Emerald Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Lakeland

The ONLY Pad Thai I've ever tasted that wasn't drowning in peanut sauce - - absolutely NOTHING like that, in fact! The only presence of peanuts at all really seemed to be just a light sprinkling of crushed nuts atop a very well tossed, beautiful pile of more meat (my date ordered the combo Pad Thai that had beef, chicken and shrimp) than noodles even at first look. So much so, he asked me if I actually saw noodles when it was set down in front of him. Outstanding fresh shrimp spring rolls (the dipping sauce is divine with pretty much everything but really compliments the cilantro in the rolls and the very nice, "safety advisor" lady who served us even recommended it as a compliment to the Pad Thai - - sorry no report on that since my date wasn't adventurous enough to try it). Beware the heat! Particularly for the papaya salad if you order the chicken satay with it. She really did try to warn me. Unless you are a regular gastronom of spicy ethnic foods, trust that "American spicy" vs "Asian spicy" isn't an insult; it's a quick way to warn you. Even our server said that SHE couldn't eat "Asian spicy" at what we dubbed my salad to be a "Level 5, Medium Spicy." I'm trying "3" next time. My date's Pad Thai was supposedly also "Medium spicy," but it definitely was not as hot as the ironically cool, beautiful pile of juliened green paypaya topped with sliced grape tomatoes and served with a lettuce wedge (USE THE LETTUCE!). I tried the thicker dipping sauce that came with the grilled chicken, but ultimately ended up returning to the beloved spring roll sauce's tangy flavor that suggested a bit of good quality egg roll sweet chili sauce mixed with perhaps rice wine vinegar and maybe a splash of fish sauce. And believe me, if you're a lover of basket-steamed sticky rice and can destroy mountains of it, then don't balk at the $2 charge for extra rice. I didn't need it since I was stuffed, but deep down, I really wanted to eat more of it. One last bit aside from the fact that both of the ladies working when I was there were super friendly and checked in on us frequently, is that if you're not Asian (and I have no idea if you would still need to if you were since I'm not...), or possibly such a regular that they may remember your preference (they seem like that sort of place), you'll need to ask for chopsticks if you want them. Not a big deal at all, just an FYI. Overall, it was an outstanding first experience (on a very reliable and excellent referral). My only regret is not having found this literal food "gem," comedically now situated with a new LA Fitness GYM practically right...

It pains me to leave a negative review for Emerald Thai seeing that it was my favorite Thai restaurant in town. That is, until my experience this past Saturday.

I had been talking up the curry to a good friend that had never been and we decided to go for a late lunch. We had an appetizer and I ordered hot tea and my friend ordered the Thai iced coffee. We received our entrees and right after taking my first bite I see my friend staring past me, looking at the booth. Sure enough, there was a roach crawling on the back of the booth and it was headed right for me. The manager noticed the commotion at the table and came over right away. We told her there was a roach crawling in the booth. She kept telling me to "get up" from the booth. I did so and she continued to chase said roach around the booth. It then ran around to the side of the booth facing the wall. She proceeded to pull the booth out entirely and chase the roach around until she killed it. She then pushed the booth back and said "sorry, they sprayed yesterday." Needless to say, we couldn't eat our food after this happened. Especially after she climbed all in my booth to chase the roach around. We paid for our food and then left. After shopping in the area for a bit, we both agreed that we should not have to pay for our entrees since we did not eat them at all. My friend called and they said we would need to come back to the store for a refund, but that we MUST pay for the items we ate (spring rolls, tea, coffee). We agreed, but did express to the manager that we felt like we shouldn't have to pay for these items considering the issue. She began to get very loud and rude with us. Which we were both very calm and we never got ugly or yelled. She even demanded that my friend drank half of her coffee when she did not. I only had about a half a cup of tea, but I did eat the spring rolls. While the manager was yelling and being rude she kept looking at me saying "she's a long-time customer" over and over again. You would think, considering I'm a long-time customer, that she would have been nicer and more accommodating. She was not! I'm very understanding and if she had handled the situation differently, I would probably return in the future. However, knowing they clearly have a roach problem and her awful attitude, I won't ever eat there again. I'm severely disappointed that not only can I no longer frequent my favorite Thai restaurant, but that my poor friend was subjected to this woman's awful attitude and that the experience as a whole was horrible. Needless to say, we had to leave and get...

Being that Thai Basil (which was a favorite) had recently closed we were eager to try a new Thai restaurant, especially considering the reviews. I enjoy trying Thai food all around the country and while Memphis isn't the best for that, it has some gems. The atmosphere and interior itself was clean and had a nice feel. However, when it came time to order the waitress was short and dismissed my mothers potato allergy stating no substitutes would be available. I figured it was something already made and with the waitress being an older women decided not to think much of it. We ultimately ordered two curries and a pad thai. The pad thai was average and enjoyed, lots of vegetables, as expected. The curry is where the restaurant really feel short. While full of veggies and a good consistency, the broth was so overwhelmed by the flavor of fish sauce and saturated in salt/sodium that my daughter and I simply could not eat it (and we both got different curry dishes). We didn't expect the waitress to comp our dishes or any such thing but we did want to let the chef know. As I've mentioned before, I've tried thai curry from all over the country and never had I had something taste so unauthentic and flavorless (as in it just tasted like fish). Nonetheless, when we asked the waitress about it her response was simply "what? we don't use fish sauce" and she walked away clearly flustered. Not a sorry, not a I'll let the chef know, not is there something else you'd like, nothing. After that, we quickly paid and left. Their pad thai and other dishes may be alright, but certainly do not get their curry. Never again. I will be driving all the way to downtown for...