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Pagoda Thailand Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Thai Thai [Edit]
333 Graham Ave(between Devoe St & Metropolitan Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - North Side
(718) 388-8445
- Nearest Transit:
-
Graham Av (L)
Grand St (L)
Lorimer St (L)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
61 reviews for Pagoda Thailand Restaurant
Review Highlights
"...good, I really enjoy the pad see yu and, unlike an earlier..."
(in 4 reviews)
"I say trust the others and go Lily."
(in 3 reviews)
"Is a BYOB, so I brought a bottle of wine."
(in 7 reviews)
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61 reviews in English
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Review from Natalie P.
Brooklyn, NY
Updated - 1/19/2012
Love this place! Laid back, good food and the price is right. I'll admit the service can be slow but since I go once every two weeks we know the wait staff by name. Plus they have an awesome lunch special ($7 for a soup/salad and meal) weekends included.
Definitely try:
Shrimp spring rolls
Chicken curry puffs
Thai iced tea
Pad see yu
Mixed seafood fried rice
Pad thai
Honestly, I've liked everything I've tried on the menu. Food is fresh, not greasy and served piping hot. Definitely recommend!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/12/2011
Love this place! Laid back, good food and the price is right. I'll admit the service can be slow… Read more »
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Review from Nico S.
Brooklyn, NY
1/20/2012
Not bad, not good. Just meh.
Was waiting on my prescription at the nearby pharmacy,, walked past and saw "6.95 lunch special"... That doesn't include a drink. I chose the soup instead of the salad because of my sore throat; it was MSG flavored water, with a few raw vegetables (onions, green peppers, tomatoes?). The Pad Thai was OK. Overcooked, bland noodles with a bunch of sweet sauce, sprinkled on peanuts, and no more than 3 small pieces of chicken. I asked for hot sauce, hoping it would spice things up, but it hardly helped.
Maybe the other dishes would have been more exciting. Guess I'll never find out. -
Review from Bee D.
Brooklyn, NY
10/20/2011
Wow. I don't even know where to begin.
I walked in and stood at the counter for a full 8 minutes while the staff bustled around without even making eye contact with me when I went to pick my order up. I was waiting as long as I could just see how long it would take these guys to ask me why I was standing in their establishment. Finally, I gave up as my stomach rumbled and said to the next person to breeze by "hey, maybe you can help me?" he looked at me like I was barking like a dog, so I preceded with "I just want to pick up my to-go order..." then, finally it sinks in "ooooh, yes, what did you order?" uhhhm okay, that sucked.
Get home and sit down to the sorriest excuse of calamari I've ever seen. $5 for exactly (yeah, I counted...) 7 rings of soggy, over cooked squid, served with a thimble sized portion of vinegared down chili sauce. Uhhhm... Okay... Wtf...
Popped open my mixed seafood pad thai. Instant pine-sol smell. Wtf, come on, don't use artificial lemon flavoring! I dig around to find 3 mussels in shell, which were green in color, 3 shrimp that were over cooked as well as 3 rings of chewy squid. Whatever, I began eating anyways, because it tasted relatively good, sans the "seafood".
Here is comes people, the kicker. I get towards the bottom half and notice some scallops. My brain is right in the middle of thinking "oh, nice...maybe this will be goo-" then it hits my palate and my teeth separate the horrid raw flesh. Yep, thanks for trying to feed me what I can safely say was NOT sushi grade raw scallop. And thanks for putting them in the bottom of the meal so I could consume half before realizing my certain demise.
Perhaps I am being dramatic, but...
I'd rather burn a $20 bill and starve for the night than ever EVER give these people my business again. Thanks for the ticket to the bathroom and for wasting the 12 hours of my life I spent in there that I can never get back. -
Review from Nuvo C.
Brooklyn, NY
1/25/2012
Went in for a late lunch, fresh food cooked in a reasonable amount of time. Severs were very friendly and sweet.
Good Thai Iced Tea, on the sweeter side of the spectrum. Tried the duck spring rolls which were yummy. Pad see yu lunch special was just enough veggied deliciousness to fill me up without being overly full. Ahhhhh yum. -
Review from Patrick R.
Stratford, CT
Trendy Thai restaurant in Brooklyn, NY. My friends come here all the time and love it! Finally it was their opportunity to give us a taste of Pagoda.
The restaurant is crowded which is a good sign. Maybe that's why the service is not on top of things. Reason being because they forgot to ask my wife and I what we wanted to order. We where wondering why we where not asked yet, realizing that 13 of our party of 15 had already ordered. We ordered last and our food came first, those that ordered first got their plates when we where almost done.
The spicy sea food soup, shrimp fried rice and spring rolls were good.
If I would live in this area, it would probably not be my favorite Thai spot.
But if we would visit our friends again we wouldn't have an issue coming here again. -
Review from Erica J.
11/18/2011
The low ratings for Pagoda confuse me...I've been here 4 different times and each time the food has been consistently good. All of the vegetables have been fresh and crispy, none of the dishes too oily. Of course there are plenty of vegetarian options and they have a pretty solid summer roll. The staff is kind and will offer you a glass of water while you're waiting for your food if you've ordered takeaway.
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Review from JOSEPH M.
Brooklyn, NY
8/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
Nothing special, but fine. Don't go out of your way, but if you just want some basic Thai in the neighborhood, it's fine.
BYOB
Good lunch specials. -
Review from Emily B.
Very economical, my boyfriend and I were amazing almost every time we went how little our bill was after full appetizer meals etc.
Food is very fresh and delicious, I recommend steering away from the Pad Thai here... I know that's everyone's go to and it's pretty good but their other dishes are what really gets me going. Spring rolls order the vegetable. It's BYOB which is always fun and has a cute little garden space... very bare but it's always nice to sit outside on a nice day. -
Review from shaun s.
Caldwell, NJ
11/19/2011
This place has the worst service ever. I waited for over an hour and a half for my order (they said 30-45 minutes, so double the max wait time). Every time I called they just said that the delivery guy was out and should be on his way. They never bothered to call the delivery guy and find out exactly when he'd arrive at my place. By the time I got my food it was cold.
Sub-par food and awful service. Definitely not ordering from here again. Sticking with Erb thai, who gets orders to me in under 20 minutes. -
Review from A C.
Brooklyn, NY
Updated - 11/6/2011
So here I go again, updating my review because after all this time has passed since my last review I'm still a fan. We go there mostly every Sunday after church. Love it! Now my favorite dish is the Pad Kee Mao (little spice please), and the Thai Iced Tea is very good, so are the curry puffs and the Pagoda Chicken. Well you will just have to go one day that's all. Peace
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/27/2010
Love the Lunch Special $6.99 everyday! Water, Soup, Entree. I love their spring rolls (vegetable),… Read more »
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Review from Mike B.
None, MS
4/5/2011
Three Stars would mean "A-OK."
Two Stars would mean "Meh."
I go with "Meh," because I would not order from them again.
Spring Rolls -- flavorless -- Someone thought it was a good idea to roll them out long and thin without folding them up. This looks kind of neat, and it makes them crispy. Still, the filling is flavorless and the dipping sauce is useless.
Stuffed Chicken Wings -- Again, neat idea: take out (most of) the bones and squirt them full of pork paste. Again, flavorless. The stuffing needs texture and variation -- maybe water chestnut, scallions, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, a speck of chili pepper, a lonely chive, the merest leaf of parsley. Nope. And the breading isn't all that diff from corn flakes. Lame.
Pad Thai -- vegetables and shrimp -- no flavor. The noodles weren't bad.
Yum Duck Salad -- least flavorful duck I ever tasted. They succeed in making the skin crispy, but flavorless. Not sweet, not salty. I don't mind the tiny amount of meat; I generally like the fatty flavor of duck skin, but this here duck skin tasted like cooking oil, not duck fat. Mysterious.
You can eat it, sure, and it is nearby. It didn't make me sick. Two stars. -
Review from Baramee C.
Manhattan, NY
3/8/2011
I'm a Thai food snob; I'm just going to admit it and this place is quite passable. Almost close to what I'm looking for. Down-side, apparently, is that they don't have pick-up as a option...only delivery or dine-in. There are a few more things I'd like to try there before I ultimately pass judgement.
Here's what I had, the break down:
stuffed boneless chicken wings (2) (I call them angel wings - because that's what they're called at Lemongrass in MN) - pretty good, definitely stuffed and breaded well. A little bland and they definitely don't give you enough sweet chili sauce.
tiger tears (3 sticks) - delicious, a little chewy, but delicious and great sauce! wished it were a little more medium rare to medium
duck spring rolls (3) - fried, couldn't taste the duck...lots of cabbage,
small-ish, but crunchyly awesome
spicy thai fried rice (chicken variety) - yum! served with bell peppers, pretty yum!
It was a decent price for all of that...about like $25?... -
Review from Mr. Robert Dobalina S.
Brooklyn, NY
8/14/2010
Wandering down Graham Ave. drunk on a Friday night*, I stumbled into this little gem of a restaurant.
I was pleasantly surprised with how great the food was. I had the shrimp pad Thai and she had shrimp pad see ew; mine was good but hers was better. The prices are amazing, too: $22 for both of us. The service was good and the food came out fast. Why all the haters?
Although I will concede that it was the most peculiar selection of music I've heard in a long, long time.
+++++++++++
*After too many happy hour drinks, I think I may have left my dignity there. If you find it, please return. No questions asked. -
Review from Alex S.
10/27/2010 1 Check-in Here
Pagoda is a credit-card accepting oasis in the middle of cash-only hipsterland. Side note: Thanks for actually paying your taxes.
Have been here numerous times. Curries are hit or miss. Impressed by some, underwhelmed by others. Had the pad prix king last time I went, and WOW. I have to try more of the sauteed dishes and noodle dishes.
Is a BYOB, so I brought a bottle of wine. Between an appetizer and 2 entrees I think the bill came to like $23.
Unlike some other yelpers, I've never had a problem with the service. Sometimes they're a little slow to take your order and bring the bill, but I usually spicy it up and they're always quick with the water refills, which is where I'd rather have them on their game.
Live nearby. Will be back. -
Review from Meredith M.
Salem, MA
6/16/2010
GUYS/ GALS
THIS place is delcious!!
I loved the open air seating AND their patio in the back is beautiful it's like a tranquil lil clean haven amidst the dirt on the streets outside.
GO THERE!
The service was great!
The lunch portions were perfectly sized, not too much so you feel stuffed but you aren't starving after.
The vegetables in the phad thai were perfectly cooked and the pineapple was so fresh in the chicken and rice dish.
The thai iced coffee is SUPER sweet so if you don't like a lot of sugar in your drinks watch out...but if you Doooo you'll LOVE IT
also no alch. but it's BYOB which is pretty fun....so bring a bottle or a 6er and stay for a while! -
Review from Kevin T.
Brooklyn, NY
5/4/2010
Food: isn't the greatest. Kind of soupy curries with not much substance. Potatoes are consistently a bit too firm, and borderline crunch/raw in the center in the last two curry dishes I got.
Also got takeout there last week - Tom Kha soup w/ chicken. Two pieces of chicken and far too much lemon grass.
Huge redeemer is that you can always get a table, even with 8 people at 8:30 on a Saturday night. And the best -- still no corkage fee! Although no corkage fee is nice, food is borderline. -
Review from Jonathan S.
Brooklyn, NY
8/6/2010
Solid place. Simple American Thai food. In my opinion, the best Thai spot on the L train route in Brooklyn. I was in love with "Noodle studio," but they are now closed. So, for now, it's all about Pagoda.
Really nice service too. -
Review from Meghan G.
Brooklyn, NY
9/7/2009
"Meh. I've experienced better."
As I consider myself a conniseaur of spring rolls, I was very disappointed by Pagoda's. Four dollars for three spring rolls, that are 50% fried wonton/roll/whatever the wrapper is called. They were long and skinny, not like a typical spring roll, and most of it was just excess wrapping! Not delicious.
Vegetable pad thai was okay, but just okay. Mostly noodles, not a lot of vegetables/tofu. Completely overpriced (like 2x more than I would have liked to pay), but at least I saved a good amount for lunch the next day!
Pagoda is good for what it is - a place right off the subway for quick food, but I prefer Cheers and would rather go a few blocks out of my way for the superior food. However, Pagoda does seem to have a pretty sweet lunch special, so I can see myself going back there for a good deal. -
Review from Brian R.
Manhattan, NY
3/10/2009
Yea, this is another one of those Chi-Jap-Thai blends that W'burg is becoming a hotbed for.
This will be kinda cool on a summer evening, as the entire store front opens up or disappears I don't know how they do that Thai magic but they do....but the food's meh.
I've had way better, but also somewhat worse.
Oh yea, f*k cash only establishments.
I say trust the others and go Lily. -
Review from David N.
Brooklyn, NY
1/24/2009
OK, So I'm going to try not to be overly critical since this place only opened up a week before I posted this.
This restaurant opened up this past Monday on Jan 19th. I placed an order on Friday night for 2 dinners and 1 Appetizer totaling to $36. Aside from them taking almost two hours to deliver literally 4 blocks from their location was absolutely ridiculous, but I guess this is what I get for being lazy. My only real issue, aside from the woman on the phone telling me the delivery guy had just left every single time I called, the food just wasn't memorable and way over priced for what it was. Oh yeah one other thing, they got my appetizer wrong. I ordered Spicy wings, instead they sent up their stuffed wing and they were dry and bland.
I prefer to go over to Cheers Thai or Lily Pad which are only a few blocks away from the place and are a bit cheaper. I'll probably try them again but not for a while until they've settled in. -
Review from anni b.
Brooklyn, NY
2/14/2010
We ordered delivery from here recently, and maybe it's just cuz it had been a while since I'd had any Thai, but I thought it was super super good. I had the pork with cashew nut in garlic sauce - it was super flavorful, huge portion, and well priced. Delivery was quick. Nothing bad to say, really. The massaman curry was also ordered but not particularly special. The fried calamari was also awesome and huge. And the meat dumplings were a real stand-out. There was only 4 in the order, but they were huge and not at all what I expected - sort of an open-face dumpling. Delish.
Will have to dine-in to get the full experience asap, but for now, totally happy with the overall experience.
A much better addition to the neighborhood than the OTB that used to be there. So, yay for the upgrade. -
Review from DJ MONSTER JAM D.
Brooklyn, NY
12/15/2009
The pad thai is total crap! It's way too tangy! Slow your roll with that lemon juice, pal! One bite made my eyelid twitch! The decorations are nice, I guess, but you can't eat a decoration, so who cares.
*Holy Crap!* -
Review from Meghan M.
8/3/2009
Definitely not a score in my book. I got delivery from here and, while it wasn't repulsive, it really wasn't good.
Mee Krob: Super saucy to the point where it was almost soggy. There were only 2 pieces of shrimp in the entire thing.
Shrimp steamed dumplings: SO dense, I'll bet they weighed a good half lb each (and they were small). They just didn't taste good either.
Garden salad: Big and pretty fresh but really nothing to it. The peanut sauce was just okay...there was no kick to it.
Why two stars then instead of 1? The lettuce and cucumbers in the salad were fresh and the delivery was super quick. -
Review from Meg D.
Brooklyn, NY
6/11/2010
Pros: Cheap, fast, basic
Cons: Basic, bland, "garden" is just a cement yard.
Conclusion: Order from Pagoda only when in a Thai-food-bind. -
Review from Blake S.
Santa Ana, CA
2/22/2009
Lilly Thai, you're safe. This place is AWFUL. Cluttered service, bad food, and its cash only.
the mee krob was too sweet, and the garlic mock duck was too salty and the curry was too spicy, with no taste beyond hot. also, it had maybe 4 cubes of tofu, and like 6 chunks of uncooked potatoes. they also dont have their timing or plate spacing right. they brought everything out on huge plates that took over the whole table. then we had to eat off tiny plates. i dont like my sauces to mix.
i hate eating bad food, because it puts me in a bad mood. -
Review from Ali S.
New York, NY
6/15/2009
This place is way too greasy for me. I got the equivalent of a basil noodles ("Pad Kee Mao") and a couple of the curry dishes... it always left me with that fast-food feeling, like I had just eaten a pile of cookingoil...
My friend got the Pad Thai and we both like'd it, but I never thought pad thai was the Thai restaurant litmus test.
Bottom Line: Try it once, to confirm it's mediocrity. Better thai just a few blocks away. -
Review from Andria O.
Manhattan, NY
8/9/2009
Decent Thai spot right by the L train on Graham and Metropolitan. They now accept credit cards - saw an earlier review that said they didn't. Still no alcohol available.
Had the pad see yu with duck. It was fine. Nothing spectacular, but it tasted good and satisfied the craving. Thai iced tea - again, nothing spectacular, but it was good enough for a neighborhood spot. Decor is cute, and there's a garden space out back. Service is okay. A little clumsy at times, but we didn't feel ignored.
I thought it was fine. Not worth a trip out of the way, but good for a stop on a slow night. -
Review from Krystle S.
Williamsburg, NY
9/30/2010
I always order from Pagoda because they come very quickly! The food is very good for the price. They have great lunch specials and you can choose from soup or salad! The only thing that I didn't like was that it was a bit spicy and I am a spice lover. Just make sure you ask for your meal less spicy if you want to savor your food!
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Review from melissa k.
New York, NY
4/27/2011
Bad thai food. Only reason I didn't give it one star is because the food is actually semi spicy.
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Review from William L.
Brooklyn, NY
6/30/2010
Very average, generic food in an OK setting. (Pity, because the location is great, right by the L, and we need a GOOD Thai restaurant this side of Cheers, which is still in a class of its own.)
My real problem, after three visits, is with the service. Indifferent, even unresponsive and sometimes downright nasty. The two ladies seem interchangeable in their rudeness. Once I was the only customer in the place (at lunchtime!) and they were playing horrible rap music very loud; I asked them to change it and the server turned her back on me and uttered something in Thai to the other server and the music stayed on.
And BYO/cash only is a pain.
Never again. -
Review from Noelle G.
Brooklyn, NY
3/8/2009
I've attempted to eat in this restaurant twice, and both times, on very slow nights, we received literally no service. After failing to get a server's attention for nearly half an hour, we finally just got up and left. On the way out the second time, I politely told the hostess that no one had ever approached our table, and she just shrugged.
So I ordered delivery one night thinking it might be better (because from what I witnessed during my previous eternities inside the restaurant, they seemed to be way more focused on the phone and delivery orders), and they got the order completely wrong. We decided to eat it anyways, and it was disgusting. Go to Lily Thai instead. -
Review from Nadia S.
Brooklyn, NY
3/18/2009
Ok, so I may get massacred by the masses, but my boyfriend and I thought the food here was great. It was our first experience and didn't order the staple Pad Thai to test it out, so maybe that has some influence? The decor was nicer than can be expected for Graham, which helped a lot.
Of course, I have to agree that we had to wait for more than a two minutes for someone to acknowledge us, but at the time there were two couples placing takeout orders and one girl who was ULTRA picky in how her dish should be made. (and to her I say go home and cook!)
The food: Steamed Dumplings, Yum Woonsen Salad, and the Spicy Thai Fried Rice were great! The fried rice was actually spicy. So hard to come by at most Thai restaurants in this city. The salad was filling, flavorful, and fresh. The only complaint was the dish was to include shrimp and I can't count the two jumbo shrimp placed on top as "including".
Another downfall is that it is cash only, but come on, how many places in NYC are cash only and charge more per dish?
We'll be here again for sure. -
Review from Flaco Z.
Brooklyn, NY
4/15/2009
The menu reads with some unique takes on your standard Thai fare which seems promising but once you tuck into your dry Pad Thai bland Pad See Yu or downright oily Massaman curry you'll be wishing you just went to Lilly Thai instead, if you still think its good try the tom yum soup if you can forgive them after that you have a bigger heart than I do.
'Pagoda' that's also Indian right? and what this neighborhood really needs is an Indian restaurant perhaps you could try your hand at that? Really anything but another Thai place, please, we've had enough it's getting weird now. -
Review from Lindsey R.
Forest Hills, NY
8/10/2009
Pad Thai, blah...husband's Spicy basil chicken good. Thai Ice tea, yuck.
Two stars for the garden.
And yuck to the reusable chopsticks...I like chopsticks that I can call my own. -
Review from Braque H.
Brooklyn, NY
7/10/2009
Update: Recently went with a 5-top and they handled it well: food came out quickly and we weren't rushed as we had a couple of our BYOB beverages after we were finished eating. We all agreed that the check was surprisingly low after all was said and done.
I really like how Pagoda does their tofu, so it's got a leg up on Cheers (down the street on Metropolitan) for me. The price is right, too.
I've eaten at Pagoda a few times and have tried different dishes there, and it really has been greasy. But isn't cheap Thai food greasy by definition?
Service seemed slow, but their plating and presentation was actually really pretty and much more than I had expected.
BYOB. -
Review from Jessica W.
Philadelphia, PA
5/29/2010
It was decent. The summer rolls were good and really fresh. The salad that came with my lunch special was also fresh, the dressing REALLY good but really sweet. I ordered the Pad Thai, thinking it was a safe bet. Bad choice. It just WASN'T that good. My friend got the Thai Fried Rice. It was AWESOME. I should have gotten that. The Thai Iced Tea was good too, but c'mon, who screws up Thai Iced Tea?!
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Review from Anthony D.
New York, NY
5/11/2009
Dear Pagoda,
Honestly I didnt mind your food. And your lunch special was a great deal, but now you have been closed for a month, only 2 months after opening. People tell me it is a gas leak or something but I mean come on!!! Get it together!! -
Review from becka r.
Denver, CO
6/15/2009
So, last night my friend and I were contemplating where to go for dinner and we both really like Thai food so we debated whether or not we wanted to go to our usual spot (Lily Thai) or try something new. We opted for the something new... so we hit up Pagoda. They had a very similar menu to Lily Thai so we thought we would get our usuals for comparison. We both shared the fish cakes and they were pretty good, the sauce was overflowing with peanuts which I like, and the fish cakes were flavorful and hot.
At first we weren't given any utensils so we started eating with our hands, but our waitress eventually brought over some forks... kind of a bummer because we like eating our Thai with chopsticks. We ended up stealing some from an empty table nearby.
For my main course I had the Pad Kee Mao and it was rather bland. There weren't any veggies in it; I think I had two pieces of tomato, and the shrimp tasted frozen.... egh. The level of spicey-ness was pretty decent but the overall meal lacked flavor and was kind of boring.
My friend had the Pad Kha Pow (I think) with tofu. She said the tofu wasn't great but the veggies were pretty good.
The service wasn't that great either. We received menus from a second waitress after we had already ordered our food, we never got the water that we had asked for, and we had to steal chopsticks from a nearby table.
I think I'll stick with Lily Thai. -
Review from Daniel K.
Brooklyn, NY
1/26/2009
2 stars topped you guys! I ordered the pad sew ew (because the lady told me it was much better than the pad thai) im going back tonight for the final showdown. if they can't get it right, the review stays at 2 stars.
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Review from Kathryn B.
New Canaan, CT
4/3/2009
I first passed this place on the way to another restaurant and wished i could eat there instead. I love Thai food and the place looked so cute.
So, this week i got my wish.
BYOB is so awesome. I split a $3 forty-ounce beer with my husband that probably would have cost us $10 anywhere else. that's recession living for you. awesomeness.
And then we ordered our real food. We split fried tofu triangles to start and I ordered the green curry with tofu and he has pad Thai. the triangles were good but a little small and the peanut sauce has a cloying aftertaste. The Thai iced tea was also too sweet; the taste made the back of my throat feel funny.
But, i absolutely loved the curry. All of the vegetables were shredded and bite size. The tofu was fried so it maintained its shape and didn't get too coconut-milk-logged. Oh, I wanted to take the curry sauce that was left home but that seemed weird.
The food was really great and inexpensive. Have to go back.
