Tuk Tuk Thai Oro Valley — Restaurant in Oro Valley

I admit I've been critical of the portion sizes when getting takeout but I have to say the dine-in experience the last couple of times has been outstanding. The food here really is absolutely superior. Love the #52 crispy chicken dish, it is incredibly flavorful, I love the sauce, the chicken really is crispy and delicious (let alone gluten-free). I'm a big fan of the Hoy Joh (dumplings) as well. Those chicken wings, though, they are just as good as the crispy chicken, crispy, juicy, great. Then there's the ping - both the pork and chicken versions are outstanding. The sauces they serve complement each dish. Even the fried tofu is good because even if the tofu itself is not all that flavorful, the dipping sauce IS.

Service has been absolutely top notch the last two times we've dined there. We had Anastasia as our server both times, and she is totally on her game. Greets us immediately and I couldn't believe that after a SINGLE visit, the second time we dined there, she remembered what we'd ordered the previous visit. Wow. She's friendly, has extensive menu knowledge (so she's great at recommending and navigating the menu), and very efficient and timely. Pleasant to talk to as well. Just really enjoy when she's our server.

This is another update of two previous reviews. The food quality was still very good this last time, but service was just okay. I struggled with saying anything about it becuase when a server is pleasant and likable, you feel a little bad criticizing but I thought it was important to point out a few minor misses because they all add up. And one additional food-related comment.

The service positives were greeted quickly, pleasant, friendly server. The service issues were as follows:

Wine pour - I get it, it's not fine dining, but not even offering to pour the wine? I don't understand not at least asking, just here you go. Dish clearing - it really didn't happen. Even piling them on top of each other. Frequency - not terrible but we had to ask for things every time (glass of water, extra napkin.)

I don't think we'll get the spring rolls again. Not exactly a lot other than lettuce in there. The rest of the food was very good though. I really like the pad Thai (with shrimp in our case, and there were plenty of shrimp, no issue there) and I like that they pile the peanuts in a corner so you can control peanut portion size. We inadvertently ordered the Holy Basil Chicken instead of the Spicy Crispy Chicken Basil (which we LOVE) but then ordered the crispy when we realized we'd ordered the wrong dish (they didn't comp it but I understand that, our mistake). But that Spicy Crispy Chicken Basil is an excellent dish. Let alone so many gluten-free/friendly options, that's a big plus for us.

And they have TONS of gluten-free options. And (we dine there in late afternoon timeframe) the ambiance actually is nice, it's quiet, you can carry on a conversation, the bar is cool, they have wine (at reasonable price points too) AND mixed drinks (and beer). So lots of choices in menu selection. VERY solid option and as I said...

My husband and I were craving Thai food which has always been scarce in Tucson.  Today's meal at Tuk Tuk Thai in Oro Valley confirms that Thai food is still scarce in Tucson. The first clue for anyone entering an Asian restaurant of any kind to eat, if there are no Asians eating or working as staff it is going to be a bad choice.  I will start with the positives: the Thai Ice Tea was wonderful, the restaurant was clean and the staff were nice.  The food is another story.  We ordered fresh spring rolls with shrimp--2 tiny shrimps in an order shared by 2 people does not constitute an additional $1 charge over the tofu version, it was false advertising. These spring rolls were loosely rolled vs the proper technique of being tightly rolled.  The main ingredient in these spring rolls was lettuce including the inedible stalks.  The spring rolls fell apart as we tried to eat them.  The peanut dipping sauce was not what we were craving either.  I rank these as the worst spring rolls I have ever eaten, ridiculously bad! My husband ordered Pad Prik Pow Crispy Chicken with rice off the lunch menu, the chicken was coated in a very sweet sauce with no heat whatsoever.  My husband requested chili sauce and was given chili oil which helped a little.  Had the dish been prepared with a spicy sauce with a hint of sweet vs overpowering sweet sauce it would have been good.  Another problem with the dish were irregular knife cuts by the chef with pieces so large they were far removed from bite size.  Many crispy chicken pieces were clumped together and joined with other chunks of chicken where poor cutting technique made the dish difficult to eat since a knife was not provided to cut the chicken apart with.  I ordered off the dinner menu, Pumpkin Curry Chicken which does not come with rice and must be ordered separately for an additional $2 which I find to be outrageous.  The coconut curry sauce had a little heat, a good amount of chicken and fresh basil in it which was nice, however once again I question the chef's knife cutting skills since the pumpkin was too large to be bitesize and was not peeled.  The pumpkin was also mostly al dente vs soft and edibly cooked, it was unappealing with the tough skin layer intact. Minus tip this lunch was $48, way too expensive for what we were served.  We won't be going back. To add insult to injury I selected this restaurant as my birthday meal, what a huge...

We love the food at Tuk Tuk Thai, so I’m especially disappointed that I’ve decided to put it on hold for a year. The last two times we’ve been in, the service has been barely okay. Last night, it was terrible. Here’s briefly what happened:

We went in about 6:30 and were immediately seated at a table outside. The server quickly brought out our initial order of two waters and a glass of wine. We said we’d like a couple of minutes before ordering, but after ten minutes we hadn’t seen her again, so I went inside and told her we were ready. She took our order, and the appetizer was served fairly promptly, hot and delicious.

After that, though, the whole thing went to hell. We ordered our meals, and that’s the last we saw of her for close to an hour. I was about to go in again when she finally came out with a tray, but when the dishes were served, my wife immediately said the food was cold. The server said they had just come out of the kitchen, but I tasted a piece of pork, and sure enough, it was barely warm.

By this time, we had lost all patience, so I said we would pay for what had been previously served and asked for the check. After another ten minutes, she hadn’t returned, so I went inside to the cash register, where I stood alone for yet another couple of minutes. At that point, I went back outside to get my wife, and I was ready to just walk out and see what happened, but my wife said another staff person had come out and again questioned that the meal was served cold. She was abrupt and never apologized, but then she did say she’d void the check. We left and went back home, and I had a bowl of cereal for dinner.

What we’ve noticed both times is that the two or three servers on duty are very young and don’t seem to have much training and no apparent supervision. They’re polite enough but clueless about their job, and they seem to spend a lot of time leaning on the bar drinking sodas and goofing around together. Clearly, the place needs a good manager. I assume they’re facing the same staffing problems other restaurants are facing, but they’ve had plenty of time to address these training issues.

So I don’t want to say I’ll never go back, but I’m going to look for another Thai restaurant for now. Maybe after a year, they’ll have turned...