Thai Kitchen

I like Thai food and have eaten at a few places: Thai Taste, Thai Spice, Muangthai are the ones I remember. I went to Thai Kitchen in Westlake a few years ago on a dinner date and did not go back until this past month. Since that time, I learned more about what I liked in Thai food and Thai Kitchen is very good. I had the Tiger Cry dinner special and the Green Curry — chicken recently and really enjoyed both. The Tiger Cry is advertised as spicy and it is. There is squid, shrimp and scallops in so it is a little fishy smelling for me. That’s why I tried the Green Curry chicken. It was great. Very yummy. I found out that I can get the Tiger Cry without the
that will be my next meal there. Can’t wait to taste the flavors!
Both times I’ve gone, I’ve gotten take-​out. The décor is nothing to mention and I’d rather eat with my date at home. The woman working was very helpful and friendly.

Hospitable, friendly, and never too busy! Actually, usually quite empty. But they have great Tom Yum soup, hot and sour soup, love all their noodles, and the veggies are always very fresh which is a nice change from other Thai place in the region.

This place is awesome! Everything that I’ve had has been great. Thai food is mostly gluten-​free, so I go here a lot. Hot and Sour Soup with Crab (I know it’s not a traditional Thai item) was the bomb. The staff is very friendly and the service is usually pretty quick.

I love this place! Great food. Spicy really means spicy here. Can get packed at lunchtime but a great place to eat!

My mind often works on a one-​track road, so I do my best to expand the ways I allow Unilocal to form my thinking. Recently, I have been considering how restaurants and demographics are largely connected. On this outpost of Thai Kitchen, I considered Westlake, this utopia that transplants food institutions from Austin proper into a ritzy environment i.e. Maudie’s, Hat Creek, and even HEB.
Now, the humble thing about many eateries that make it up (or rather West) this way is that pricing isn’t much of an issue. Well… except for the fact that Thai grub is expensive!
Specifically, their peanut soup – which I expected to be a very creamy, hearty stew-​like dish – was very brothy. Being upwards of $ 9 – and $ 13 if you dine in!), the clear soup didn’t offer much more in the way of body and mouthfeel than vegetable soup. Though the flavor was certainly unique, what with the nuttiness and all, it just left something to be desired.
Thai Kitchen is certain to satisfy any junkie of Eastern cuisine, but I doubt that it would fool any price-​per-​calorie Thai cook. After all, the Asians made a name for themselves by getting down to the nitty gritty when it comes to grubbin’. Additionally, I don’t think I would ever order my specific dish ever again. I just expect more heartiness. Maybe on a cold winter’s night.

Great food. Don’t miss the tofu spring rolls or coconut lemon grass soup. If you like the hot stuff, try anything off the super hot page on the menu. Finally, a local Thai restaurant that knows what «spicy» means. Great stuff!

I have been eating at a Thai Kitchen (initially the one by campus, and now the one in West Lake) for the last 5 years. That in itself says something of their food and service. Family owned, and very nice and hospitable people.
Even though its not my favourite Thai restaurant in Austin, I really like the food here. Its very close to work and hence it makes for a very convenient lunch option. They are open till late which helps, as I have to work long hours a lot, and there is nothing like some spicy thai food to shock all your senses and wake you up!
They are also one of the few restaurants that makes some of their soups without any chicken stock.
My favourite dish here is the 5D (Indian curry fried rice) from the dinner menu. And yeah make sure its spicy. I mean thai/​indian spicy, not american spicy: P

Just went for lunch because I wanted a good soup. Boy am I glad I went. The formate is to order a main course and then you chose the soup of the day or salad. Todays soup — for those who don’t know the terminology, lemongrass, chicken and coconut milk soup. That is a killer soup, I think I would order it just as a main course. I also had the chicken, zucchini and curry. Also good. I will go back to try their others courses because I like Thai food. I would recommend based on the soup. As for service, location, cleanliness — I had no problem what so ever. I thought they were all good, clean and professional. So if there is a problem with any of these, I did not see them.

Back in the 80’s, I recall experiencing my first taste of Thai food at this location. At the time, I though it was absolutely delicious but the portions were too small. Years later, after tasting a wide variety of Thai restaurants, I decided to go back to the first place for comparison and to see if it lived up to my memories.
We went on a Friday night around 7pm and found the place empty. We placed an order for the Pad Se Ewe (?), an order of crispy fried fish in a curry sauce and an order of spring rolls.
The spring rolls came with a different sauce than I’m used to and I can’t say for the better. We both wound up eating it dry. My crispy fish wasn’t crispy at all but rather it was soaking wet and had a bland taste to it. Even though the menu said it was spicey, I had to add lots of the hot stuff to get it to register on my tongue’s heat index. My wife wound up not being able to finish her Pad Se Ewe (?).
We left feeling disapointed and I realized the delicious taste I remember was due to the fact it was my first Thai experience. Since the 80’s, there are far better places to go like Subsins, Madam Mam’s and my favorite, Thai Spoon in Pflugerville… just to mention a few.

The short version:
Thai Kitchen’s Tom Kha Gai soup is AMAZING. The best I’ve had anywhere. They serve it on Tuesdays and Fridays. Their curry dishes are also delicious. My current favorite is Massaman Curry. I’ve never ordered the non-​thai food here. This place is kind of a dive, so if atmosphere is super important to you, try not to be too judgmental in that area. Close your eyes and just enjoy some delicious, authentic Thai cuisine.
Long-​winded version:
First off, I feel kind of guilty that I have never reviewed this place. I’ve been coming here Religiously since I moved to Austin in 2005. Almost twice a week.
I was introduced to this place by a co-​worker long ago. The format is basically, soup of the day or salad, then your dish of choice (you pick the meat) with an egg roll. Their menu covers a lot of standard Thai dishes like red, green, massaman curry, Pad Thai, and many, many more. I thought back then, yeah, this place is pretty good. I’ll come back again sometime.
I think on my second visit, the soup of day was Tom Kha Gai. I had tried it before at other restaurants, but never before had it tasted like THIS. That lemony, coconuty, deliciousness. Lemon grass, red hot peppers, galanga, chicken… I can’t get enough. Honestly, I can’t. I fell in love. And realizing that this was the ‘soup of the day’, of course I inquired about the schedule. Every Tuesday and Friday. And so began my habitual visits of this place.
Everywhere I go, when I have Thai food, I look for Tom Kha so I can try it. I’ve tried a lot of Tom Kha soup, often times it’s too sweet. So far, no other place has topped Thai Kitchen for me. Of course, I’ve never visited Thailand (which is where the owner is from). Maybe one day I will go there and find better soup. For now, I’m perfectly content with Thai Kitchen’s version.
I guess I should talk a little about the rest of their food. I have only tried their Thai dishes and they’ve all been yummy, it’s very authentic (compared to other Thai food I’ve eaten). I’m not crazy about Pad Thai in general, but some of my friends say their’s is good. I always either get the Red Vegetable Curry, Green Chicken Curry, Massaman Curry with Fried Tofu, or Pad Kee Mao with Chicken (if I’m feeling really tough, it’s hot!!). They do have non-​Thai selections on their menu, but why would you order those?
Lastly, I’d like to speak to the reviewer who said she found a giant bug in her food. Girl, if that really happened, it was a fluke! In all the years I’ve been coming here I have NEVER found a bug in my food, or on my table, or on the floor, or in the bathroom. This place is old and in need of an update (pretty badly), but it isn’t dirty. I talk to the owner pretty often. He takes a lot of pride in his food. This is a guy who sits down with his guests sometimes just to make sure we are enjoying his food.
Guys, please don’t let that review scare you. This place is really good and that soup… well, I’ve said enough about the soup.

I first ate here over 15 years ago. I guess I was not impressed then, but I was not so fond of Thai food in those days. I was recently urged by a fellow Unilocaler to try them again.
I pass this place from time to time, but haven’t even considered stopping. It is a tough street to do business on because it is so busy. The parking is mostly in back, and truthfully I thought this place was closed because I never see cars. Turns out they are all in back.
I got the pad kee mao gai lunch special. It was okay, but a bit sweet and sticky. It came with a rather greasy eggroll, and a rather large cup of soup. The soup was the highlight. Tom kha gai, and it was packed with chicken. Almost an entrée in itself.
Heatwise, they got it right. I asked for extra spicy and they did it. Extra bird peppers in the soup, and jalapenos in the kee mao. They also have the most extensive menu in the area. I might come back to try some more items, but I wouldn’t make a special trip.

I had a lunch meeting there and ended up sweating my ass off. For some reason they have decided to keep the place at a chill 89 degrees. I was, however, pleasantly greeted by a waft of A/​C when entering the bathroom to ring out my shirt. This was the only time in my life that I seriously considered taking a meal to the bathroom.
Overall the food was decent. My two star rating has much more to do w the fact that I felt as though I was eating lunch in an environment more suited for yoga.

I’ve heard good things about Thai Kitchen so I wanted to give it a shot for their curry.
I came during lunch with my parents. I was a little scared of the green curry because I wasn’t used to jalapenos in it and I didn’t want it to taste much different from what I was used to in Australia. So I ordered the #38– chicken with red curry. It tasted very very good. It was labeled spicy but it really wasn’t too spicy. I loved it though! Fantastic flavors and yummy yummy.
We also ordered the side salad and egg drop soup. I wasn’t too crazy about the egg drop soup, but it was very unique! Nothing like any other egg drop I’ve tasted. It wasn’t bad, just different. My parents loved it and finished it for me.
Their salad was very very good, but they put a bit too much dressing on it. The dressing was sweet and peanuty– I LOVED IT. It was incredible, they just should have eased up a bit on it because there was way too much.
My mom ordered the Phad Thai (#12 A) and she liked it a lot. I helped her finish it because it was so tasty!
My dad ordered the chicken with vegetables (#15), it wasn’t very good. There just wasn’t anything too special about it. The sauce was pretty salty.
Overall I think this visit was a success! I’d love to try the green curry next time!

So I woke up one Sunday with a terrible hangover and thought, ‘Where shall I go?’ A friend and I decided on Thai Kitchen, where we were promptly greeted and seated at a comfy booth. I ordered some sort of noodles with meat, the spiciest thing they had on the menu. I forgot the name, but it has bird chilies in it. It was awesome. It came with Gatee Thom Yum Gai (chicken soup with coconut milk), which was a little bit spicy and surprisingly filling. I also ordered a Thai coffee, the perfect cure for a hangover. I recommend checking this place out and ordering something a little different than the traditional pad thai.

Apparently this place recently had a face-​lift. I have been wanting to try this place for a long time. After reading the reviews, we were very hesitant to go. Given the low expectations, we had a pleasant time. The food was cheap and I especially liked the free soup. My only complaint is that that food seems a little on the sweet side. Overall, it is a decent Thai restaurant for Austin.

When I was in college, this was the best Thai food in town.
I tried to take a trip down memory lane for lunch today and go out for some Thai nibbles. If you’ve read my other reviews, you’ll see where i reviewed Little Thailand. In that review I said, «Head on out the the water tower in Garfield, 5 miles past ABIA. Sit down and enjoy a meal. You won’t wish you’d gone someplace else.»
Well, I went someplace else. I wish I hadn’t.
I won’t go on too long because you, as the reader hunting for some good grub, should move on to other restaurant reviews and find somewhere else to eat.
Here are my bullet points:
* The place is dirty. Filthy perhaps. It really grossed me out.
* Atmosphere: none.
* Food: eh. Pretty unmemorable.
* Did I mention the place was dirty?
Move on, my Thai food loving friends. Find somewhere else to eat

Food: Good. The Chicken and coconut milk/​lemongrass soup is amazing. Most of there other food is good. Nothing special about presentation.
Service: They do bring you your food. Nice, but not very personable. It just is.
Atmosphere: Poor. That is a great location with such a huge population of people near by that want good neighborhood restaurants… a little effort would go a long way. Lighting is weird, the building is in need of repairs… ceiling needs repair and PAINT.
I truly feel that the food is good enough for the place to be busy all the time. They just need to work on their service, food presentation, and most of all they need some serious help with the atmosphere!
I’ll continue to go though because that soup is like crack. I can’t get enough.

I haven’t been to TK for lunch in several months and after reading Jaye’s review I am scared to. I am sure I will get a hankering for Thai food and drive myself over there to look for scarey critters in my dish.
I really like their pad thai and a soup dish they had. Their curry fish is really yummy too. Their egg rolls are great.
Service is iffy, you kinda feel like you are bugging them if you need an extra glass of water so I saw the pitcher and helped myself. Waiting for the tab to come is always a pain but if you ask for your check when your food comes they might forget about you and not give you more tea and I don’t know where they keep that pitcher.

I’d give it negative 5 if I could. I’ve been to Thai Kitten once. And we walked out mid-​meal.
First, like Ella says, we ordered from a dirty menu. When the meal came, we all started eating. About two bites in, I found a large, dead bug in my food. When I finally got the waiter over to the table, he just whisked my dish away, saying nothing.
My dining companions and I were all grossed out. They couldn’t finish their food, and we sat there for a second waiting for the waiter to come back. I finally grabbed him, said we need the check, and that I expected my meal to be comped. He got the manager, and the manager refused to comp my meal. I told him that I would not pay for it. My companions paid for their meals and I still refused to pay for mine. The manager threatened to call the police, I threatened to call the health department, and my friends and I went to Taco Bell.
This place sucks.

Thai Kitchen is tied with Madam Mam’s in my book for best Thai food in Austin. While this isn’t exactly a huge coup given the fact that there are like eight Thai restaurants IN Austin, Thai Kitchen still earns a special place in my heart for being at the top of this list.
You just can’t beat Thai Kitchen’s soups for those rare, cold Austin days or when you feel a cold coming on. They are heavenly. And any of their red curry & basil dishes are sublime — my favorite is the squid, since that’s hard to find elsewhere. I also appreciate that they are always accommodating about substituting one vegetable for another in the dish (I don’t like bamboo shoots).
This particular location is equally unassuming, atmosphere-​wise, as the more central Guadalupe location. Decent parking is available, especially since the few times I’ve been to this location, it’s been pretty empty. I’m guessing that they do a more brisk lunch crowd, though; otherwise, I don’t know how this place would stay open. But I’m glad it has!