Thai Spice Restaurant — Restaurant in Lakeway

Tonight (1-6-19) my wife and I had dinner at Thai Spice, our first meal there. We arrived a little after 5PM, with few other customers having dinner.

We ordered two Tom Kha soups, the small size, and requested the addition of shrimp. The addition of shrimp was $3.00 per bowl. We received two shrimp each! The soup arrived hot and was good, but $3.00 for two small shrimp per bowl is ridiculous.

My wife ordered the Basil Eggplant dish and added shrimp to the dish, another $3.00 charge. The amount of eggplant (about five or six strips) in the dish was embarrassingly small to be called an eggplant dish. So, we paid $17.00 for a dish that was such a small portion, as well as being virtually tasteless.

I ordered the Crab Fried Rice dish, only to be told a few minutes later they had “run out” of the crab. I settled for the Veggie Lover, which was lukewarm when I received it. (No, I did not send it back or make our server aware of this, because at that point, we had decided we would not be back.)

(As noted above, we entered around 5, when the restaurant was hardly busy. It’s hard to understand the inattention given to our meal.)

In addition, we ordered hot tea, which was also lukewarm and had to be sent back to be heated. Yes, it was returned hot. However, for the amount of hot water served in the teapot, there should have been two tea bags infused, not one....

Finally, we noticed that there were “regulars” behind us who were greeted and served with greater attention than we. In fact, they were given fortune cookies with their bill, but we were not, which made the inequity more noticeable (We couldn’t care less about the cookies....it’s the message being sent.). And, on leaving, no one (management, staff, etc.) bothered to express appreciation or acknowledge us in any way. In fact, that was the case when we entered.

We spent $54.67, minus the gratuity, on an average meal, in a bland restaurant, with an indifferent attitude toward us. Having travelled to Thailand and Southeast Asia several times, I can say assuredly there are other options and better values in the Lakeway/Austin area...

As LW area residents for 27+ years, we've been Thai Spice almost-regulars since they originally opened here. With the usual up and down of restaurants, COVID, etc., Thai Spice could be counted on for good food and servie. Over the years, our Take Out list had steadily depended upon them.

Behold, suddenly realizing we are empty nesters and do not enjoy the dirty dishes, we opted to go back to restaurant eating there.

It did NOT disappoint.

With prompt, steady service, two servers tended to table of two (lol). And our appetizer cheese rolls came out seconds from the fryer, as were were starving. Dinner came promptly on it's heels when the plate emptied, with BBQ Pork Fried Rice and Chicken Pad Thai. Normally we are all over the place with our menu, but their being just us, we chose what we would share.

The food was piping hot, again, so fresh and delicious. The veggies maintained their delightful crunchiness as well as the pork was amazing. The Pad Thai is the old faithful, hot, fresh, beautifully arrayed on the plate slightly separating the peanuts and lime instead of our old "jumble" coming from take out. The portions were perfect.

SERVICE - Our table always got cleaned, utensils replaced, beverages refilled and offers of help/answers to questions. Plus, plus, plus. Then they were wonderful upon helping us check out and box up the minimal remains...

If any complaints, is that all we said to each other is that this was "good" as we inhaled our piping hot fresh food.

I guess that's what older people date night is. But while my extended family history had a crew of complainers, we had ZERO to complain about.

It wasn't too busy (just after 5 pm, lol!) on a Saturday night, but the Take Out Table was so full, per usual.

Take some time and go out to eat at Thai Spice again. The atmosphere is great, the staff and chefs are awesome and the food simply amazing. I've got Crab Fried Rice, Appetizer Sampler, some yummy curries and shrimp dishes on my agenda for the next times.

May be sooner rather...

I have been going to Thai Spice regularly for many years. We have been loyal customers since they were in their old location. We have referred countless other people and recommended this place often. We regularly bring clients here for lunch and order take out from here for dinner as well. We like the food, but the service can be hit and miss. Today was the last straw and we will NOT be back. We had a party of five and enjoyed our lunch but were shocked at the end of our meal when the server came over and accused us of stealing. One of the bussing staff said that we were filling to go boxes from the salad/sushi bar. We were confronted and accused right in front of other patrons sitting around us. It was not only humiliating but also not true. The only food in our boxes was the food we had paid for. I tried telling the server that we did not do what she was accusing us of but said that the manager told her to come talk with me based on what someone else said. It went on for several minutes. The rest of my party got up and left because it was very uncomfortable. I paid the bill and told them how insulted I was but the manager never came over or apologized. I was so insulted and angry to be treated this way after so many years of loyal patronage to this establishment. For 12 years we have given our business to this restaurant. However, when there are so many places to choose from in Lakeway, we will not continue to give business to a place that has such terrible treatment of...