Thai Palace Restaurant — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

This used to be my go-to Thai restaurant--flavorful and authentic, it was a reason I looked forward to going to Chapel Hill. At my recent visit, however, they have gone WAY down. As with many Asian restaurants, I suspect that grandma wants to retire and her children/grandchildren are set to take over. Problem is, they change her recipes, water them down, and charge more money, and they certainly don't care about customer service. I've seen this unfortunate downfall many, many times.

We were there pretty early on a weeknight (around 5:30), so it was a mostly empty restaurant and there was no one there to greet us. Eventually 2 young men we had never seen before greeted us to sit down. We sat in a back room by ourselves and there was no place setting at the table.

Normally we'd get Yum Ped, Gai Yang, and one other dish, but this time we ordered Yum Woon Sen, Bangkok Duck, and Jungle Curry. When we received our food, we still had no plates or silverware, and the waiter asked us if we would like some....

At first glance of the Yum Woon Sen, you could tell it wasn't right. It was a bowl of lettuce with a few noodles on top. Yes, this dish is considered a Thai "salad" however, Thai salads are not American salads with lettuce and chopped vegetables. Yum Woon Sen should be primarily (very cheap) glass noodles, ground meat, and shrimp. The dressing is a flavorful mix of fish sauce, lime juice, chilis, and palm sugar. This dish has almost no noodles, 2 shrimp, and barely any dressing. What little dressing was there was flavorless. We alerted the older woman who was wandering around and she seemed shocked and disappeared. No one ever returned.

Our other two dishes, outrageously priced at $25, were just meh. Watered down broths, not very flavorful. They're rice was also dry, and we never had the option of sticky rice as we did before.

At the end of our meal, the young male waiter appeared for the first time and asked us how everything was. We told him what was wrong with particularly the yum woon sen and he simply shrugged said, "ok." He obviously didn't care and was not going to do anything to rectify it. Any other restaurant would have at least offered some more noodles or some more dressing. This guy couldn't be bothered.

It saddens me that a once delicious restaurant has...

The pad woonsen here is amazing! It's hard to find glass noodles, so I found this restaurant with a Google search. It was a little pricier than 2 other restaurants which also offer glass noodles, but it was still about the same and I figured that would be a higher quality dish. Then I saw that you can get pad woonsen with squid and that it's not any more expensive than the shrimp, so I thought that was unique and exciting! Each serving of pad woonsen has 12-14 pieces of squid, and it flavors the noodles too. Perhaps there's also fish sauce. I luv seafood, so the flavor surpassed my expectations! There was just a little veggies (which is the way I like it), and the noodles were brownish, indicating the presence of ample sauce and seasoning. (I got the medium spice level). The portion size was satisfactory, and I split it into 2 servings. That's a pretty good value! I sometimes add shrimp I buy from the grocery store for a little more flare, but you can also add extra when you order. Also, while I didn't dine in the restaurant, the decor is done-up, and the receptionist was enthusiastic in their service! I plan to continue getting the pad woonsen/glass noodles with squid from...

My husband and I love coming to thai palace! I've been working my way through the menu for the past few months and everything is delicious! Our personal favorites are the laab nar, pad woonsen, and ofcourse the fried bananas!!! The laab nar gravy is stand alone amazing. Flavorful, thick, delicious, and the noodles that come with it remind me of dumplings. The pad woodsen noodles are perfect. Thin, glass, and the whole dish i full of flavor and all the veggies are done just right, al dente. The friend bananas are little bite size bundles of ripe banana wrapped in a crispy roll, deep fried and drizzled with honey. The staff is so sweet and caring. We have tried and loved ALL the appetizers, but the shrimp is our favorite, but those curry puffs are also amazing. The green curry, yellow curry, duck, salmon, I mean you really cannot pick a wrong thing on the menu. That crying tiger was cooked so perfectly it just melted in my mouth. I could go on forever about the wonderful staff, the amazing food, and the impeccable service. If you have not been to thai palace, you are...