Pimaan Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Emerson

While Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisines seem to grab most of the Asian culinary spotlight in this country, don’t sell Thai food short. Fifty percent of all Thai restaurants outside of Thailand are in the U.S. and Canada. Thai food is a complex blend of hot, spicy, salty, sour, sweet, smoky, herbaceous, and aromatic flavors that vary throughout different regions of Thailand. Pad Thai is actually a fairly recent addition to Thai cuisine and was developed by the prime minister in the '30s as a symbol of national identity.

Located in Emerson, I have been dining at this establishment since their next-door neighbor is a Subi dealer on Kinderkamack Road for many years. Pimaan Thai is family-owned and serves authentic cuisine inside a house where I made a reservation for a party of 5 at 630pm for Saturday night because it’s very busy and it fills up quickly.

Upon arrival, there were a few parking spots available, as this BYOB restaurant is very popular with the locals and has been voted four-time winners for Best of Bergen.

Upon entering a packed line at the host station, my partner, our friends, and I were greeted by the staff and got a table right away at the front by the window.

Their menu brings a unique blend of seasonings and quality food together with plenty of vegetarian options, and the level of spice could be accommodated to one’s taste.

As an appetizer, we decided on the Chicken Satay, Crispy Spring Roll, and Crabmeat Pancake. As a main meal, we opted for Grilled Pork, Brian Beef Steak, Beef with Ginger Sauce, Spicy Tofu, and Pad See Ew with Tofu. We even saved room for dessert and got Chocolate Soufflé with Vanilla Ice Cream and Fried Ice Cream.

All our dishes were authentic, made with fresh ingredients and amazingly tasty as compared to other Thai places in Jersey. The vibe was casual and comfortable, where the staff were hardworking and nice; our server was Nong. The price was comparable to the area.

We had a wonderful dining experience where we left our stomachs satisfied, which we can continue to...

My family and I have been regular customers for over a year now and up until today we have been satisfied for the most part with the food. Service is however another story. The waitresses are usually ok except for one or two of them who have been outright rude in the past and today was no exception. My son ordered a lunch meal medium spicy but when he had his first bite, did not like it at all. The sauce and meal was very spicy even though it was ordered medium spicy which is what he usually orders and he could not eat it. We mentioned it to the waitress and she asked if we wanted to switch it for something else which we did and she then placed the replacement order. Then another waitress came to our table and told us that the "cooks in the back" said that we had to pay for the 1st meal and the replacement meal, even if we could not eat it because it was our fault that we ordered it that way and did not like it. What ever happened to customer service and the customer is always right? Just to clarify we have never asked to replace a meal in over a year, even though meals do not always come out exactly as expected. We normally do not complain but this time the spice was so overwhelming even though it was medium, which is we typically order our meals. The waitress was rude and unaccommodating and in my opinion has no sense to make the customer welcome and happy and want to come again. They could have offered something like a drink or something else to show a token of consideration rather than being outright rude. Who is to say that the cook did not make a mistake? They now lost good customers over a lunch meal. My family and I will not go back and now we will become regular customers at another local...

We ordered our food and our main meal was duck Basel which is supposed to be one of their specialty items was extremely salty. So salty I couldn't eat it. It tasted like they threw all the salt in the kitchen on my plate. I asked nicely if they can replace it. Two mins later they bring out the same plate and it was still the same and extremely salt. I didn't say anything. Then the check came i gave the tips according to food and service. I'm walking out with my wife and I get stopped by the waiter woman old with glasses and short hair. She stopped me at the door, told me the tip wasn't enough, she wanted more and she works for the tip.I told her I gave according to the service and food and told her my food wasn't good and the saltiness ruined my dinner. She kept going on and on about the tip. This was extremely ridiculous and classless. Then the receptionist came in and telling me it's not her fault and telling me I have to give her more money for tip.. How classless to come and ask for tips. Horrible service and food. How can you stop a person at the door for tips. They both kept going on about the tip and I felt like I can't get out without giving more tip. Then I asked her how much you want? She told me atleast the percentage on the recipiet. Then I gave her more tip.i went so many restaurants and I never ever stopped for the tip by the waiter. It was embarrassing. The receptionist and waiter was arguing with me about the tip infront of all the customers. The way they treated me I felt like I stole something from them.Ruined my wife birthday.Never will I come here again. If I could I give them no star. Worst service I...