Thai Wok ToGo — Restaurant in Las Vegas

A little bit about me so you have the full picture: I married into a Thai family and we typically spend 3-5 months a year over there. We moved to Las Vegas about a month ago and noticed Thai Wok To Go in a diagonal corner of our Albertson's shopping center. I made the mistake of assuming this would be a generic Thai place in the US. (Which we tend to bypass to avoid disappointment.)

Lunchtime today we put our skepticism aside and ordered a couple of our favorite dishes (pad see eu with pork and pad kaprow basil chicken). Our orders were prepared while we waited. Fortunately Thai cuisine lends itself to just-in-time cooking. But not only were the aromas familiar and comforting, the results were rewarding when we sat down to eat at home. It did not taste like rushed food.

The key to excellent Thai cuisine is the subtly layered flavor profiles of the sauces. Most America-based Thai restaurants lack the necessary balance to qualify as the real thing. More often than not, the sauces are sweet. Or too salty. Or maybe the garlic dominates. If one taste element dominates, you're not experiencing the best of Thai cooking. And this feat is not merely found in restaurants-- it's true around family tables too. This is not achieved all that often outside Thailand.

If your fifth bite is at least as delicious as the first, you're probably also discovering flavor elements that were less apparent in your first impression. If that's happening to you: congratulations! You've found the right place. If you're reluctant about Thai food because you think it won't be interesting unless it's high on the spicy heat scale, I'll let you in on a little secret: in the right place you can order it mild and you are even more able to determine whether the sauces have the subtlety and balance I've been raving about above. (Of course you'll be asked to specify the spiciness level when you order.)

By now you must have guessed that Thai Wok To Go was a great discovery for us. I made the mistake of assuming it would be an interchangeable neighborhood take out joint. But you don't have to make that mistake. I'd gladly drive to Summerlin and rush home with the fragrance of Thailand spiking your appetite all the way. I already am anticipating a small dinner party with Thai takeout as the focus.

My Thai spouse had the first forkful and it won his quick thumbs up. So now when we plan a shopping trip, we're going to factor in visits to...

Food/Taste/Flavor: 2/5 - ordered a Lunch Special of Red Curry with pork and Phanang Curry with chicken. The red curry was packed with bamboo shoots while the phanang only had chicken and no bell peppers at all. Both curry were fairly one dimensional with the phanang being almost sickening sweet. Very stingy on the amount of rice given that there was more curry than rice.

Service: 5/5 - slight language barrier but he was trying to be friendly and attentive. Informed us that the lunch special is only available online so we can technically order it online and it should be ready in approximately 20 minutes.

Ambiance: n/a - store is only for to-go. Small space in the front for ordering with a few seats. The space felt crowded, messy, and not maintained well.

Value for price: 2/5 - while the lunch special is cheap at $10 a dish, the amount of food was lacking and the food was not good. Note that since lunch special is only available online, there is a 3%...

I am visiting from out of town and found this restaurant on Google Maps. They serve vegan Thai with no fish sauce or shrimp paste. I ordered the panang curry, which is my favorite Thai dish. It's what I order almost every time I eat Thai food. The food was served piping hot but the sauce is just too sweet. It's like eating a bowl of sugar with tofu, rice, and vegetables. I called the store and spoke with the guy who served me. He said sorry and that was it. Nice people but I will not go back. I truly wanted the food to be tasty as it was the first meal I had all day after flying across the country. :-(

By the way, I do not like writing a negative review. However, when a customer calls not long after ordering food and they tell you specifically what is wrong with the dish and the response is, "sorry", to me that is not the right way to do business. I bought the food because I was hungry and wanted it to be good. Regretfully, it did not work...