P Thai's Khao Man Gai & Noodles — Restaurant in Austin

ating: 4.1/5 [dine in]

There are two parking lots available, with the one in the front being smaller than the one in the back. The front lot was full so we had to park in the back on a late Saturday afternoon. As soon as you walk in, the interior design gives off a strong sense of being transported to Thailand. There's plenty of indoor and outdoor seating as well. You place your order at the front, receive a table number, and seat yourself. There's a self-serve water station, along with utensils and napkins, though each table is also already stocked with the essentials.

Fried Chicken Skin ($7): I'm not one to order chicken skin but this place does it well. Perfectly fried to a crisp while still maintaining the flavor and richness of the skin. Each piece was a great size--not too small or too large--and full of flavor. It also came with their housemade sweet chili sauce, though I didn’t think it added much. It didn’t pair particularly well with either the chicken skin or the Khao Man Gai.

Khao Man Gai Combo ($18): This combo included both poached and fried chicken, served with subtly fragrant chicken fat rice and two sauces: a fermented bean ginger chili sauce and a sweet chili sauce. The poached chicken was decent, but neither sauce really complemented it well. Personally, I prefer the Vietnamese-style Hainan chicken over this version. The fried chicken was just okay; we've had better at other Thai restaurants.

Ba Me Moo Dang ($17): Thin egg noodles tossed in Thai-Chinese seasoning, topped with BBQ pork, bok choy, bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, green onion, and cilantro, with a side of CK broth. This was flavorful and well-prepared, but the sauce leaned a bit too heavy on the umami for our liking. We actually ended up using it as a dipping sauce for our chicken. The BBQ pork, however, was excellent--tender, flavorful, and well-seasoned. I'm not sure if the CK broth and the one served with the Khao Man Gai combo were the same. They looked different: one was clear with cilantro, while the other appeared more cloudy and slightly grainy.

Overall, the food was flavorful enough on its own, that we didn't really need the additional sauces. We ended up so much leftover that we brought home four sauce containers.

Soy Nam Jim ($1): This sauce isn't spicy on its own, but the green chilies add a fun kick of heat. Definitely enjoyable.

Nam Jim Jaew ($1): Bold and spicy, thanks to the generous amount of dried chili flakes. If you like heat, this...

I loved our meal at P Thai’s! After eating here, it is hands down my new favorite Thai restaurant in Austin. We ordered the Khao Man Gai Combo, Boat Noodles, and the Cry Cry Chicken Salad, and all of our food came out at once in less than 10 minutes. The Khao Man Gai is a very simple and comforting dish, just chicken over rice. I was amazed at the crunch on the fried chicken and the tenderness of the poached chicken! Both were cooked perfectly and paired well with the sauces and broth. The fermented bean ginger chili sauce was especially flavorful, it complemented the chicken wonderfully. I noticed that low reviews are saying this dish is bland and boring, but I think they aren’t appreciating this dish for what it is. Yes, it is simply chicken and rice, but P Thai’s seems to have done a great job mastering this comforting Thai dish and it is delicious for what it is! My only gripe was that our dish didn’t come out very warm and the rice wasn’t remarkable. Next, the Cry Cry Chicken - it was exploding with flavor and spiciness! It has that delicious combination of sour, spicy, and sweet flavors that authentic Thai food carries so well. Go for this if you want to get another dish for some extra tang and spice, my partner said he could’ve eaten another bowl by himself. The Boat Noodles were my personal favorite - a rich and spicy flavor bomb of a noodle soup. It came out piping hot with so many different textures and amazing depth of flavor! The noodles, pork slices, and veggies layer well with the rich broth, and it was almost addicting to eat as I couldn’t put my utensils down. It was an unexpected winner and a must-order! We washed everything down with a green iced tea that was floral and refreshing, a nice switch up from regular Thai tea. We did pay a little over $50 before tip but it was well worth it to me as everything was delicious and satisfying. It is a colorful and vibrant restaurant with nice staff, I 100% recommend going the next time you want delicious and...

I tried P Thai when they were just in a hole in a wall grocery store where the menu was limited to Khao man gai and tod and the fried chicken skins. I had really high expectations for the brick and mortar which I have been waiting to try since they opened. I loved their original dishes however I was very disappointed with the highly rated boat noodles which I was very excited to try. It so happened we were in the area and I begged to stop by P Thai's for dinner only to be disappointed for something I was really excited and raved about to try. Im going to fault whoever is in the kitchen today as well as the service who didnt warn us and the menu on the site which did not warn how spicy the boat noodles will be. My husband order the same boat noodles, no change to it same as mine which I ate at the restaurant, mine was excruciatingly spicy which my husband who lived in Thailand for over 5 years felt the same when he tried it. His was ordered to go and when he ate it home it was very sweet which made no sense other than whoever was in charge of the seasoning at the end did not do a good job. As spicy and sweet as it was, you can taste the flavors of the broth but it was very much ruined by the finishing touches. I was very much embarrassed to have spoken so highly of this place to my husband and heartbreakingly disappointed for this place. Im hoping it was just an anomaly but it will take a while for me...