Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Austin

My mom has been telling me about this place for so long, but I live pretty far south so I haven't had the chance to get up there. Yesterday, my mom and I took the kids to a park up north, so we decided to go to Thai Cuisine for lunch. I ordered a full size dish for my two big kids to share, a kids plate for my 3 year old and a full order of curry for my mom and I to share.

Problem 1. The waiter tells me that even though I've ordered two entrees, I can only have one buffet plate. I'm not sure what the reasoning was for this. He said it was because my kids were eating one entree, but regardless, the menu clearly says that you may have a buffet plate for each entree, so the fact that we did not get two buffet plates was not okay. He would have allowed us a second buffet plate for an extra $7.95. I declined.

Problem 2: The waiter had a huge party on the other side of the restaurant, and we hardly saw him at all. I was there at lunch with my four kids (ages 1-9) and towards the end, they were tired, restless and ready to go and he was no where to be found. We waited a good 15 minutes for our check and finally my mom had to take the kids out and leave me alone to wait to pay. Another server finally came and took my card so I could leave.

Problem 3: Since the service was so terrible, and the waiter refused to let us have our 2nd buffet plate, I was planning to leave a smaller tip than I would normally. (our bill was $26 before tax, and my plan was to leave $3.) When he brought me the check, I found that he had put an automatic gratuity of 15% on our check. I'm not sure if there is a note on the menu about this, but regardless, technically there were 6 of us, but one was a baby that he did nothing for! In addition, he was NEVER THERE! My only way of expressing discontent was taken away. That made me really angry.

So after receiving terrible service, not getting a second buffet plate and waiting an hour an a half to get in and out (at lunch with 4 kids), I also was forced to pay a gratuity that was not earned, in my humble opinion. I was a waitress for 4 years and I always tip, but this service was just awful! The food was good, which is the only reason I gave them two stars, but not worth all the headache. I will not be going back to Thai...

I'm Thai and from LA and usually hate getting Thai food in the outside of California because it's all messed up for American tastes. Even Thai food in California is usually very hit or miss, but this place does stand above the rest in Austin by being a normal family restaurant similar to the many solid ones in SoCal. Most other Thai restaurants in Austin are usually decorated extremely orientalist to cater to a certain type of non-Thai crowd.

I gambled on eating here after being seeing a 1 star review complaining that the Pad Thai here was too dry. Most Americans think that pad Thai should be some kind of spaghetti soaked in sauce, so if someone is complaining that the Pad Thai is too dry then that's a good sign. Well, I was finally not disappointed. Pad Thai at 99% of all the Austin Thai restaurants are sad soupy spaghetti and this one was actually dry like it should be in Thailand. And yes, it's a bit lacking on spice and sourness which is why they give you lime and dried chili. In Thailand you'd also get sugar and fish sauce so you can customize your Pad Thai however you like it but I didn't have to ask for it here. The flavor in this Pad Thai one was good before but even better after customization and the noodles are nice and chewy because it isn't overly sauced. There's also a decent amount of vegetables but is missing the chives and fried tofu that should be here. But to be fair nobody in Austin includes chives and fried tofu.

I also had the Tom Yum soup which was exactly like how my Thai dad makes it. Highly recommended to get it with shrimp which was cooked perfectly. And the Khao Soy here is also good if you're looking for something off the beaten path. Pro tip you can take the extra curry soup home to eat with rice, just add some sliced meat.

I’ll definitely be coming back again to try some of the other dishes and fried appetizers, which...

Horrifying experience for me. I'm allergic to eggs so I ordered a Pad Thai and a Fried Rice with no eggs. But I do like veggies so I asked them to add veggies to both of them. Sounds like a simple order right? Nope. The lady on the phone took a while understanding what I was saying - can't fault her for confusing "please take the eggs out on my whole order" with the specs to the new SpaceX launch pad - but eventually she repeated my order back confirming that both dishes would have no eggs in them. I'm pretty sure she remembers me too, cuz I was super insistent when I said no eggs. When I picked up the order, the order slip did have my name on it and it said no eggs on both dishes. Felt good so far.

But - and you know where this is going - that didn't happen. The Pad Thai didn't have any eggs. But the Fried Rice did. And not just a random piece that flew in by mistake - a whole serving that was properly cooked up. I'd had a bite or 2 before I realized what happened and luckily I had stuff on hand to prevent something catastrophic. BUT THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN. When people request changes to their dish, they usually have a reason for it. Either tell them you can't do it - and I'm totally OK with it - or make sure that you do respect their request. If a restaurant serves me food I specifically requested not to have on my plate. They don't deserve my respect. Small business or not - you don't deserve my...