On Rice Thai Cuisine & Spirit — Restaurant in Bellingham

First, this review is not from Andy Wollman-Simson, it's from his wife, Alicia. More importantly, the review I wish people to see, is that Andy and I took out food from On Rice, Barkley Branch, 3 weeks ago and had a good meal. It was so good that we decided to bring it in for company tonight. Tonights food was HORRIBLE! It wasn't even bad Thai food, it was bad food. The chicken in one dish was so tough (and had bones in it), I started choking on it. I wasn't the only person who found this to be inedible. From there it went down hill. The other protein in dishes were the consistency of shoe leather. The sticky rice was rice mush soup and on and on. Normally Thai food is not so expensive as to be worth writing a bad review, but when you spend $160 for dinner and EVERYONE disliked it, I feel I must warn people. Oh, and before anyone accuses me of not knowing real Thai food, I ate it at least once a week for over 10 years and have been to Thailand twice. I am no expert, but I know real food and and I think I have a handle on Thai food. Finally, the biggest insult of all was when I call asking to speak to a manager, I was told the manager was in a meeting. What restaurant manager is in a meeting during dinner rush (at 6:54PM)? I wanted to explain all of this to the manager before writing this review, but decided since my husband had to help me when I was choking, I was just too fed up to wait! P.S. It made me give this restaurant a star, but it doesn't...

We go there all the time. It's not only our favorite Thai food in Bellingham, it's our favorite restaurant. Only a small handful of times have they not been at their best, but even then they were good, just not quite as amazing as usual. Consistently the staff is very friendly and helpful, though occasionally understaffed. The food is worth it, even then. Sit-down, leisurely meal, not for when you are in a rush, unless you order take-out ahead. That said, I've never been left waiting for food for a ridiculously long time, as can happen other places. The Drunken noodle dish is a favorite, as well as Panang curry, and my kids' favorite is the Pad Thai. The peanut sauce dressing for the salads that come with dinner, is amazing, as well as the peanut dipping sauce that comes with, or you can order with, other things, like fresh spring rolls or sweet sticky rice. Crab Rangoon appetizer is of course delicious. Can probably order anything on the menu and enjoy it, because you know it will be done well. (Though we were not big fans of the black sticky rice desert.) All the locations have fairly nice decor. The only Thai we like better (and we try Thai restaurants as often as we can) is a little hole-in-the-wall in Mount Vernon called Rachawadee, run by a Thai family. There is a bigger sit down Thai restaurant, just around the corner, but the hole-in-the-wall is worth the tiny...

Ordered takeout the other night, by the time I had arrived home, I noticed a saucy mess in my weathertech floor mat, thought that it may have spilled while driving. Nope... removed my entrees from the plastic takeout bag at our table and as I lifted my sweet and sour chicken, out came the rest of the sauce through a gash in the bottom. User error, not likely, a lack of attention to detail in packing by the kitchen/wade staff, most likely. I called On Rice and the gal working told me her manager would call me with a solution. 30 hours later and no call. In the past, I’ve always been happy with their product, but last nights lack of customer service has earned you a 1 star rating.

Update: Still never received a response BUT gave them another shot, get home, complete wrong order. Called On Rice, they asked me if I wanted to have it remade, sorry no thanks but I expect a full refund. Unfortunately their staff is unable to process a credit card refund and their is no manager on premise. They told me that their southside manager would come in to process the refund. Sorry but a poorly ran location, I’ve loved On Rice for over a decade,...