Thida Thai Restaurant & Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Smyrna

My wife and I just visited your restaurant for the first yesterday. We just happened to be in the area, and we were getting gas across the street when my wife just happened to see your restaurant. Our whole family loves Thai food a lot. We moved here to Tennessee just under three years ago, and we have been looking for some excellent Thai food ever since. So far, Thida Thai is by far better than the five or six other Thai restaurants we have been too here in middle Tennessee. The food presentation of the food was excellent, the portion size was excellent, the flavor was excellent. The restaurant atmosphere is pleasant too. I rated our experience a four out of five stars simply because I do not give five star ratings to anyone. I would have given a four and a half, but it will not let me. Also, there is always room for improvement. We formerly lived in the Socialist Republic of Kommiefornia, (SRK), for several years which one of the very few positives about that country is the diversity of authentic cultural foods available. It has spoiled us on finding similar restaurants of each type here in the south. Thida Thai has come close to authentic Thai cuisine, but we also understand these small differences are for the overall customer base in which you serve, and there are some ingredients not available here in the U.S. too. For example, I read a few reviews where customers complained about the spiciness level ratings seem to be pretty weak, and I would agree with that, in general. Of course, we understand the vast majority of your customers do not like and/or tolerate spicy heat well in this region. I, myself, have been to Thailand a couple dozen times or more, so I have had the real deal. It took me a few years just to get up to a three out of five star spicy heat level over there, but it was great. Knowing that, I try three of five to start at new restaurants knowing it is what I call 'a tourist hot level'. In most instances, there is not a lot to it, so that is why I general ask to have the 'heat rack' brought out with my meal. A few recommendations to assist possibly are to maybe have two spice level systems, one for 'tourist/regional residents here', and the other for the people for are insane enough to try anything over three on the 'Native' scale. Or, if having to scales is a little confusing, just ensure your waite staff offer the 'heat rack' to any customer wanting a spicy hot entreé. By-the-way, I did make it to five star hot on the native scale, lol. Also, on dishes having chunks of potato added to them make sure the chunks are to big for a couple reasons; one, there to big to put in your mouth and second, potatoes are notorious for hold heat in which you could end up burning your tongue on, which will kill the taste of the excellent food from there on. Lastly, a lot of your customers are interested not only the food, but the culture around Thailand and Laos. I suggest providing cultural training to your waite staff so they answer basic questions about the very interesting Thai and Laotian cultures. Remember, customer service is what will keep your customers coming back again, and again! We...

I haven't been here in years, but I can say this experience was better than that one! The service was kind and very attentive (without being overly so). The restaurant appeared very clean and well organized. I met a friend for lunch and ordered a plethora of food haha. I couldn't decide, so I got a little of everything. My friend started with a Thai coffee (or maybe tea?) because she really needed some coffee and was shocked that they didn't have just black coffee. 🤷 We started with the shrimp and vegetable tempura, which was crispy and excellent. We then had the crab rangoon that came out crispy as well with a very gooey and delicious center. Instead of mostly cream cheese, you could actually taste and see the crab. The dipping sauce was truly optional with these. I then got a small bowl of shrimp tom kha followed by the seafood ginger stir fry (level 3, though I probably should have done a 4 lol). My tom kha was so delicious that I drank the last of the broth so as not to waste it. It was creamy and a little spicy and just what I needed. The vegetables were fresh, and the shrimp cooked just right. The ginger stir fry came out hot and perfectly cooked, and even the vegetables were as I like them: cooked but still a little firm to add great flavor and texture. I honestly don't remember what my friend got ... Maybe drunken noodles? All of the food was beautiful, too! See pictures.

If you haven't been, you should definitely give this little joint a try.

And I brought my own takeaway containers, as is...

Decent, efficient service. That’s the good part.

Typical Deep South version of Asian food, unfortunately, which means every dish (except for the fried appetizers) is very, very sugary, even though Thai cuisine is known for being much more beautifully balanced than this. Tom kha gai, for example, tasted like it had been made with sweetened coconut milk. Side note re tom kha gai—I make this at home and it calls for makrut leaves, fresh lime juice and galangal…I didn’t taste any of these. Just sugar and coconut. Chicken satay was just sweet, not savory. Rad na was weirdly sweet and contained too much meat and not enough noodles, which is not something I’ve ever had to say before about any Thai dish, ever.

They definitely cater to the “classic” American palate with the piles of sugar and the excessive use of meat as a main ingredient. I suspect they (of course) know how to make the more authentic version of every dish, but can’t do that and stay in business here, because Asian food is so confusing to many Americans, and they expect it to be dumbed down and taste familiar instead of truly expanding their culinary comfort zone.

Btw, it’s one of those “we also sell sushi and pho” places, which definitely helped us set proper expectations before we dined. I’d say skip it unless you don’t know how to cook your own Thai dishes, you have no other way to satisfy your craving, and no transportation out of...