Nicky's Thai Kitchen — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Every city has that one place. The one that claims to serve something exotic, something rooted in tradition, something that might just transport you to the streets of Bangkok if you squint hard enough and hold your breath. And then the food arrives. And you realize you're not in Thailand. You're not even close. You're in a strip mall fever dream of what someone thinks Thai food should be after watching a YouTube video and panic-buying lemongrass.

This is that place.

In Pittsburgh, a city with legitimately excellent Thai options, this spot feels like a parody. Smiling Banana Leaf and Manheim Thai are doing the real work. They understand balance. They know when to use sweetness and when to pull back. They know heat is a conversation, not a novelty. Here, it’s like someone read the idea of Thai food off the back of a takeout menu and decided sugar and salt were the only two characters in the story.

The noodles were what you’d expect from a college dorm attempt at recreating dinner in Bangkok. Slippery. Cloying. Sweet to the point of insult. The kind of dish that makes you wonder if someone in the kitchen lost a bet and this is their punishment.

But the real heartbreak was the soup. I ordered Tom Yum and Tom Kha. Two soups that, when done right, are a masterclass in balance. Heat. Acid. Creaminess. Fragrance. Complexity. What I got instead were two bowls of warm disappointment. They tasted like Chinese takeout broth that got lost on the way to a Thai restaurant and decided to dress up with some galangal and lemongrass to fit in. The soul of the dish was missing. The heat was missing. I asked for level five, their maximum. It registered somewhere between tap water and regret. There was no fire. Not even a flicker. A toddler could drink it and ask for more spice.

This was not Thai food. It was Thai-flavored noise. And not even good noise. Just loud and hollow.

If you have never had real Thai food, maybe this place could trick you. Maybe the sugar will distract you long enough to think it’s fine. But if you’ve ever sat in a hole-in-the-wall in Bangkok or even a legit spot stateside, you’ll taste the absence immediately. The depth is gone. The craft is missing. The respect for the cuisine just isn’t there.

So no. I wouldn’t recommend it. Not when Pittsburgh offers the real thing just a few blocks away. Save your money. Save your palate. Thai food deserves...

Food is delicious. Unfortunately, their habit of not giving you what you ordered makes it impossible to enjoy!

I used to dine in, then when the pandemic hit, I started ordering food directly through their website for pick-up. I noticed my orders would often contain different ingredients than what was listed than when I selected it online. Pointing it out, or asking for a refund, or waiting for a new order ensued. Eventually, after several times of this happening at the downtown location, I discovered the reason was because their online menu was allegedly out-of-date - the items I was ordering no longer existed. Okay, so you would expect them to call and explain that, or just cancel and refund the order, right? Nope -- their standard practice was to just... give me a different meal than what I ordered. I.e. Ordered the Bangkok Bay, and that no longer exists, so they would just make and give me the Chili Mango Scallop with NO explanation.

Eventually, they seemed to update their menu, and I was able to order things they actually make and get what I ordered. Fast forward to today. I go to order from the North Side location... and see, "Oh, they have the Bangkok Bay on the menu! I haven't seen it there for years! I thought they didn't make it anymore... But, no, they wouldn't take it down and then put it back up if they didn't make it anymore, right...?" I decided to risk it and order the Bangkok Bay.

Big mistake. I show up to pick it up, look in the bag... and can see it's the Chili Mango Scallop! The fact that they do this at 2 locations - downtown and North Side - means this is standard practice: Just give the customer something they didn't order! How can anyone think that's a logical or good idea?! What if I was allergic to the cashews (they come on the Chili Mango Scallop but not the Bangkok Bay)?! I can't fathom how they came up with this plan! It's unfair, and it's absurd!

I should have demanded a refund, but I decided to just take it and eat it, since I like this one, too. Mistake #2. Instead of being topped with the cashews like it says online, it was topped with peanuts.

I'm done. For good this time. This is the most nonsensical restaurant I've EVER...

Just ate here for the first time and my experience wasn’t a good one. We sat outside and Ordered appetizer and a Tom yum soup plus 2 entrees. The 2 entrees also comes with a soup and a salad. They brought the 2 entrees out within 10 mins and we waited n waited for our appetizer and the tom yum soup plus the soup n salad that comes with the entrees. 15 mins passed and still nothing so I walked inside And asked if my stuff is coming out anytime soon. My server was serving another table n just walked passed me like it wasn’t nothing. So finally I walked back outside after telling the staffs I still haven’t gotten my appetizer n stuff then another waitress brought it out after another while. Keep in mind I still haven’t receive my soup n salad that comes with the entrees. Well after another while it finally came out. Which I was disappointed because my entrees already gotten cold. We also ordered a chicken red curry to go and I asked the waitress if it comes with rice? She said yes. So when I got my Togo ordered and it was $19.5 I didn’t think anything of it. I told my wife I could’ve sworn it wasn’t that much. We got home n realized she added the white rice for another $3.5 which I didn’t ask for. I assumed it comes with white rice because that’s what she told me. She could’ve asked if I wanted white rice for additional fee. I wouldn’t mind it. Overall my experience wasn’t a good one and the service from my particular waitress was also below par. The busboy and the other waitress that brought me everything else was exceptional. Also the Togo red curry we got was extremely salty…it’s inedible. We ended up tossing it out. Also the tofu from the entrees we got were frozen..not sure if everyone knows this but u should never freeze tofu because it tastes like as* after..try it...