Thai Bloom! — Restaurant in Portland

We visited this restaurant at 6pm on Monday evening. The best part of this visit was immediately finding street parking when we arrived at Thai Bloom. The second best part was immediately being seated at a table with no waiting upon walking inside. There is not a third best favorite. It all went downhill after we were seated. Starting with Anthony, the server who came to our table and took our order. My wife and I ordered two dishes... CRAB pad Thai noodles and pad prik king, with chicken. When he asked us what "spice level" we wanted our dishes to be, we told him we wanted both entrees to be mild-spiced(I usually prefer medium-spiced but, we were going to share both so, I wanted my wife to enjoy her food more). After he took our order, he walked away but, after a few minutes... he came back asking us to repeat our order. So, we did just that. It didn't take very long for our order to be served, except... the protein served with the pad thai was not crab like we ordered, it was chicken. So, we told the female server who delivered the food to our table we ordered crab pad Thai and she gladly took the incorrect dish back to the kitchen to make the correction. Meanwhile, my wife and I started eating the pad prik king and we immediately recognized that the spice level of that dish was absolutely not mild, it was at least a medium. Even for me who enjoys food on the spicier side, I was not enjoying it much at all.. it was borderline inedible. I'm not surprised that my wife wanted no part of the pad prik king after a tiny sampling. We got our crab pad Thai and it was not as delicious as usual, no surprise there unfortunately. I have dined at this restaurant, at this particular location a handful of times prior to this evening and have never had a less than impressive experience. This evening's experience was absolutely sub-par. I'm almost tempted to...

I am writing this in hopes that the owner sees it and makes a change. We came to Thai Bloom a few days ago and were pleasantly surprised by the ambiance, cleanliness, and the mouth watering smell as you walk in the door. We ordered some appetizers (fresh spring rolls, seafood wontons) which were easily the best I've had from any Thai restaurant we've tried in the area so far. Great presentation as well. Immediately impressed. We ordered yellow curry and a pad thai dish but when it came out the first thing I look down and see on my curry was a thick, curly black hair. Ok, it happens, I would have been fine just getting a new dish until my boyfriend who had the pad thai noticed one on his plate as well. We wave down a server to let them know and ask for the bill, and while we were waiting a man comes out from the kitchen area holding more plates of food for another table with a thick black beard the same length as the hair on both of our meals. Why this would fly in a kitchen setting I do not know. Hair should be covered while making other people's food to avoid losing money or a customer when it falls into their meal. I don't know how a beard would get covered, so why would it be allowed when handling food? Especially at a place that is more of a medium price, which would have been okay and understood without the hair. Very gross. They comped our meals and we left. Picked up some pizza on the way home that we didn't feel like eating until later from that furry feeling in your mouth after seeing hair on your food. The appetizers alone made us want to come back, and we happily would with some "dress code" changes. This place has friendly staff and great potential. Would have made 5 stars feel easy and the 50 minute drive out here feel like nothing. I hope the owners or management take this into...

The Good: Great place for reasonable, tasty Thai food in NW. The happy hour prices are decent, and the best part is that ALL DAY on Sunday is "Happy Hour". So you can try a variety of foods and drinks and not spend a fortune. The ambiance is clean and modern with 3 flat screen TVs over the bar, and a well-lit bar.

YES - Gluten Free Choices. They have Gluten Free options listed on the menu, and some items can be made gluten free upon request. Staff is helpful in accommodating gluten free requests.

Favorite Dishes: Pad Thai, Beef Salad (very flavorful), Chicken Satay (You may want to order two, as only 3 pieces are served on happy hour.)

Awesome Drink: Lemongrass Mojito (refreshing and delightful)

Don't Try: Spinach Artichoke Dip (Thai-spin on an American dip w/chips the added curry makes for a peculiar flavor), Miang Kum (an odd concoction with Spinach leaves topped with dried coconut flakes and a sweet syrup).

The Bad: The restaurant gets packed and very noisy. They seem understaffed, so it can be had to flag down your waiter/waitress for additional orders after you've already placed the first order. Also, it can take a while to get the check. Although we like the food, the service could use some...