Thai & I restaurant — Restaurant in Shrewsbury

Update after recent visit:

A couple of weeks ago we decided to dine in-person instead of ordering pickup from "Thai and I". We had last ordered pickup in early 2022. We reached the restaurant on a Saturday evening at about 7:45-ish. The server (probably the owner) promptly informed us that the kitchen closes at 8:30 PM and the restaurant closes at 9:00 PM. Considering that there was not a single soul in the restaurant at that time besides us, it felt a bit unfriendly. We ordered a bunch of items, regardless. Food was served quick. Quality of food and the ingredients were average or below average. The chicken in the fried rice had a smell as if it was stale and/or not properly cooked. The drunken noodles and the panang curry was alright. It appears this place has degraded over the last several months. Can not recommended any more. Sorry to see a decent Thai place in the area lose its way. Not sure what happened.

"Thai and I" serves authentic and flavor full Thai cuisine. Probably the best Thai restaurant in the area (including Shrewsbury, Westborough, Northborough, and Hopkinton). The ability to specify spice level/pepper level from 1 - 5 per entree/side dish is nifty. We ordered 3 items -- fiery pad thai, basil chicken fried rice, and panang curry. All were very good. I think we actually ended up getting the red curry and not the panang curry, but it was delicious nevertheless. One thing to note. When ordering takeaway, it's better to pay in advance at this place. If you choose the "pay in person" option they prepare your food after you show up at the restaurant and inquire about order status. That means a long wait in the parking lot after arriving at the time they specified your order will be ready. That's what happened to us -- not sure if it's...

When we first ordered here, we ordered takeout and everything was actually great. We got pho and Pat Thai with very specific dietary instructions. We decided to go back for dine in and we did not receive the same type of care. First, we had asked what was inside the dumplings and were informed by the waiter that she has no idea and when I asked if she could ask the chef, she said they were all premade so they don’t know. My next issue was I ordered pho. The first time I had it I really enjoyed it this time around. They gave me Tom Yum soup as if I wouldn’t notice . Pho doesn’t have chilies or red broth. I specifically asked for all the toppings on the side as well. They only gave me the cilantro and scallions the onions, lime, and basil were all missing. Then they also filled bean sprouts in the soup, which is another thing that’s usually on the side. I despise these things. To be courteous, I decided to try and enjoy it but I definitely should have said something. Last but not least my cousin had ordered pickup so I could bring it back home. She’s allergic to a lot of different things including soy , which last time they were able to accommodate. The waitress came out with the to-go order and proceeded to tell us they couldn’t make her order without soy and if it’s okay. Usually pad Thai is made to order why now is it that they were unwilling to make it fresh? We then had to wait another 25 mins for them to make a green curry dish for her instead. Very very disappointed about this experience. The food was incredibly average after all...

I went this last Sunday with my partner and another companion as a check to see how the place was.

Language barrier was definitely an issue-- not the fault of anyone, but it is a thing to be aware of if you need to make mods to an order, or ensure your food is prepared with mods (vegan, vegetarian, etc).

They have both a 'regular' pad thai and a hot one. I got the former, my partner the latter. I expected the 'regular' one to have typical spice levels of pad thai. Nope. It was utterly spice-less. The flavor was decent, and the sour was very forward. I'm cool with that, but the lack of any heat was disappointing.

My partner wanted hers to be made vegan, as the menu suggests it can be, and that was either not understood or ignored. Hard to say which. It definitely looked like it was made with a hot chili oil-- the color was very different to mine, and didn't include any bean sprouts. That feels very strange for a pad thai, especially since mine had it. Ditto with peanuts. Seems like a strange couple of things to omit.

The veg rolls had a higher wrapper to veg ratio than I'd have liked. The chive rolls were decent. The crispy brussels were really good, at least.

I doubt...