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I'm angry at Galanga Thai......mad max angry. They have forever ruined every other version of Pad Thai that I will ever eat. Everything is now measured against their perfection. Beef pad thai....4 stars.....magical. Nothing could be better. Go there. The only way you will be dissapointed is if your taste buds have been charred in the house fire you set as a child, because your mom wouldn't buy you parachute pants.
Why did they do this to me?
I have yet to find Thai food that can compare to Galanga Thai. I usually get the same things so I swear by the Phad Thai and Red Curry. The Ginger Wok is also very, very good.
Food comes quickly.. but I sometimes have trouble flagging my waiter down for the check when I'm trying to keep my lunch short. It's very busy for lunch for there is not a huge dinner crowd.. ya know, downtown Tacoma tends to quiet down after 6pm..
Highly recommend!
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I'm tempted to write two reviews: one regular review and one for Tacoma people. I realize that I'm about to sound like an elitist, big city, asshole, but I don't really care. This has to be said: The restaurants in this town are mediocre at best and reviews need to start acknowledging that. I think Galanga is a perfect example how this plays out.
The service is good and the food is average. It's not bad. It's not great. It's just average. I've certainly had better, but if someone asked me to join them for a meal here, I wouldn't object. The curry was on the runny side, but had decent flavor.
So why does this place have an average of 4.5 stars?!? This is what I'm saying... Anywhere outside of Tacoma, this place would have 2.5 to 3 stars. But by Tacoma standards, this is amazing Thai cuisine.
In summary, by tacoma standards, 4 stars. Anywhere else in the country, 2 stars.
We had dinner here this week, my son recommended it and he joined us along with our dil and dd. It's near where my son works and if I worked near here I would be going here way too much. Started out with three apps, really enjoyed the fresh salad rolls, fresh and so clean and satisfying, they had yummy shrimp in them, with an excellent peanut sauce. DIL had the Tom Kha soup and deemed it very good, with lots of prawns, only complaint were the onion pieces were too big for her liking. DH had the Thai Garlic, very tender beef with a deep, rich flavor and anything w/garlic is good. My DD had the panaeng curry and said it was some of the best she's had, she would know she makes this at home also. I had the cashew with prawns and it was excellent, the flavors were so delish and rich, there were 12 prawns, which was quite generous. They dusted the prawns on one side in flour and they were carmelized, very good. All the veggies in all our dishes were very fresh, which sometimes you don't always
find. They had spice levels from zero to 5 and all were happy with the level of spice in their meals. We did have to ask for more rice, as the one bowl wasn't near enough for 5 people. Everyone took leftovers home, so healthy portions and a great lunch for all the next day. Our server was friendly and prompt and was more than willing to bring us warm water for the baby's bottle. Overall a wonderful dining experience, we will definately be back again.
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I've only had the take-out here, so I can't attest to the dine-in service.
The food was very good and definitely hit the spot when I was hungering for some Thai while in the are. It's not the best Thai food I've had, by far, but the food was certainly cooked well and I would drop in again if I was in the area.
Different plates have their level of adequacy in terms of portion size and taste. The meal I got was half the portion my dinner partner's, but the vegetables were crispy and fresh. I would recommend this restaurant to others as a casual and fun spot to get decent Thai food.
The best thai fried rice ever!!!
nothing else needs to be said
I moved to Olympia from a city with much, much better Thai offerings. Olympia's Thai offerings are sub-par, to say the least. I have been craving a decent thai curry since my zip code changed. I mean, I have dreams about it. seriously.
Last week, I was cranky and exhausted, and in no condition to cook after work. My wife worked across the street from this little thai restaurant long ago, so this gem has been an ace in her sleeve for years. The wife & I bundled up the kid and headed to Tacoma. Yes, I would drive 30 miles on a week night to eat here. The space is lovely and inviting. The colors are warm, the tables are roomy, and I didn't feel like we were crowded by the other diners. Our server was so helpful, prompt, and accommodating to all our particular vegan and vegetarian requests. The curry, my litmus test, met/exceeded my dreams. All the vegetables were perfect, fresh and crispy, not mushy or overcooked. We shared a delicious noodle dish as well. The noodles were a little sticky and torn, but thankfully were not gummy.
The bathroom was spotless. The food was affordable, and we took home leftovers. Worth. Every. Cent.
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yum yum
I ended up at Galanga at 12:30 on a Friday, BIG mistake it was filled to the gills. I almost decided to go somewhere else but stayed another 10 minutes and found a cozy little table. We had crab ragoons, phad thai, and some chicken fried basil thing. All of our plates were just plain old Delicious. I ended up giving my leftovers away to a friend and immediately regretted it.
It's a great little casual spot to go, when it's "fancy-time" we'll head down to Indochine (atmosphere is better, but not the food) but for the best casual Thai food place. Galanga is best!
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I'm new to Thai, and the food here was well-priced, fresh, and abundant!
The Drunken Noodles are wonderful as was the Eggplant Dish (not sure what the real name was). And you get to "pick" your own spiciness on a 1-5 star level.
The service was great and the restaurant decor was relaxing.
We'll be back again very soon.
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Very good food and always fresh. I could seriously eat Thai food on a daily basis! Parking is a pain, so we try to hit an off time to eat. I love spicy food, basically, the hotter the better! Now, I have to say I ordered my dish with all the stars available.....holy crap! I think my mouth suffered damage!! Next time I will try a little less spicy. Cuz...you all know what comes in spicy......comes out spicy.
The overall feel of this place is nice, not as intimate as other local Thai restaurants. I would say it is upscale/minimal style. I am no expert though!
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I have ate here several times and can say there food is consistently tasty and fresh. My favorite is the four buddies one pal with the shrimp. The reason I give it four is because today I ordered 4 buddies but with beef, and the beef was not so good. The quality was lacking and it tasted a little ripe- but nothing disgusting or grissly. I must say that they are very busy so on to go orders you have to wait a while and they have given me the wrong food on a to go order, so I had to drive back after I had already got back to work. The hostess was apologetic and that was enough for me. The panang curry was nothing but excellent, no complaints. The flavor was delicious, the chicken was fresh, and the vegetables are cooked to perfection- still a little crisp.
tas-tee!!!
I tend to start reviews right after I eat at places and then try to finish them later if I really want to. Truth be told, I wanted to right this review because this is the best Thai that I have had since I left Chicago. Honestly - WOW-TASTIC!
I really don't know what else to say, I think I got the Pad See Ewe or something like that and it was fantastic.
And yes, a ton of Vegetarian options....
We've been back almost weekly since I first posted a review. The food has continued to be consistently good to great and the service has almost always been top-notch. My wife and I are picky about service and they've won us over completely. 7 stars, 2 snaps and a twist, and a big ol' thumbs up, I tell ya!
Reading Jessica's review from 3/11/08, I can't fathom why that would have happened -- I've interacted with the owner on a number of occasions and he's consistently been one of the nicest people I've met since we moved to this city. We run into him here and there out in the so-called-real-world and he always remembers us and is all around cool. He seems to know a good number of the people that come into the restaurant and everyone's always happy to see him...so I think there has to be more to that story because it just doesn't mesh with our repeated experiences.
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Thus far, this is the best Thai we've found since we moved to Tacoma. The food? It's really good… Read more »
The food here was great, especially after a long day exploring Washington's Wilderness. We had the Green Curry (mild), which was good, but there wasn't enough of a curry flavor; Three-flavor fish, which strangely enough does have three flavors - really flavorful and delicious (plus it was fun to concentrate on each of the flavors of the dish.) But the one dish that totally caught me off guard...was their Thai Fried Rice. Being Asian, you would think that fried rice was fried rice...but it was really delicious. It's actually one of the few times that I would say that I crave rice over noodles.
Service was ok, and it was nice and clean.
every single thing you ever order from this place will be delicious, timely, and fresh. the service is impeccable, the owners are lovely. this place is the best food in all of tacoma hands down. if i am ever in the city, i will search it out and eat there, pretending it is heaven, and i have died.
huge ups to all of the vegetarian options!
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best thai food I've tasted. and everytime I go it is packed. It is also the cleanest ethnic food restaurant I've ever been to. everything on the menu has been fantastic.
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ULTIMATE favorite Thai place ever. Very authentic, and the flavors are pure bliss in your mouth. We have even taken our Thai friends there who give it the thumbs up.
The star system for heat is perfect, the restaurant is a little small, and bathrooms are nothing to brag about, parking is a pain...BUT even with all of that, it is affordable and I have to say the food is so terrific worth it!
Call an order for take out.
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Ive eaten in and taken out. The flavors are amazing and the service is fantastic.
I work right across the street from this place so it's hard to avoid, it's making me learn some serious willpower.
MMMMM.. anyone want to go grab me some fresh rolls and a thai iced tea? Pleeeeeeease?!
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Another good spot for Thai food that I visit frequently when I am in Tacoma. In the up and coming, hip, revitalized downtown area by convention center and Pantages theater. The owners are a Thai wife and White husband, like my parents! Great, authentic food and down-to-earth friendly people. The decor is a little sparse but nice and open. Probably a great spot to hit before a show.
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The owner/manager screamed and cursed at a group of the instructors for my annual knitting conference because they ended up having fewer people than they had reserved space for. He yelled at them several times then told them to "Get the fuck out!" of his restaurant. Why would anyone treat customers this way??
Tacoma, WA
Category: Restaurants
Tacoma, WA
Category: Seafood
Tacoma, WA
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Tacoma, WA
Category: Restaurants
With our time in Tacoma just about half-over, I've…
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