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"Absolute best Thai food on the Hill. Come to think of it, the best I've had in Seattle. If you've ever been disappointed by bland,…" read more »
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Bahn Thai is one of our favorite default restaurants when we can't decide what we're craving.
We tend to stick with our favorites (fresh veggie spring rolls, phad thai with prawns, tom kah chicken soup, and the masamun curry with brown rice), but we occasionally venture to other menu items when we have guests with us (basically, we get our usual dishes and eat off of their plates :)). I can honestly say, we have never had a disappointing plate here.
And according to the owners, this restaurant is the oldest family owned thai restaurant in all of Seattle. I love supporting the little guy!
Just be sure to order the homemade coconut ice cream for dessert. Your taste buds will thank you.
Last weekend I was visiting Seattle, walking around and looking for a place for dinner and came upon Roy Street, which had a bunch of Asian restaurants on it. We looked at the menus of each place and chose Bahn Thai (the first one we looked at; somehow we knew we'd end up there) mostly because its outdoor seating looked so pleasant.
It was indeed very pleasant. We ordered some hot tea and fresh spring rolls to start. The rolls were delicious, very fresh, and had a good hunk of shrimp in them (vegetarian rolls were also available).
For my main dish, I got the yum chow koh (mixed seafood salad), with spiciness level "very hot." It was delicious! It was a mix of very spicy shrimp, squid and scallops on a bed of iceberg lettuce quarters and cucumbers, covered in a sort of spicy lime juice. I loved it because this "sauce" wasn't the heavy sauce that is usually used in Asian cuisine. There was no oil in it and it was just very refreshing. My mouth was burning after each bite, but somehow it was easily washed away with water (maybe because it wasn't oily?) so I could enjoy the spiciness without the lingering pain :-)
My companion got rard nah chicken (wide noodles with broccoli in soybean sauce) and also really enjoyed it, though he said the portion was a bit too small for him.
The waiter was very attentive and our food was brought out quickly. Since we were outside I can't say much about the ambiance of the restaurant or its decor, but sitting outdoors was very nice, and everything was clean.
All in all, a great find!
Meh. Came here with a group of friends and was quite disappointed. First, the service was so slow. We sat down and had to wave down a waiter to take our order after waiting for 15 minutes. I ordered the Pad Woon Sen and my friend next to me ordered the Rard Noodles? We were both VERY disappointed in our food. My noodles were WAY too sweet and goopy. His noodles were actually flavorless and covered in this non attractive sauce. He actually only ate a bite and ended up eating everyone else's dishes. The rest of the dishes were unremarkable.
After finishing our meal, it felt like we had to wait another 20 minutes to get our check. Will probably not be coming back.
When I first moved to the neighborhood I was on "The Quest for the Best Local Thai Food." I anticiapted months of research, hours of eating, and countless debates over which restaurant conquored over all.
Thai Restaurant Challenge - Restaurant #1 was Bahn Thai. I ordered my standard Phad Thai with Tofu. (I figure if they can't make Phad Thai they aren't worthy.)
Oh my goodness delicious...hands down, you win. I never tried anywhere else.
:)
Super nice waiter with delicious food and constant water refills which is really important when eating spicy food. Which leads me to the next point, the had like 4 different sauces you could add. Bomb.
Great service, friendly staff! We chose outdoor seating and the weather was perfect. The Pad Thai was OK, and the boyfriend had the Garlic Pork, which he said was alright too. For dessert, we had the Mango Sticky Rice, which was pretty terrible. I really wanted to like this restaurant because I love Thai food, but this place was a bit disappointing.
I always round down, but not this time. Bahn Thai doesn't deserve to be rounded down. A solid 4.5 stars!
My and my gf had the veggie combo ($13.95/person), which included spring rolls, tom yum ___, w/ tofu, phad thai, and something else (tofu w/ broccoli, green beans). Everything was very tasty and fresh tasting. I've never had phad thai before (yeah, I am from this planet; I always get green curry or any one of the 'rama's) and it was delicious......sweet and flavorful!
Also, the ambiance was pleasant and subdued, the service was spot-on (you water filler testers out there-these guys pass!) and, as someone noted, there's parking in the back. I'll be back-you can bet on it!
This is definitely one of my favorite Thai restaurants. The food has been the same consistently good food for the many years I have been coming here. The only thing that changed was their much-needed renovation a few years back, adding a bar, and updating the interior design.
This is a great place for a special occasion on the cheap -- as even with a couple of glasses of wine, you don't have to spend much more than $50 for an entire, satisfying meal for two here. Yet, I always feel right at home in this restaurant -- great to bring friends, great for a romantic date -- it does it all. I have been here many times, and have never had an unsatisfying experience.
The only criticism I can think of is that at times when it's busy, you might not get the server's attention right away, but you will soon enough.
My favorites are the "Chicken Noodle" which has lots of chicken and veggies over wide noodles -- yummmmmy! If I order this to go, it easily makes two meals for myself with leftover -- and for just around $10 including rice. My other favorite is the Tom Kha Gai -- rich and delish.
I know there are somewhat better Thai places in Seattle, but this place somehow captured my heart, which is not an easy thing to do.
PROS: Consistently good food. Reliable. Great atmosphere for a number of occasions. Service is very good, too.
CONS: None, really, except that on some off days you may have to try a little harder to get the server's attention.
Seriously the most under-hyped Thai in Seattle. Pad Thai and Penang Curry were great. Brown rice option's a plus. Outdoor seating for those beautiful Summer days.
I see all these negative reviews and I ask myself: this is the same restaurant that I eat at and/or get delivery from once a week (for almost two years now)?
Because the Bahn Thai I know has the best Thai food in Queen Anne. I've tried every other Thai restaurant in QA, and none of them even come close.
My favorites are: beef panang curry, prawns garlic and kee mao prawns. The peanut sauce here is pretty killer too.
Seriously folks, don't listen to the naysayers--try it for yourself. It's a way better bet that Phuket, Thai Heaven, or Racha, that's for sure.
Going to the awful Thai "Heaven" down the street made me realize how precious a good Thai restaurant is.
Bahn Thai has their basics down. My test of a good Thai place is how well they can get me to stray from my favorite dish, Phad See Eew. If it's good, it's all I'll order. If it's ok, I'll order different items. Well, I want to try their other dishes, but their Phad See Eew is magical. It's flavorful, perfectly sauced, noodles succulent and tasty overall. They also succeed with the other basic dish, Phad Thai. From what I've tasted off of other plates, the stir frys, curries, whatever, are all tasty.
The interior dining room is dimly lit, inviting, and really intimate. It's a great place to have a couple friends to chat over a delicious dinner. They are reasonably priced and offer delivery. I can't wait to order from them again.
My friend and I went here last weekend and had a great experience, unless of course you factor in the crappy service. It took them 10 minutes to come to our table and there was only a few other tables dining. And she seemed pained and rushed to have to take our orders... but... the food was worth it. It is thai food with hints of Indian.
We started with the Shrimp Spring Rolls with the peanut dipping sauce. SOOOOO good. We split the Pad Thai w/ prawns... the consistency was perfect, the flavor was great... I didn't want it to end. But, the best was the prawn special with avacodo slices, red and green peppers and basil swimming in a cocunut curry broth. If this was on their menu every day, I would be camping out on their front door step to eat it every morning, noon and night. Yummy.
Oh yeah, great wine selection. The good food makes up for the crappy service.
Three stars! No, four stars! No, three stars! No, four! No, wait! Bahn Thai is one of the few establishments to make me yearn for a Yelp half-star rating system. Review tool frustration aside, I have been to Bahn Thai on several occasions, most of them lunch, and last night for dinner.
Lunch has always been adequate: the food tasty, prices set to lure folks in during their noonish breaks, and the service very adequate. Dinner yesterday evening was fine. Prices were very good: approximately $8.25 for the Chicken Noodle and Chicken Phad Thai entrees we ordered. Stephen's three-star phad thai was assessed as "average." My dish was yummy, though the cucumbers included in the food description were missing. Stephen J.'s iced coffee was "really bad," though he wasn't sure why i.e. old coffee or just poorly made. Staff was efficient--our water was re-filled at least three times--and our bill--our coffee price removed, $8.25 entrees, $3.00 black rice pudding, and total price CHEAP thanks to the Entertainment card--delivered quickly.
Lastly, I was unaware of the parking lot, but we were able to snag a spot on Roy, since we arrived at 9:30pm, when many of the Seattle Center area events are ending.
Stopped in for a lunch a few days ago after an appointment in the Seattle Center area.
I was seated immediately and brought a cup of quite tasty soup. It was a nice chicken and rice with a nice ginger bite.
[Side note: This is the second time in the past couple of months that I've had lunch at a Thai restaurant that has served real soup along with the meal. In the past, I've only experienced bland cabbage & onion broth as the free side soup at Thai restaurants at lunchtime. If serving "real soup" instead is a trend, it is one of which I most definitely approve.]
My entrée was a nice and spicey Red Chicken Curry. Service was friendly and efficient The lunch prices are bit less than most other Thai places I've been to.
I've found the food here to be consistently good with a spice level that matches what you've ordered. We did have somewhat slow service here once at dinner time. BUT, that was because we arrived just as just about everyone else in the place was heading out make curtain time at their Seattle Center event. We were seated, but not otherwise acknowledged, until after this crowd had been cleared. We completely understood and definitely appreciated that we'd at least been seated rather than left to linger in the foyer.
Best Thai food in Queen Anne. Seriously. And i've tried them ALL (yes, all 627 of them!)!
Please be sure to read the little menus on the table -- they are the funniest descriptions in the UNIVERSE! made the meal THAT much better.
Ps, there is parking in the back! which is why this place rocks my world (even though i live 3 blocks, but my friends will meet me there no problem or complaints because they don't have to wrestle with QA street parking, like they do at Racha or TTT!)
This is for the delivery as eating out has become a challenge for me. So first off the free delivery with $25 and over was what lured me in.
We ordered some staples to sample. Spring rolls, phad thai, red curry and mee krop. They said 45 minutes but came earlier which was a bonus but they forgot the thai ice teas which sucked, even though they brought them 10 minutes later.
Their medium heat was nice, but still needed to be pushed up a little. I really enjoyed their curry, wasn't impressed with the phad thai and the spring rolls were flavorless.
I might give them another try later but it just didn't do it for me.
Service was friendly although they were slow to bring out the food. The lighting in this restaurant is a little dark.
The spring rolls were all lettuce. The tom yum chicken soup was heavy on the coconut milk. Also had the ginger chicken which had good flavor. The rice I received had obviously been sitting in their pot warming for a while. Nothing extraordinary at this restaurant but it certainly wasn't bad. They also have a cocktail menu in addition to some nice Alaska Amber beer.
Prices were reasonable enough and it was close to the Hampton Inn where I was staying at.
At work, we always pool together and order for delivery ($25 minimum to order), so I can't testify to ambiance in the restaurant but I'll tell you that their food is yum.
Their vegetarian options are extensive and their scale of hotness is nice (for the record, I never get more than two stars and I love my pho in Sriracha, so they bring the heat fo sho). As much as I enjoy their food for lunches, I've never been tempted to go in for dinner. It's easy and casual, but with some many Thai places in Capitol Hill, it's never been enough to sway me away from my hood.
ah, Bahn Thai, my old lunch buddy. . . food is consistent, and I typically get the pad see eew (spelling?) or the hot garden, but man, is it greasy! I just don't find it appetizing to see a sopping mess of oil underneath my food. But the service is great, so friendly, and they remember you every time. However they definitely pre-judge, if I order "very spicy" they take one look at me and it comes out mild, but when my friend who is vietnamese orders spicy, it comes out covered in chilies! so i've learned to ask for a side of chili sauce as well to suit my needs.
But I can't say I love this place or it blows me away. . . sorry!
based on take-out
very hit or miss. either my wife or I always order the Phad Thai.... the first few times we ordered, it was terrific. Last time, it was very soggy and ordinary.
We'll be looking for a different delivery service now, so we can properly compare.
The best red curry in all of Seattle...and I've tested them all.
Tasty Phad Thai, I prefer it with the chicken. One star off because their website doesn't reflect that they don't start delivering on the weekends until 5 pm and also doesn't mention they don't do the lunch menu on the weekends either.
My orange beef arrived tepid, my husband's phad thai was too sweet with an unusually strong fish flavor. Yuk.
I used to live next door to this restaurant so you can imagine I visited it often. Not because it was so close but because it is really good, with a great atmosphere. The people who own and run it are very friendly and got to know my likes and dislikes after the 2nd or 3rd time and would add some extra spice. Try the Tom Kah Gai soup it is great.
Ok, I have never stepped foot inside this place, but the delivery was a excellent experience. You can customize any dish as hot as you like it. Also, the delivery guy didn't have change, so he left, went back to the restaurant, and brought me change. Now that is service.
Cute little house-turned-restaurant, okay food, okay prices. If you're looking for a decent dining experience, give this place a try. If you're looking for out of the ordinary, keep on looking.
Just moved to Seattle and was told ahead of time that Thai food was really good here. This restaurant is in my neighborhood and the decor from the outside suggests that this would be a good place to eat plus they have outdoor seating which is great for the summer. However, I was very disappointed. The Thai Ice Tea is very basic and is mostly milk if anything. The Pad Thai was not good. It was too sweet and saucy. Usually I am accustomed to it being presented and served with limes, peanuts and sprouts all on the side with basil for garnish. What is lacking in food was not made up for in presentation. I had to ask for limes and there was barely any sprouts or peanuts to mix into the noodles. I also ordered the Blanket-wrapped prawn appetizer (they didn't even refer to it as the real thai name on the menu... I think it is known as Goong Gabor). The first batch that came out was raw. It looked Fried on the outside, but from one bite the shrimp was raw. They did bring out a second properly cooked batch; but what irks me is that they didn't comp me for their mistake and charged me the full price meal. What if I had food poisoning from that??? Very Rude!!! As more people come to visit me, I think I will have to tell all to avoid this place. I would even much rather go eat at Phuket Thai a few blocks over where they sell Kool Aid. I didn't want to be mean, but oh well.
The phad kee mao is pretty good.
I really, truly wanted to like Bahn Thai. I mean-it's a sweet little place with a nice, if slightly dim-lit ambience, a pretty decent outdoor seating for the gorgeous summer we seem to be having this year (i should not jinx it -don't go away just yet, sunshine!)
And they accept the Entertainment Card (which really has been my passport to trying new places lately).
So what's not to like: umm, the food. Not that it was terrible-it was not. But it was also truly unremarkable-except for the yummy vegetarian spring rolls (they had bits of tofu in them and came with a great dipping sauce).
My partner ordered the Gai Yang chicken-a tandoori chicken gone thai but not with enough gusto to please. I had a decent-leaning-to-dull Kee Mao Tofu. The portions were pretty tiny, compared to the usual servings you get at thai restaurants, but the prices were just a touch lower as well.
All in all- our meal was decent and just a touch boring.
This is probably an ok place for take-out when you just dont want to make dinner on a weeknight, but since i am an Eastsider-that's not an option i am likely to explore anytime soon.
Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Category: Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Category: Thai
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