Sushi Thai Garden — Restaurant in City of Saratoga Springs

It's not always just about the food. Sometimes, if there are enough other problems, minor in themselves, they seem to overwhelm whatever qualities you may have found in the food itself.

My weekday early sushi dinner here was one of those experiences.

I should have lowered my expectations, after having to insist that I please be seated at the 8-seat sushi bar, instead of at the table offered, next to the rude customer loudly swearing into her phone. Staff at every restaurant on the planet should be able to handle one customer spoiling the dinner of twenty others, but not here... probably because she hadn't paid her bill yet. The truth is, the customer is NOT always right.

As I sat down, I was hoping for more, as I happily looked through a menu absent of photos and noted the cloth linen. But the slow service - twenty minutes for hot tea, arriving after my pleasant soup, and me asking for a third time - gave me a few minutes to look around the restaurant at the bland, generic decor. At least the muted TV was in the other side of the main dining area. While I waited for my main, I noticed a peculiar "fishy" smell, but I could not isolate the location. Everything in the presentation cooler seemed fresh and the chilling tubes were covered in frost, as expected. Strange.

There were three chefs behind the sushi bar - at least I hope they were chefs. Instead of the traditional chef coat, each one was wearing a different style of t-shirt and baseball cap. I'm so glad to find out that one of you supported Saratoga's Children's Christmas Wish Program (and got that free t-shirt). I was also wondering why there were three different 3000 sq ft rolls of plastic film on top of the cooler (photo), until I saw one of the chefs in action. After preparing a "signature" roll with plastic film around the makisu, they left the plastic film in place and cut the individual pieces through the plastic. Maybe if they kept a sharper edge on their knives, or used actual sushi knives, this would never need to happen.

My main arrived in parts, with the last plate delayed twenty minutes, because I had to ask my server again what happened to the other two items I ordered. "Sorry. Also, we're out one item you ordered 30 minute ago."

In between the preparation of my plates, I watched the three chefs prepare two giant 100-piece sushi wooden boat platters, then covered each with one big piece of plastic film, and set them both on a table in the other half of the restaurant. I didn't see any way that this raw fish was kept cool, as the two platters sat there for the next half hour, until I left the restaurant. NOW, I figured out where the fishy smell came from. Incompetence.

One more reason to sit at the sushi bar and watch how your food is prepared. It matters.

The food that I was served was surprisingly not bad at all, and plated very simply (photo). The rice itself was not very seasoned, but acceptable. The spicy tuna maki, usually the weakest preparation, was actually a bit spicy, and contained no tempura "crunch" filler. Unfortunately, the spicy tuna was a pre-made paste, scooped from the bottom of two different plastic tubs. The eel tamaki was very good, and I was pleased to see that a dozen tamaki were available. The other nigiri were quite presentable, though missing wasabi between each piece of fish and the rice - unfortunately, normal for most local sushi restaurants.

But the the other service and ambiance errors overshadowed the food itself. I feel they have a lot of work to do, but I'll return in a few months, hopefully, after they've fixed these problems.

2019...

From Long Island, visiting the Lake George area, we decided to come to this restaurant after reading the over abundance of great reviews. The restaurant had an unappetizing smell when we walked in. Unfortunately, my husband and I were really disappointed in the quality and taste of the sushi and Thai food. We ordered a tuna roll and I couldn’t even put into words what it tasted like. It’s worse than supermarket sushi, which says a lot. If you haven’t had authentic sushi/thai food then you’ll really think this place is great. We also ordered shrimp pad thai and I know I could’ve made a better one at home. It lacked so much flavor. The staff was also rude and were mumbling things under their breath even before we complained about why we weren’t eating some of the food. My husband ordered the red curry and it had way too much coconut milk and not enough seasoning. The seafood didn’t soak up any of the flavor of the sauce and was very bland. Overall, a...

Had lunch for 2 at Sushi Thai Garden in Saratoga Springs. Used to eat mostly dinner here when lived in the area years ago.

Ordered Yasa Tempura vegetables app, Thai Lo Mein Noodle with chicken and shrimp and Drunken Noodle lunch specials.

Each meal came with a tasty, clear broth soup, not mentioned on the menu or I missed it. Nice bonus.

Yasa Tempura fried veggys were not good. The batter was not vrry crisp (oil not hot enough?), veggys were gummy, sweet soyish dipping sauce lacked flavor. This was a zero.

Thai Lo Mein noodles were ok. Chicken was overcooked, dry. Noodles were ok, sauce was too salty.

Drunken Noodle was best dish, medium heat with a flavorful sauce with thai basil leaves. Noodles were somewhat gummy but this type of wide, flat noodle is often that way.

Not as good as my memory overall. Service was excellent with a...