Zaap Lai Thai and Lao Cuisine — Restaurant in Johnson City

TL;DR A cute Thai place with an authentic feel and solid food and service. I will definitely be back to try more dishes.

Full review: Let's begin with the most important part: food! Being pretty new to both Thai and Lao food, I took the safe route and ordered chicken Pad Thai to go. Zaap Lai's version of Pad Thai consists of thin noodles, sautéed red onion (right on the verge of being carmalized- soft and sweet), sautéed green onion, bean sprouts, and chicken. Very simple, clearly. It was slightly sweet with only the barest hint of spice- probably black pepper. I missed the heat I'm used to having in Pad Thai, but I reckon I could have ordered it spicy specifically and will try that next time. Aside from the lack of spice the flavor was quite tasty, with a full-bodied savory taste and light earthy notes if you look for them. The dish was quite moist and the chicken was tender. Surprisingly, I do not feel like it had very much grease to it. Much Americanized Asian good I've had leads to a feeling of glut and heaviness after eating, but I don't feel that way after eating this Pad Thai. The portion size was large, too!

Service: I came in during their lunch rush, and they were slammed- a good sign! I asked for a menu and made my choice of order while 3 other parties came in and started their process. It took me a few minutes to decide and put in my order, but they got it in and brought it out in just over 15 minutes despite the large crowd. The folks were polite and professional, if a tad quiet.

Final thoughts: While I definitely wish the Pad Thai had been spicier, I do think the overall quality of the food was solid and warrants another go. I plan to try their selection of curries and at least one or two of...

I lived and worked in Thailand for many years, and spent a few months in Laos (if one were to add up all of my visits). One of my highlights visiting Vientiane was heading down Chao Anou road to Han Sam Euay Nong - Three Sisters Restaurant, a non-descript eatery that mostly catered to locals. I always ordered Nam Khao spicy enough to burn off my Karmic debt, only to add to it with the copious amounts of beer Laos I imbibed in turn. (Pic 1)

Back home in Bangkok, on Soi Pridi 2, I’d order a Thai variant of Nam Khao (Yaem Naem) that came with rice noodles right next to my phuang malai stall. (Pic 2/3)

So what’s the point of all of this? Well, after Covid-19 spirited me back stateside, and telework made a return home to the tri-cities possible for the time being, I was “homesick” as all hell, but never thought I’d get anything close to real Issan/Laotian cuisine ‘round these parts. I was wrong.

This place mops the floor with a lot of Thai joints in bigger cities essentially selling American Chinese cuisine for the sake of viability.

While they have that too, and I don’t begrudge them catering to the market, their Laos/Issan offerings are some of the best I’ve had in our brave new world. I highly recommend the Nam Khao (pic 4) Larb, Beef Salad and Moo Ping.

If only they start serving Larb Tod and and kung chae nampla — I might never have to go home to...

This is my favorite restaurant in town I can't count how many times I've eaten here. They have always been extremely consistent but the last 3 times I ordered (3 different dishes) there was something off about them. I tried to ask for an explanation but was told NOTHING has changed. I'm sorry but something CLEARLY had changed because my memory and taste buds are still intact. Its frustrating to not know what to expect. This dish #46 BBQ beef always comes with char marks as if it was grilled (you can look at any other photo of it and see. Now I don't even think it's being grilled maybe pan fried, it's drier, and usually has some good fat pieces. The last time I got beef Jerky it was a tough fatty chewy cut of meat and didn't seem like it was finished cooking or however they do it. And rhe last time I got noodles they were really bland and veggies werent chopped right. I'm truly not trying to bring this place down I just really want the quality and strandard of the food to go back to what it was.... Edit* changed to 1 star, another bad review said the same thing they are diluting flavors and ingredients and stretching out ingredients to cut down cost.....they didn't respond to his review so hopefully...