Ruan Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Wheaton

I live near by and I have been going here for years. Back to when they were just the small dining room, before they took over the next door space. Tonight I went with a friend very hungry to eat Ruan Thai. We ordered the country curry with tofu, crispy noodles with shrimp and fried tofu with vegetables... whoever cooked the country curry and crispy noodles used so much fish sauce, salt and or soy sauce that it was inedible! The over powering taste of fish sauce and salt ruined our palate. As a result, we could not eat anything else, it completely ruined the meal and the evening out. The waitress that served us said they could take it and fix it but my mouth tasted nothing but the salt as if I drank sea water. That taste does not just go away. We barely ate any of the curry and ate only some of the noodles. We could not eat it at all and definitely didn’t want it to take home when asked. We were so hungry and we are easy going people but the items were so salty and had so much fish sauce that we couldn’t eat anything else and just got full on drinking water to try and get rid of the awful taste on our palette. Fish sauce is a very powerful and strong ingredient which should be used very sparingly. We didn’t want to complain or be difficult so we even tried adding water to the curry to offset the overwhelming salty fish sauce flavor but it didn’t help. The tofu had soaked up the fish sauce like a sponge and were like salt bombs. These dishes were truly too salty and inedible. The waitress never apologized nor offered to take the items off our bill even though again we barely touched the curry and barely ate any of the noodles. How could you charge a guest for food items they clearly couldn’t and didn’t eat, didn’t take home and gave clear feedback about how salty it was as well as it having so much fish sauce that it could not be eaten. I work in the service industry and not only would I have taken the items off the bill because I couldn’t charge a guest for something they couldn’t and didn’t eat but would look for a way to make it up to them for ruining their meal, their experience, their evening out. Our waitress tonight without any regard or consideration just charged us for all the food we couldn’t and didn’t eat, tried to return, knowing clearing that we just had a really bad experience and that our night out to eat Sunday dinner was ruined. No manager came to touch the table, not even a simple sorry from our waitress. I expected more from our server, a manager on duty and Ruan Thai as a whole. Very disappointing and frustrating experience. I will think twice...

It was a nice local Thai place that seems to be very popular. Very busy when I was there and having only one server was really a bad idea, unless someone called sick. The food came out fast and the service was fine with no issues. The food itself was ok, but way too high in sodium for me. I imagine all the dishes are done the same way as fish sauce is the base for most.

Sum Tom (Papaya Salad): The salad was really good and crunchy, very refreshing and fresh. Just the fish sauce in it was a bit more than needed, its better off on the side, as we can personally control the sodium content. The peanuts and tomatoes are a nice compliment and highly recommended if you enjoy interesting salads, just avoid the fish sauce and pour it on yourself.

Num Tok Tofu: I love the little bits of fried tofu with nice red onion and cilantro. But it was way too overloaded with fish sauce, causing extremely high sodium content. Please order it with sauce on the side, its the only way to save the dish and enjoy it. It is highly unnecessary to use that much fish sauce, its like drinking it. So if you order it, sauce on the side. Overall, crunchy tofu goodness.

Pad Khing (Stir Fry): It is good, but again was too much sodium in it. This dish destroyed me, gave me a headache, tummy ache, and my lips were dry after eating it. Its good, don't get me wrong, but way too high in sodium and they need to cut back on that black bean paste. This dish is extremely simple, you can to go an Asian market and simple buy Fried Tofu (3.99), Woodear Mushrooms (0.99), and Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Paste (3.49) and mix it together, thats pretty much it. It needs to be eaten over rich to drown out the salt.

Ganh Keow Whan (Green Curry): Their version of green curry is more watery than thick, they add peppers and veggies. The taste itself was not spicy at all and the taste and tangy. I got chicken and it was sliced nicely and was good, the jasmine rice was also nice and not hard, cooked more on the softer side. Its alright, but not something I would get again.

Thai Ice Tea: This was great, tasted like how you'ed think Thai Ice Tea would taste.

Not the best Thai place I've been too, but a nice place overall and...

Let's begin with the fact that this place deserves 0 REVIEWS! That is how frightening and horrible my experience was.

If you are going alone and plan on NOT leaving a tip, because of bad service or bad food, get ready to LITERALLY be followed by the waitress with your check asking WHY YOU AREN’T LEAVING A TIP!?

Today, January 11, 2017 at approximately 3pm, I decided to stop by this restaurant as I was looking for some Thai food. Upon arrival, I was greeted by a non smiling, unbothered waitress. I asked for the menu and had questions regarding their vegetarian options and possibly removing some items from a specific dish. APPARENTLY, the waitress wasn’t having it and gave me slight attitude. I figured she was having a bad day, or perhaps I was (No, I wasn’t, just giving her the EXTRA benefit of the doubt). I was seated and to my surprise, someone else served me my food (no problem with that).

I ate the food, although I SPECIFICALLY requested for NO TOMATO sauce in my food (I suffer from GERD, but just prayed and ate), IT WAS EVERYWHERE! I don’t believe in sending food back to the kitchen (NO THANKS TO SPIT IN MY FOOD, EVER!). I finished the meal and I just KNEW I was not leaving a tip, because, WHY WOULD I?

So, after signing the check, I proceeded to walking out of the restaurant. Just as I was reaching my car, I hear “SO YOU’RE JUST NOT GOING TO LEAVE A TIP?” I turn around and to my surprise, the WAITRESS WAS WALKING TOWARD ME WITH THE CHECK IN HER HAND, and she was definitely NOT SMILING!

So, I asked her, is it not included in the bill? (Yes, I was shocked and automatically went into petty mode, bite me!). Well, she got EVEN CLOSER and by then I just knew things would not end well if I did not step back and redirected that whole situation.

I reached into my wallet praying for a dollar, found one and gave it to her. My husband jokingly says I just lost all of my street cred, but I know it wasn’t worth it.

What is worth it though, is the fact that I CAN WRITE THIS REVIEW AND WARN PEOPLE ABOUT THE DANGERS OF CERTAIN WAITRESSES AT THIS RESTAURANT! I’m not saying all waitresses here are like that, I can only tell you what happened to...