Thai Taste — Restaurant in Carbondale

Please do not judge Carbondale by this "staple" location as there is potential to share my experienceS.

I got this TO GO (after calling repeatedly over the span of a few minutes [GET CALL HOLDING]) which is probably why they let such an awful order slip through.

I've had a few bad experiences having only eaten here maybe six or seven times in eleven years. A couple of the dine-ins were good, but one time it tasted like someone cooked a cigarette butt in my food... but that was a few years ago. Two days ago (I wrote most of this the day of but wanted to wait to post for reasons I'll discuss in a minute), I finally decided to try it again because I'm ill and a friend said the Tom Yum soup made them feel better in the past. I got green curry as well to compare it to this fantastic restaurant in Indy's called Sandra's Noodles (similarly priced to here and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED).

The GREEN CURRY I ordered had no peas, no carrots, some kind of canned button mushroom (not straw mushrooms), and there was no fresh basil. I took a picture (see below) after I decided that I was irritated enough to leave a review (I had already eaten some) but I assure you that I did not sharpshoot the peas, carrots, straw mushrooms, and basil just for this review. All of those items were on the menu but, again, not in the dish. I guess there was a communication breakdown as they let me unknowingly order something they had less than half the ingredients to make. I suppose some of them could've been pureed in the "sauce" but all i could see were bamboo shoots, canned mushrooms, and chicken in paste... It tasted alright, (salt, fish sauce, coconut milk, and green curry paste), but don't expect to get anything like what you ordered and certainly don't expect what you'd get from Sandra's which had very similar visible ingredients to those listed on this menu.

I also ordered the TOM YUM soup with chicken. It was bland yet sour making it essentially inedible (I had two bites then and one during the second tasting after which the picture was taken explaining why so much is gone). I couldn't tell where the gross flavor was coming from but I'd guess bad limes or an old frozen broth. There were no other flavors coming through including chicken, lemongrass, etc. Now, again, I waited two days to post this so I could have a friend confirm and they weren't able to come until the following afternoon. I reheated them a portion hoping the extra day didn't improve the flavor and make me look foolish but before tasting the soup, they said it smelled like "wet dog" ;-) I don't own a dog nor do they. They further described it as smelling "kind of like a kitchen sink". I do have one of those and admittedly the experiment took place in the same room. They tasted it and couldn't describe the flavor any better than I already have and added that they would have recommended it NOT be served at a restaurant they had any control over and that they felt bad for recommending it to me.

The vegetable soup of the day was actually really good and full of veggies and I'm glad I ordered that as opposed to two of the smallest over-fried egg rolls I've ever eaten. That being said, I'm not sure what about the soup was "authentic Thai". Probably not the corn.

Stick to dine-in and the pad thai if you have to eat here, I certainly won't, and hope that it's cooked in an unburned pan. Be better, Thai Taste...

For the record, I was thinking about calling/going in to complain, but I absolutely did not want to eat here again, you can keep my money, and this review only would've changed to say that at least management tried to improve the deal. A rude interaction (possible as it's been two days and I lost the receipt) would've made this review less credible and I'm still sick. I'd like to think I would've done my part anyway to prevent others from having to deal with the same situation particularly since you're (were...) a "Carbondale staple". I'm certainly not the first to voice similar complaints, but apparently not publicly which is why they're still so...

Humiliating Experience –HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND I DO MEAN HORRIBLE AT LUNCH!!!

My husband and I were anticipating a great dining experience at lunchtime today, but instead I left hungry, humiliated and angry. Apparently, the restaurant has implemented a no preorder no sit down and wait for your order policy during their lunch hour. The issue that I have is that I arrived at around 12:06 p.m. with two parties before me; I waited a total of 43 minutes for food that I never received. I thought I was doing myself a favor by converting my space in line to a carry out….NEGATIVE. Literally, 3 minutes after converting my order to a carryout two tables opened up and I asked the hostess if me and my husband could be seated. She gladly said “NO because that is not our policy”, thus they were not in any shape form or fashion willing to accommodate us. Well, me as the hungry, optimistic person that I am decided to continue to wait for my order. The staff stated to me after another 15 minutes that my order was ready. Well it was never ready. I felt my inward temperature rising and tried to remain as calm (don’t judge me but see I get emotional when I’m really hungry) as possible but after the mistreatment, lack of concern for my wait, the lack of no water, (poor customer service to the utmost) we decided to walk. This is not typical for me and my husband, but I felt so humiliated and mistreated after everyone who was there before and after me got there food or were seated. Thai Taste has some awesome food, but the customer service and customer recovery is HORRIBLE. They deserve a grade of a F+. I will never eat there again. I choose to travel out of town to enjoy...

I am a pretty loyal Thai Taste customer. I have always had a good experience with the servers. However, last week I ordered takeout for the first time and it was a bad experience. The woman on the phone told me 30 minutes, so I showed up around then and parked my car. I called again and she said 15 minutes. I go in at 15 minutes and it's still not done. Overall, I waited at least 30 minutes extra for my food. I was given no apology when I finally received my food. Then, the curry was incredibly SPICY. I even tried adding sugar and lime to make it a bit better but that didn't help. I have been to Thailand multiple times and I also cook Thai food at home. I also lived in India, thus I am no stranger to spice. This time it was so spicy that I couldn't even eat it. I always get curry from Thai Taste and it is never this spicy (I always ask for a 3). When I called the next day, the woman that answered said maybe it was because they had fresh chilies. When I told her it was inedible she just apologized. I think they should offer a free dish or something for providing a meal that was inedible and not what the customer wanted. Anyway, I'll probably stick to making...