Red Pepper Asian — Restaurant in Raleigh

Literally fantastic in every possible way. I haven't had such an amazing eatery experience in a while.

Service was fast, friendly, attentive, and personable without being overboard. Food came out almost immediately.

Holy smokes!

We ordered, I went briefly to the restroom... and AS SOON AS I sat back down, the food was coming out! Can have been no more than 4 to 5 minutes. We were the first in for lunch, but still... Wow.

It was DELICIOUS, too. I had the Thai basil shrimp, requesting it barely spicy. (Pictured.) Shrimp and all veggies were juicy and perfectly cooked. My guy had the house fried rice, which had a very rich, deep, delectable flavor for it to be "simply" rice.

Both our server/hostess and another worker from the kitchen were genuinely interested to see that our food was acceptable to us - no precursory checking in here. When we expressed our delight, they seemed humbled and were very genuinely appreciative.

Everything was clean - even the bathroom was SPOTLESS. Loved the decor inside, too - beautiful tile accents along the middle of the wall. It smelled great, too. (The bathroom, not the wall.)

And I'm a person who will wait to the point of discomfort just to avoid using any public bathroom. Ugh, I hate it. But this one was surprisingly... comfortable and homey. If you don't have the same view of public bathrooms, you won't understand.

All in all, a FANTASTIC experience. We never would've come here if we'd just driven by, as the shopping center and area leaves a bit to be desired. That would have been a huge mistake. Luckily we searched for healthy restaurant options near the area we were in and saw the exceptional reviews beforehand. Well deserved! This will DEFINITELY be a regular spot when we're in this area.

Last thing: There's a review in the review summary for this place that says the food is overpriced, and the rice was "dry."

I consider my steamed rice to be perfect, exactly the same as it always is at restaurants like this. It didn't have any extra moisture at all, so if you're unfamiliar with Thai steamed rice, you may think that it's dry. Actually, there is no extra moisture and it's more chewy/spongy/dry because it's designed to compliment the dishes, which are usually sauced. My guy's fried rice was moist and was also the perfect texture.

On pricing, his dish was $9.95; mine was $12.95. For the quality of this food, that is perhaps about $2 lower than what I personally am used to for a shrimp/seafood Thai dish in Raleigh.

Overall, truly a great establishment with great people -- at least on my initial visit here. 10 stars.

UPDATE 5/9/17: Just ordered Thai basil shrimp from Thai House last week because I thought I'd just really like this dish wherever I ordered it. Hmph. Thai House's was completely substandard...

I don't remember what I got (it's been a few weeks), but it was eadible. It was definitely chicken and fries rice (just not sure which chicken). I am in Raleigh for a few months and am trying to establish some solid dinner options. This place won't make the cut.

I rely heavily on Google and Yelp when picking a restaurant and, boy, was I let down this time. Someone said this was the best Chinese they'd eaten in Raleigh. I know. New to town, but this isn't the best Chinese in Raleigh! You need to get out more. This isn't the best Chinese in the small town of Cleveland, TN (where I've spent the last 20yrs of my life).

As I said before, the food wasn't horrible. It's just not something I'll be coming back for. I'd rather warm Chinese from the store. Seriously. Have you had the orange chicken from Trader Joe's? The service was deplorable. Granted, I came in around 8pm, but they don't close until 9pm. I had to get up and ask for a drink refill.

If you have no other choice, you could consider it. But, you DO have choices. This shouldn't be one of them.lots of people do Chinese well. These folks, sadly, do not.

For the record, it could have been worse. The food could have been inedible and the place could have been filthy. 2...

This review is written for anyone that is new to Raleigh and is looking for great “hole in the wall” Chinese food like you are used to in a major metropolitan area.

This is not it.

The restaurant was very clean and the staff incredibly helpful.

The lo-mien was tasty and run of the mill, nothing much to see there.

The steamed dumplings were fresh and the filling was light, these were the highlight of the meal.

Where the wheels fell off the train were the General Tso chicken that was heavily breaded and drowned a very viscous sauce that was more like orange chicken. It wasn’t palatable and was thrown away.

The hot and sour soup was good at first taste, but the amount of salt used was the most intense amount I’ve ever had...it too was tossed.

The Singapore noodles were an odd duck, as there was no curry, but rather soy sauce. What is usually a flavorful dish was instead incredibly mundane.

Overall, this is the most disappointing Chinese food I’ve had in Raleigh, second to Red Dragon.

Luckily people love this restaurant and I hope their business continues to thrive, but their food will not hold up to palates of diners who’ve experienced Chinese outside...