Bangkok Taste Cuisine — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

If you want real, authentic Thai food, DO NOT go here. I live in Asia for 20 years and 4 years of that was in Thailand and I ate local the whole time. The food wasn't bad, it just wasn't made right. The flavors were off. The measurements were a little off. It was like one guys reinterpretation of Thai food. It's like ordering a Jack and Coke and getting Jim Beam and Pepsi. A perfectly drinkable drink but not what you expected or were paying for. We had all our favorites. Pad Thai house special version, Yum Neau, Tom Qha Gai, Pad Krapow Gai, Larb Gai. I've always said if you can't make a perfect classic Pad Thai, you can't operate a Thai restaurant. This one was close but was very light on the tamarind flavor and just missed the mark. Tom Qha Gai was thin and didn't have that rich coconut cream texture and body. The only thing that did not come from the kitchen was the iced coffee and it was spot on but at $5.50 for a relatively small glass, I only had 1. We've been speculating that since it was a Monday, maybe the real chef had the night off. If that's the case, the chef should stop by to sample the sub par food his/her fill in chef is dishing out, step up the training or put an ad in the paper for a new chef because the food we got was not "The Best Thai...

Bangkok Taste is one of the more hidden gems in Grand Rapids, which is surprising because it's so excellent. The servers are friendly and helpful, there's plenty of choices and spice variations, the food is amazing, and it's usually not too busy, so it doesn't take a long time to get your food.

One of the best features is that the prices are very reasonable, especially since the portions are huge - I always end up with leftovers. Further, the large portion bit also applies to meal add-ons (such as chicken and shrimp). Usually I add shrimp, and for a couple bucks extra you get a ton of pieces of big shrimp - this is quite a deal considering at most establishments you pay a lot to add meat to a dish and you only get 4-5 small pieces. I also have a hard time with spicy food, so the servers have always said if a dish is too spicy they will remake it for me, which is something I appreciate very much.

Overall, I love this place so much and so do my friends. Don't be turned off by the fact that there's usually not a lot of people in there; go in and it will...

The sesame chicken used to be my favorite meal in Grand Rapids. Overtime the quality has significantly decreased. Chicken has been extremely tough and dry. Today I had requested that they cook it a bit less this time and the waitress told me it comes precooked ….seriously? I’m not sure why the precooking is necessary. I would much rather wait longer for fresh chicken especially since you can taste that it old. Again today the chicken tasted like it was old and the texture was like beef jerky. The rice also is different than I remember it being years ago. Seems like instant rice. Such a shame. I used to eat this all the time and I would rave about it and recommend people to go there and now I couldn’t even finish my meal and I felt like I wasted my money. I wish they could spend a few more minutes to cook the chicken fresh and use some better rice. I would love to return if they can make these...