 sips of tea before I finished it, although it did taste really good (the only positive in this train wreck of an experience). The noodles I ordered came out (#903) and it was the most mid tier thai food I think I’ve ever had. I forgot to specify a spice level when I ordered (waitress didn’t even ask though) and the dish was so bland I struggled to finish it. Everything was covered with a thick layer of neutral oil and barely had any flavor to it. In the middle of my meal, the waitress brought out a soup that I guess was a part of the dish I ordered? But that too was overly fatty and tasted like I was drinking a non flavored chicken broth. The vegetables in the soup were cooked well though if I’m looking for the little positives here. There was also no wifi at the restaurant which was quite frustrating. I don’t know how the reviews for this place are so high but this has definitely been one of the worst Thai restaurant I think I’ve ever been to. And I’ve mostly been to mid tier suburban Thai restaurants...

3.5 stars

I don't know why people say it's pricey here because the weekday lunch sets are quite reasonable and filling. This set was 1100yen. Each weekday has different lunch sets.

The chicken in this super thicky and coconutty massaman (spelling?) Curry was so tender and soft. Big filling bowl and adorned with tons of crunchy peanuts!

Great voluminous meal to keep you full. The set included salad and tapioca for dessert. Compared to other restaurants the tapioca coconut dessert was a bit watery. The salad dressing was thousand island so I was somewhat disappointed. I would have preferred a more authentic Thai dressing. Like some sweet and sour taste.

You can add other side dishes for a few hundred yen, so that's nice. They also offer a larger lunch set for those interested.

The ambiance is so nice. It's nice that they wear their traditional clothes as it adds to the experience. The manager seemed friendly but the waitress, well, definitely a bit disgruntled, as if upset that they couldn't hurry and close up after lunch hours. Oh and the back of the menu was sticky but I'm hoping it was just adhesive and not sticky soda or something like that.

Overall good. I'd go...

Best Thai restaurant in my 3 year living in Tokyo. Hands down.

I went to the place for late lunch (at around 2pm), no line at that time (probably already past people's lunch time).

• Food * We ordered Jasmine set E and Lunch set F. The portion was unexpectedly big for a Thai restaurant. The prawn with red curry was super and creamy. My wife really likes the rice noodle soup that she finished it even though it's huge for her. The gapao rice was OK. The tapioca milk dessert completes the experience.

• Vibe * The place was really nice! It has wooden theme in it, making us feels like having a short trip to somewhere in southeast Asia. They have indoor and outdoor seating.

• Value for Price * Great. With their set price of around 1800 yen, I didn't expect to get food this much.

• Final Verdict * Will come...