Irene Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Woodinville

First time trying Irene’s as I’ve been craving Thai food for weeks. I wanted to try somewhere new and I want to go back to try additional dishes since of the three dishes, i did like two of them.

Parking: Shared retail parking lot Pet friendly: No Family friendly: Yes

FOOD – disclaimer: this was a take out order. Kids Menu: Fried Rice (Stir-fry rice with egg and your choice of meat) $9.00: 5 Star - Off and on, I’ve been ordering from the kids menu as the “adult” items portion size is way too big for me (I have no self control 😊). I loved this fried rice! It was super simple but done so right. I’ve grown up on my parents and grandparents fried rice and it reminded me of that.

Kids Menu: Phad Thai (thin rice noodles stir-fry with your choice meat and eggs in Phad Thai sauce): $9.00: 1 Star – I never know there was a “country” style Phad Thai and I had to google the difference. Coming from NY and Vegas, apparently all the Thai restaurants I’ve been to have been the traditional style (aka country). The Kids menu is the same as the one listed as just “Phad Thai” on Irene’s menu which is what we’re going to say is the Western style for simplicity. I did not like this – it was overly sweet and too much tomato taste. Its probably one of the worse Phad Thai I’ve ever had.

Mango Sticky Rice (w/ crispy mung beans) $9.50: 5 Stars – mmmmm I could eat plates and plates of this. Maybe its because I haven’t had this is years but this is probably one of the best I’ve ever had. There is just enough saltiness in the sticky rice to counter balance the sweet, the refreshing taste of the mango, and the crispy mung beans on top! Heaven!

MENU/RESTAURANT: Irene menu is pretty intense as in they have so much options. Its weirdly too much options for me as I feel like restaurants that have too much don’t devote as much time to perfect a dish. But at least I can say there is something for everyone.

As mentioned above, it was a take out order so I didn’t go past the “host” stand. I can say it was surprising very dark inside… and the location is somewhere I wouldn’t have known it was located unless I was purposefully going there. Its behind the Play It Again, in a very tiny “strip mall” that only has a few business…

SERVICE: Since I ordered online, my only interaction was the “host” when I went to pick up the order. Friendly and polite but yep, that’s all...

TL;DR: flavorful and fresh. Casual date spot. Yummy food.

Parking: small shared lot.

Atmosphere: small but fancy looking place. I appreciate the airlock entrance. Definitely a nice place for a casual date.

Service: wait to be seated, order at the table, you will be watered, check brought to you.

Menu: descriptive and has some images. Spice ranges offered is from 0-5 stars. Some foods, like the curries, cannot be ordered as zero spicy. Rice sadly doesn't come with dishes unless specified. Otherwise it's $2.50 (7/2023) for a side of white rice.

Khao Tom: something I would definitely eat when not feeling well. It's got a "chicken noodle soup" kind of vibe. A flavorful clear broth with bits of celery and rice thrown in.

Moo Krob: crispy pork belly. It was a tad on the dry side in terms of the actual muscle meat portions but the skin was indeed nice and crispy.

Green Curry: the least spicy option is still really spicy for my weakling tastebuds but it's not a lingering spice. It's a feel good in the moment spice. I love the freshness of the vegetables in this dish! Spicy with a hint of sweetness and...

our experience at Irene was good. the food was good to great, but there was nothing to elevate it or make it stand out. it was all very well cooked and served at the right temperature, but it struck me as excellent family fare. what really ruined our experience was the service. everyone was friendly, but since no table was assigned a server, our requests fell through the cracks. all servers just did what was needed at any paticular time. it meant our food always arrived hot, but that was the only redeeming aspect. Although we were seated promptly, our second order of drinks had to be ordered twice (two different servers) and arrived shortly before we were ready to leave and no one returned until the appetizers were well gone before coming to take our dinner order. I felt the establishment could have functioned better had we gone to a counter to order our meal like at a teriyaki place. our servers didn't seem well equipped to handle a sit down restaurant style. but the food was tasty;...