Thai Express, Columbia — Restaurant in Columbia Township

It's never fun to write a negative review, and I understand that these small restaurants are trying to get by, but I feel like people need to have a more realistic review about this Thai place that they might be getting from the other reviews. Granted, getting authentic Thai food in Mid-MO is not an easy task, but this was not anywhere close.

My wife is more-or-less vegetarian, so we had the pineapple fried rice, and the tofu bowl. The fried rice tasted burnt, though it didn't look burnt. I'm not sure what they cooked wrong, but it was a distinct burnt taste (not smokey, burnt). The cashew nuts were perhaps a little overdone, and maybe that was it. The veggies were clearly frozen peas and carrots (the little bits that you get out of a bag), some pineapple that appeared canned, and some fresh chopped green onions. The rice was short grain white, and still a little stiff. I could have made this dish at home without a recipe. It was pretty enough, but barely palatable.

The tofu bowl (I can't recall the full name of this bowl) was a large bowl not very full of plain white rice, with some fresh broccoli and carrots, and large chunks of deep-fried tofu. Nothing else, but there was a small plastic container of sweet sauce that we poured on top. The tofu was unseasoned (seriously, it was just oil and tofu, very hot, but very bland). I cook tofu at home, which I marinate and season; there's no reason to have it so bland. The sauce you could buy anywhere.

Just being honest here folks, this was not a Thai food experience. My baseline for going out to eat is food that is better than I can make for myself (and I'm no chef). This didn't meet that baseline.

The atmosphere there clearly said, "we're a to-go place". Sticky table (ours was, at least), serve your own water, and clear your own dishes when you're done. Music was some kind of off-brand rap with mild swearing, but at least it wasn't terribly loud. Otherwise, it was fairly clean and the one person we...

I dropped by this afternoon on the reviews of other patrons and it was okay, a definite C+ experience. I am spoiled, I admit it. We moved here from SoCal and the Thai food there is super authentic and not Americanized in any way. It's legit, spicy, tasty and addicting. I ordered the standard Pad Thai with tofu and shrimp, pineapple rice and a side order of fried tofu. All in all, it came to under $24. The pad Thai was tasty and it looked like your standard dish, nothing fancy. The pineapple rice however, weirdest thing ever. It had generous chunks of pineapple but it also had raisins!!! WTH? It was strange and the rice was broken and very small, not the standard rice that I've had before in pineapple rice. The fried tofu was pretty straightforward...just fried chunks of tofu, no flavor until you dip it in the standard sweet and sour sauce. Parking is a total DRAG, school is off right now and there are "tow you away if you even look at this parking space" signs everywhere. I don't know if you can park in the parking garage across the street, I happen to score a spot with metered parking right on the street. They take credit cards and that's always good and the cashier was very nice. PS. This little place is very modern, clean and the bathroom...

I've eaten at the Thai Express on three occasions and have loved it all three times. I've been traveling to Thailand since 2002 and have been to many of Thailands great cities. Food is what brings me back every year. I've eaten in all of Columbias Thai restaurants and found all of them lacking. When I read about Thai express I thought I'd give it a try, but it is a chain restaurant so I had very low expectations. I was wrong it is by far the best Thai restaurant in Columbia, real Thai food. The staff have always been great and the prices are reasonable. When ever I get the craving for Thai food Thai Express is where I go. Now all Columbia needs is a good...