10/06/09

best thai food in Portland

by jim1

The Baan Thai is simply the best Thai food I have ever experienced. The service is rather slow but it is so worth the end result. They do not have a huge kitchen for cranking out large quantities of food. This is not a typical American rush in rush out experience...they do not operate that way and that's why I love this place and the people who work there! Your meals are prepared one at a time and very fresh. The trick is to call your order in ahead of time and when you walk in, your meal is steaming and waiting for you at your table. If you like it hot I would order mild or mild plus. Once in a while we get couragious and order medium but have to apply Carmex to the lips for protection prior to eating. This is the best Thai food you will find at a very reasonable price- be patient they do it right at this place!

• Pros: fresh

08/29/09

Worst service in town

by goolia

I've been going to Baan Thai for years now. And the service has gotten worse and worse. I will say they have some of the best thai food I've found. But they have some of the slowest and downright rude waiters I've ever experienced. I recently decided to only do take out, but even then, the 5 minutes I spend picking up the food only reinforces that I simply can't support a restaurant who treats their customers like this. My last experience I walked in and said hello to the server. He didnt even look up but stuck out his hand out for my card. After handing that over to him, he then walked off with the card and spent 10 minutes serving other tables and talking to his co worker. I waited patiently until he came back and handed me my bill to sign. Thereafter he disappeared again. After another 5 minutes, I decided to locate my order behind the counter and left. Baan Thai, i think you could be extremely successful. Please wake up and get some better wait staff.

• Pros: Great curries and fried rice
• Cons: Horrible service, long wait for food

08/05/09

Baan Thai is going downhill...

by ilovePDX

I have been going to Baan Thai for about 4 years now. Up until recently it has been my favorite Thai restaurant in Portland but some constant negatives inch me closer to abandoning it altogether.

For one thing I always have to wait at least 20-25 minutes longer than when I have been told that my food would be ready. On occasion I pick up food and that has meant that I have had to feed the meter. Unfortunately, because of their bad service or because the kitchen doesn't have the food ready, i have received 2 parking tickets. I feel like taking them to management and having the restaurant pay for them.

Secondly, the service is getting worse. There are a few servers who have been there a long time and they are great but some of the new people don't help their busy coworkers, never refill waters, always have excuses as to why the food is not out and/or don't check on the quality of the food.

Lastly, speaking of the quality of the food... WHAT HAS HAPPENED?! It's not very flavorful anymore. The curries are bland and the stir fry dishes are either too greasy or soaking in too much unnecessary liquid. They don't even try to mask it. Sad.

The last time I ordered from there I was sick the next day and that was even after I threw out my food after eating only a few bites. I ordered seafood and I could smell that some of it had started to turn.

I will give them one more shot (no seafood!!!) but something tells me that they have become complacent with the steady flow of customers they get from PSU and the overall quality of the restaurant had gone completely downhill.

It's too bad.

Can anyone name some good alternatives or their favorites?

02/21/09

Great Thai food, if you don't mind long waits.

by emusic2

Baan Thai is the most aggravating dining experience you've ever had for the first 30-90 minutes - I've visited several times and these are my wait times for meals. On more than one occasion, I've waited 15 minutes to place an order and 10 more to receive water. And then there is the agonizing wait as people around you (sometimes people seated well after you) receive their food. Appetizers eventually arrive, and are always tasty, but won't fully satiate your hunger. If you've ordered a delicious tea, it may arrive around this time, give or take 10 minutes. So you wait some more. And then, miraculously, after you've given up all hope - and repeatedly considered leaving no tip or leaving outright - the food arrives and it is delicious. I recommend the volcano chicken, mussaman curry, and 'thai jungle' dishes. The portions are large, and the prices are cheap. So grudgingly, you acknowledge the amazing food with a tip. I've never heard the argument that the slow (and to be honest, occasionally rude) service is a "cultural" thing. I've been to dozens of Thai restaurants run by Thailand-born owners and never experienced anything like this. The decision to go to Baan Thai is always an agonizing one, and I never leave having fully decided whether it's worth it or not. I now go maybe a couple times a year. I would go several times a month if I knew I could get in and out the door in less than two hours.

• Pros: Delicious.
• Cons: Overtaxed kitchen, indifferent wait staff.

02/14/09

best thai in downtown or NW area

by kumm

There are a lot of terrible Thai food restaurants in the NW and downtown Portland area - I haven't ventured elsewhere, so I'm limiting my review to this area. Baan Thai was recommended to me by someone and they were right - it's really, really good. I've ordered the wanton soup and the veggie noodle dishes and they are great. Peemkaw and Beau Thai - both are more expensive and the food has a gross fish smell and flavor to it - even the supposed vegetarian dishes. At Baan, the food tastes great, although the noodle dishes could use more veggies and tofu per serving. Never had a problem with the waitstaff attitude, just extreme slowness on busy days. It's not gourmet food, but it's really tasty. I'd get food to go - the interior is on the dingy side. And yes, the other reviewers are right - the spice level is high in the dishes.

• Pros: excellent noodle dishes
• Cons: not good for in-dining experience

07/28/08

Great Interesting Food and Very Kind Service

by sunlao

I recommend any of the menu items that you will never see on any other Thai menu in Portland.

I think people who complain about service at Baan Thai are culturally inexperienced. I do agree the kind, mild mannered, and sometimes very busy people who work there do operate at a different pace then traditional American establishments. I do not find this a critique, it is just different. If I am in a hurry I order over the phone for pick up. I have worked in the area off and on for years and have frequented this place for both lunch and dinner. I am perplexed how anyone can say the staff is rude. I have never seen it once. I am not even sure if you asked them to be rude they would know how. My best guess is these complaining patrons have expectations that are limited to only the narrow service they are familiar with.

• Pros: Unique Menu, Great Familiar Items, Kind Staff
• Cons: To popular - Can be crowded

07/14/08

great food, HORRIBLE service

by stucraven

I have to agree with many of the other reviews. they are complete jerks. the food is freaking amazing, but I have not gone in quite a while due to the appallingly bad service. they are rude, the wait is long they almost revel in the fact that their food is extremely hot and they have complete control over the amount of water you get. and unless you nearly poke a server in the forehead they will not even look at you let alone fill your water. I hope someone there is reading these and realizes that I spend WAY TOO MUCH MONEY on going out to eat due to my laziness and inability to cook for them to have driven me away. I am also a very good tipper, so they better do something about it. I'l go back when the reviews are consistantly good rather than bad. I reccomend everyone do the same. go to pad thai kitchen instead.

• Pros: some of the best thai in portland
• Cons: some of the worst service in portland

06/29/08

The service is horrible, the wait is unbearable, but the curry is sooo good!

by zizzler

I hate baan thai because they have been colossal jerks to me on many many occasions, but I freaking love the pineapple curry and the rice is great...so...I always go back for more.

Prepare to wait forever to get your food. Sometimes, it's literally forever.

Don't order take out. trust me...just don't do it.

Only the curry and wontons are exceptional, everything else is no better or worse than any other thai place in PDX...

• Pros: curry, wontons
• Cons: long wait, crazy rude staff...ect

05/14/08

So sad!

by Don85

This is my first review and I am sad to write it. I have been to the Baan Thai countless number of times and had great food despite the very long wait times. However yesterday my wife, mother in law (from out of town) and I went for dinner and ordered the crispy battered chicken amongst other dishes. It came obviously overcooked and with barely any chicken in the batter. We politely asked for the dish to be returned and either replaced or we reorder. The response from the kitchen was "the dish was correctly cooked and if you don't like what you ordered too bad, either way you have to pay for it." After some discussion the waitress then had the audacity to accuse us of being thieves when we firmly told her we would not pay for the returned dish. "It's Thai culture" we were told however bad service has no culture in my opinion.The manager / owner? never came out to address the problem , she just sent daggers at our table repeatedly for the rest of the meal. With the sour taste in our mouthes from this service our planned dinner of 20 people has been canceled, over a $10 dish. I hope all the bad reviews on this site get the owners to do something about this problem. Businesses do not go under due to one review but they are certainly piling up about the same issue. Business 101, repeat customers are the best customers, take heed.

• Pros: Food
• Cons: MAJOR bad service, long wait time

05/10/08

How Spicy Thai?

by jaredyou

Friend and I went to eat Friday night and sat out on the balcony enjoying the early summer. We started with the fried tofu, okay; followed by the seafood salad and panang beef curry. If you love seafood and are starving, get the salad. If you're looking for a smaller meal go for the curry, it has just enough to hold you over! Make sure you ask of the spicy-ness, I love HOT but there levels are a little hotter than most.

• Pros: Expansive menu