Karen Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Ottumwa

First, the service was wonderful. We were checked on several times, always with a friendly smile. The spring roll has shrimp, lettuce, carrots, cucumbrr, rice noodles, and avocado wrapped in rice paper. No cilantro. They serve it with a creamy sauce which was tasty but didn't compliment the flavors. The mouth feel of the cold spring roll ingredients mixed with the creamy sauce they serve it with was unpleasant to us . There was no peanut sauce, however the table has hoisin sauce and chopped peanuts that was good on the spring roll.

The fried rice and hibachi meals both looked good, tasted nice and were nicely portioned. They were nicely seasoned with tender meat.

The chicken pho was sadly, just okay. The dark brown broth compliments beef, but not chicken. Their chicken pho is missing that chicken/herbs complex flavor that you get with great chicken pho broth elsewhere and when made at home (relatives who lived in Thailand who steep herbs for many hours). The broth was pleasant, but one note... missing that complexity often seen in pho broth. They serve it with a robust amount of rice noodles. They provide the typical basil, onion, jalapeno, one lime edge to garnish. No cilantro nor spouts (they were missed).

We all got bubble/boba tea. They were very very sweet and even after stirring, the crunch of what must be sugar crystals, persisted in 2 of 3 of our teas. My family also thought mine was way too sweet upon sampling. I couldn't taste the matcha at all. My family liked their coconut and mango teas, described their flavors as light and very sweet.

When we left, we all got new teas to go. I asked for less sugar this time, caramel latte... but still could only taste sweet cream and a tiny hint of caramel. It wasn't sickeningly sweet this time, but there was still almost no flavor.

My family liked their strawberry and mango teas, said they were mildly flavored. I went home and added concentrated coffee and that balanced that sweetness and gave it flavor to make it worth drinking.

We've had bubble/boba tea in many other places near and far and this one is currently disappointing as far as flavor profile, but that doesn't mean it won't be better with some changes next time. If you like super sweet milk with a hint of flavor, you should love it as is. Otherwise, you may want to ask for less sugar and more flavor.

With that being said, we will be back! Just with lowered/altered expectations due to above.

Ottumwa desperately needs more food choices and this place delivers in many ways... and delivers with a smile such you don't always see elsewhere

The servers, tea makers (located at a table in the back of the room... can be ordered without sitting down for food), and cashier were all very, very friendly.

Food wait time were reasonable, 10-15 minutes. They brought our food out at seperate times which is unfortunate as those of us with food waited until everyone's food arrived. It was a 5 minute wait... which seems longer when you want to dig in.

The decor is plain, but clean and bright. There is a positive, bright vibe from the room and the staff. Hopefully, they'll decorate later. I think it'd be nice to see cultural embellishments relevant to the food/ drink being offered, but that's just me. They have room for improvement, but they're supposed to. :) They're newly opened... and we'll...

Short review: Should you eat here? Yes. Satisfying and delicious flavor, filling portion size, very reasonable price.

Long review: Went here over lunch. We were greeted as we entered and given our choice of table or booth. The restaurant is well lit. The tables, seats, floor, and menus were all spotless level clean.

We ordered a dumpling appetizer, pho meal, and krapow chicken meal.

-Dumplings (not pictured): Crispy outside with a satisfying light crunch. Inside was a very flavorful seasoned pork. Served with sweet chili sauce that made the dumpling flavors come out. I'm not usually a fan of dumplings, but these were pretty good and I'll probably get them again next time.

Pho: If you're not familiar with it, pho is a soup. This arrived with a deep bowl of broth, noodles, and meat. The aroma was really good. A side plate with jalapeños, bean sprouts, lime, and freah basil were provided so you can mix in ingredients to your taste. The flavors were what I'd describe as delicate and each shows up nicely with the savory (but not overpowering) broth. Quite filling when it's all put together.

Chicken: Super delicious. I was asked for my preferred spice level and chose medium. This gave a very satisfying spice level where the more I ate the warmer it got, but never so spicy that I was concerned about being able to finish. The heat slowly builds and gives a bit of the back of neck type of heat, not the burning lips kind, and it fades after a minute or two. The chicken was tender, well coated in the sauce, and had red bell pepper slices cooked with it. Also served with a very generous scoop of steamed rice, which has a fried egg on top, and 3 slices of cucumber as a nice palate cleanser. I thought I'd wish the size was bigger, but by the time I was done eating, I was full and satisfied.

Price: At about $12 for a meal this feels like the amount of food at the price I was used to having pre-2020. 👍👍👍

Service: I had a good service experience here. Nothing mind blowing, but the staff was friendly and grateful. The food was ready in about 10 minutes and arrived all in fairly close timing. The appetizers arrived perhaps 2 minutes before the main dishes, which I thought was maybe too fast, but the main plates were delivered fresh from being cooked. I would take my time enjoying the appetizer and let my food temp come down slightly.

I look forward to coming back and trying some of the other dishes here. I highly recommend stopping in and...

Great food and service. The pho was good. Broth on point. Nice portion size. Only think lacking was some veggies that I normally get. But had the standard sprouts, peppers and limes.

Thai Boat Noodles great. Same thing as above though.

Pad thai was delicious. Very flavorful. I can see this being a staple here.

The spring rolls and egg rolls pretty standard but very good. Wasn't crazy about the yumyum sauce served with the spring rolls. I'd rather just have peanut sauce or nouc mam sauce. But everything was really good. We were there on a Thursday night at 630pm and were the only table. They had a few small carry out orders leave while we were there. Stop by and support your...