Immm Rice & Beyond — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I came here on a weekend for dinner with a reservation and it wasn't very crowded, with a couple of other diners there. The vibes are very laid back-- the warm yellow lighting sets a chill mood. The space is decorated artistically, with a handwritten menu and illustrations lining the walls.

The food was great-- authentic, delicious, and flavorful. Our group ordered the following dishes family-style (** = especially recommend):

Tom Yum Soup with Tofu: A bit small, but it had a good flavor profile-- sour and rich.

** Tom Puu (papaya salad with preserved crab): The ingredients were fresh, the flavors were on point, and the crab added a nice fishy kick to the dish. We ordered spice level 2 and it was actually decently spicy!

Tom Puu Pla Rah (papaya salad with preserved crab and fish): This one tasted very similar to the Tom Puu!

** Pad Thai with Tofu: Basic, but they make it extraordinarily well! The dish had amazing taste, flavor, and textures: the noodles were perfectly sticky and absolutely delicious. It was so good, we ordered 2 plates.

** Gai Todd (Thai fried chicken): This dish had great flavor and was very crispy! The chicken on the inside was very tender and juicy.

** Kao Soy: We ordered 2 of these-- one with chicken and one with beef. The chicken one was better in my opinion and also more classic. Overall, it's delicious! The curry flavors here are rich and strong and the noodles are cooked well. I wish it came with more soup though.

Pad Pak with Tofu: This was a solid vegetable dish to balance out the rest. It tasted fresh and crisp, and it was stir-fried well.

Additionally, the service is above and beyond. We came with a large group to celebrate my friend's birthday, and they were very accommodating in moving tables together and providing attentive service throughout. At the end of our meal, they dimmed the restaurant lights and brought out a big plate of 10 complimentary Thai fried donuts (one of their dessert items) with candles.

It's also good value for the portions and quality-- we ordered a ton of dishes family style and the total was under $20 per person.

Overall, recommend this place for the food, value, and ambience. Highly recommend it for...

Amazing Thai food! The food here is the most authentic I’ve had in the Chicagoland area. We’re talking bamboo shoots and yu choy instead of carrots and gross bell peppers. I love Thai street food and Immm Rice & Beyond has definitely delivered. They’re not playing around either, especially keeping with the Thai level spiciness.

They have 2 different menus here, the Rice Accompaniments has the already made food that you can go see up by the front of the restaurant and the regular menu where food is made to order. Most of the rice accompaniments items are offered in 2 sizes – tasting $5 or family style $9. They offer sampling of these dishes if you’re worried about the spiciness level. The tasting portion is a great way to try different dishes.

Tum Yum $8 – This salad was done right with green papaya and level 2 spiciness (you get to pick level 1-4). It was crunchy and refreshing. Moo Grob $6 – Crispy pork belly is a fun delicious way to past the time. Gaeng Tae Poe (Red Curry) $5 – Tamarind red curry with pork belly and water spinach. Yum! Gaeng Kiew Whan (Green Curry) $5 – Green curry with bone-in chicken and bamboo shoots and Thai basil. Yum! Kua Kling $6 – This ground pork in spicy turmeric curry paste is very spicy, but so delicious. Bamee Moo Hang $10 – OMG, this was to die for. One of my favorite Thai dishes that is usually a disappointment at other places. It’s amazing here! The egg noodles are flavorful and it comes with BBQ pork, bean sprout and yu choy (Chinese leafy green vegetables). Khao Mun $4 – Aromatic ginger & chicken stock rice. Delicious and goes well with any dish. Kanom Jeen $3 – These are round rice noodles that go well with curry dishes. Kanom Taug $5 – This coconut rice custard is amazing! It’s creamy and sticky and not too sweet and I can get 10 of these. Kao Neaw Ma Muong $7 – Mango with sticky rice dessert. It’s got toasted beans on top! One of my favorite Thai desserts.

Closed on Tuesday. Easy street...

I’ve been to this Thai restaurant, three times, before deciding that I needed to write this review.

This past Saturday, my family came to visit me from out of town. My mom wanted to eat at a Thai restaurant as that’s the common taste she is accustomed to in our culture. I recommended this place as I’ve been here before.

The experience this time was not expected. The waitress, first of all, did not greet us well. She was rude, did not smile, and seemed like she didn’t even want to work.

We ordered hot tea. She brought out two cups of lukewarm tea to my parents. We asked if they could bring us a teapot and small cups for the tea to share. The waitress said they didn’t have any. But shortly after, the other waitress brought out the teapot for us.

We ordered green curry, and instead we got curry from the already-made food section. It was not made fresh and it was warm. Not to mention, the portion was small.

We ordered tom yum chicken with shrimp. We were charged $2 each for the chicken and shrimp. We didn’t ask for extra chicken. I clarified with the other waitress: tom yum with chicken is $8 and she said yes. Therefore, tom yum with chicken and shrimp should be $8 plus $2 (for the shrimp). The portion was also very small and it was so diluted that it tasted like sour water only.

We ordered padthai and asked them to make it spicy. It was not spicy! In fact, it looked like they didn’t even look at what we have requested!

In addition, we had to pay for rice. You would think that if we ordered main entrees, that it would come with rice but nope!

In sum, expensive for small portions and food were not fresh, and bad customer services.

It’s unfortunate to say this, as this was the Thai restaurant I’ve recommended to family and friends, but i will not go back...