Thai Tom — Restaurant in Seattle

Short version: DONT DO IT...

Long version: We ordered two Drunken Noodles w/Chicken, a side of Egg Roll, and two Cokes around 3:30 pm on a Thursday over the phone and was told it was going to be a 30 minute wait. It all went down hill from there. After parking our car, I walked up to Thai Tom's walk up window, taking note of a man talking on a phone standing next to the window. It had been around 20 mins since we called so I expected them to be finishing up with our order, instead I arrived to two employees, one female and one male, sitting down eating inside. I was a bit startled and taken back so I politely said, "sorry for interrupting your dinner." The lady then got up and I paid for our food, thinking..."it must be down, because they don't look busy at all." But no, not the case. After I received my change, the guy that was having a very casual conversation on the phone next to me outside walked into the restaurant, and they started to work on my food. side note-I use to work in the food industry and know how it is to have a break after a busy rush, but they were extremely laxed So I waited outside for about 10 minutes before I decided to go check in with my significant other at the car. He was surprised the food wasn't done yet either. So I hung out with him for five minutes, then went back to restaurant. I Got the food and bounced. We parked our car up the street to indulged in one of our favorite Thai dishes .When I opened the container for the egg rolls my eyes made contact with the most bloated Egg Rolls I had ever saw. They did not look good and tasted HORRIBLE! They tasted...salty. It was weird...the texture...just weird. So we sat those aside. I introduced my bf to Drunken Noodles when we started to date two years prior and we look forward to dining at different establishments to compare. Well, he took one bite, looked at me and said, " this isn't edible." So I tried them and after my food settle down my throat, I was left with an extreme pungent fishy taste in my mouth. IT WAS BAD! I've never asked for a refund on Thai Food in my life!! I guess there's a first time for everything. When we called them, the guy was very argumentative about the food, never offered any empathy or apology, and was very unprofessional. My bf was the one to return the food and when he did, the women was argumentative with him too, and said that she would not return the Egg Rolls and that they were not salty. He didn't want to argue and took the money for Noodles and walked away. After that WE felt compelled to share our experience with the worst Thai restaurant we've experience in Seattle as true...

Had quite a disappointing experience with Thai Tom.

It was my first time ever ordered at this restaurant. I called them a few minutes after opening time. After taking my order, they said it was cash only. I was surprised cause I am not sure if I have some cash with me, and they said maybe next time. While I wasn't sure what it means, they said it will be ready in 20 minutes. It came to my surprise when I arrived that no thing was prepared for me. The lady said because you had no cash (but it was her who confirmed my order). She offered me to still make the dish and after some consideration I was like yeah sure. I gave her the cash and asked for a receipt. She took a piece of carton box and wrote some letters on it (literally, pt ms 20 - which means pad thai and mango sticky rice for a total of $20, and the ms writing was intelligible). I saw however some guest checks for other to-go orders and pointed to them. I said I wanted something like that and she said you cannot have it. I realized she might had thought I wanted someone else order but I clarified that I wanted the receipt that looks more proper like that. She still said I could not have it. While I was confused, the cook while cooking jumped in and talked to me (?!??). I explained to him again what I inquired and he also declared that I could not have it. After some arguing, I understand they have kitchen check and guest check that they both save for their manager record keeping and there is no customer check. I was stunned. I have not seen any business that has such shady practices. She said I can talk to the manager if I want but then she said the manager is not here (?!?!???). The manager will come at 9pm! I gave up! I put both my hand on the table surface and sighed. The lady then proposed I can take back my money if I'd like. I said yes with thank you and left the restaurant. I have no idea how I just lost half an hour of my life for nothing, and...

I've been hearing about Thai Tom for nearly a decade and eating there has been on my to-do list all along but for some reason, it didn't happen until last week. I just don't hang out in the U-District like I used to. So the short review is that it was better than average but not as good as my favorite places. First the good. The flavors were pretty crisp and the service was friendly and fast. The ambiance could be a plus or a minus depending upon your perspective. It's not comfortable but it's intimate. It's a classic college eat out spot. As for the flavors, one thing I didn't like was that there was a strong fennel flavor. I would say that it was too strong. I had spicy noodles and pad Thai and they both tasted a lot like they had black licorice in them. I didn't like that. The other strike was the portion size. It was pretty tiny and when I showed my wife pictures of my plates, she commented on how small they were. This is usually far more my issue than hers but she noticed it immediately when looking at a picture.

The final gripe is that they are cash only and at no point did I see a sign stating this. I found out when I tried to pay with my card and was sent two blocks down the street to hit a cash machine. Upon my return, I looked all over the restaurant and could not find a sign that warned about this. There may be one in there somewhere but I was unable to locate it even upon inspection. Maybe they aren't worried about it because there are several banks nearby and they would prefer to get your business rather than having you walk away because they won't take your card but I was annoyed.

The bottom line is that you won't hate it but you won't get filled up if you are a big eater even if you order two dishes. If you love black licorice, this may be your new...