The King & I Thai

Unfortunately for you, this place closed it’s doors down December 17^th, 2012. Fortunately, according to their website, they are looking for a new location.
Cream Cheese Rolls — These might be the best cream cheese rolls I’ve tried. The wrap was crisp to perfection. The cream cheese had a whipped consistency and just oozed from the rolls. The sweet and sour was also bomb. I don’t like sweet and sour but this stuff was good. It had a nice little kick too.
Thai Iced Tea: At first I didn’t like it, but the more I sipped it the more delicious it was. The flavor could only be described as a musky sweetness. I’ve never had it before, so I couldn’t tell you if this Thai tea was better than others.
Chicken Pad Thai: Best I’ve had. Not that I’ve had a lot of pad Thai’s but this stuff was very fresh tasting. The chicken was so tender. And the sauce was flavorful, yet light and subtle.
Sweet Sticky Rice With Seasonal Fruit — I liked the sticky rice, but the fruit and sauce destroyed the flavor of the rice. All you could taste was the sweetness of the sauce and the fruit they choose, which isn’t mango by the way did not go with it. Also, I found a hair in it…
Mango Cake with Mango Sorbet — It was alright. Had a true mango flavor. Also the jam they sprinkled on top was delicious.

The best thai restaurant in the Twin Cities. I used to live 6 blocks from here, and even after moving to Chicago, I still made a point of coming here as often as possible, whenever I could make the time to get up to Minneapolis. So sad to see it close.
What can I say about the food and drinks? Every meal I’ve had there started with egg rolls, curry puffs and a Singapore Sling. The King & I egg rolls are fantastic, the curry puffs yummy (they come with sriracha sauce), and after splitting those with friends, it was on to the hard decision of what wonderful entrees to choose and share with the table. I was never very adventurous. Simple curries or fried rice for me most of the time, but it was always fantastic.

Hopefully this doesn’t sound like a premature eulogy, but since the King and I will be shuttering its doors for good on December 17^th it seems only fitting to goodbye.
King and I has always offered an inviting environment to sip on some boozy concoctions, sip a craft beer or a macro import from Asia (or at least an InBev brand marketed as such). Imbibing said beverages in the lounge or outside has always been an enjoyable experience; one that balances a hip environment without being over the top or making it impossible to carry on a conversation.
The food, as others have noted, might not be near the rankings of the most lauded Thai food in the Cities, but it has always been good and the diverse menu offers plenty of noshables that are well-​suited to balance out the multiple rounds of drinks. Sure, some of the items are not on the cheap and I won’t defend a $ 20 bow of curry, but the portions are usually large enough to share or take home and there are certainly plenty of reasonably priced items on the menu (especially during their frequent happy hours).
There’s a reason the King and I was around for over 30 years…

I love King and I Thai, and am deeply saddened by their decision to close their doors on Dec. 17^th. Tonight will likely be my last time there.
Although I really haven’t branched out past my usual – the Chicken Pad Thai, I have absolutely only the best things to say about this restaurant. And if you like extra flavor, make sure to ask for the spice tray. The cheese rolls are also a must if you are ordering off the appetizer menu.
The one downside of the restaurant is the service – I feel they are either understaffed, or their staff is not attentive enough. I had to actually flag a waitress down more than once at my last visit.
After 32 years in business, King and I will be thoroughly missed by Twin Cities Thai cuisine enthusiasts.

Holy crap, I know this place is slated to close soon, but everyone from the valet, servers, and shift manager on through seems to have already checked out.

I found their dipping sauces to be the best around, but never understood restaurants without windows, it’s not natural, literally. Some would make a joke about our caveman roots, but seriously, can we just stop with the whole caveman thing, it’s ridiculous, and as unfunny as the Flintstones were; what is people’s fascination with caves?
Although I’ve enjoyed their sophisticated food, King & I sits mostly in my mind as the place I drive by and see the valet parking guys. Because the business itself is underground and has no sidewalk showcase window, it’s street presence is essentially the ubiquitous valet booth. I suppose that gives the place a classy feel, but not the primary image you want for your business.
I think of King & I as a valet business.

The crab fried rice I had was very good though the spiciness level could have been more reflective of their given range. It was not overtly greasy, nor was it too moist. Some restaurants tend to fail in those two areas. Now, what helps me from giving it 5 stars is the fried tofu. It was so bland and tasteless. The sauces/​dip kind of sucked as it was just plain sweet. That said though, I would definitely go back to the King to try their other entrees.

First introduced to this place by a friend about 9 years ago, I’ve returned many a time.
In my humble opinion, it’s the Best Thai Food I’ve ever eaten. Now wait a minute and think about what I just said: Ever. Eaten. Do not take those words lightly, because I know my food. Oh sure, you might like the Pad Thai at some other place a little better (I don’t, but YOU might), but dish-​for-​dish, scoring the entire menu overall, The King & I stomps a mudhole in all the competitors’ asses and walks ‘em dry! And that isn’t just hyperbole. It’s the truth.
Now, onto More Serious A Subject. The drinks. Oh. Oy vey. The drinks! Ginger-​infused lemonade, fruity punch drinks that are NOT girl drinks, not that there’s anything wrong with getting girl-​drink-​drunk. I can’t tell you how great the King’s drinks are, but I would advise you to try them all, and decide which ones you like best. But, remember faithful readers, drink responsibly. Don’t get drunk, stagger into nearby Loring Park and engage in offbeat shenanigans.
Lastly but not leastly, The Service. Five-​star, A+, never have I experienced a negative vibe from anyone who works in this place. The King must treat his employees well, because they pass it on to us, The Patrons.
Go. Go now!
Oh, I always sit in the lounge area. The dining area is nice if your parents are in town, or you want to treat your Aunt Phyllis to some of those «spicy noodles,» but if you’re under fifty, or have some tattoos, or just want to relax, go to the lounge.

Very good Thai food. Be careful with the spice tray. Hot stuff!
You get a lot of food — probably don’t need to order appetizers unless you’re sharing your entrée with others.

Literally the largest portions I’ve ever seen for the price. Intimate seating. Extensive options for vegetarians. Unique and lovely drink menu. One block down from my apartment. Best of all. they deliver! What’s not to love?
I would highly suggest sharing a plate with someone, such as your date, as this is the perfect setting for a night out with your significant other or just some friends. The servers seem to be lively and quick, dedicated to letting you know what’s really good on the menu, and explaining things your puny mind doesn’t understand about the vast world of Thai. There’s various spice levels and all of the food tastes fresh, light, and very flavorful. Their home made sauces really add a kick to any of the rolls, and the generous portions of rice warm my soul.
I had a pot of Jasmine tea to accompany dinner, and it stayed hot and lasted the entire time I was there. The tea pot was adorable and filled with great loose-​leaf Jasmine tea that I wish they sold at the restaurant! The staff here will be seeing a lot of me now that I live in the area. Thank you King and I for providing a week’s worth of food in one night’s order.

This is hard to review. The food was good, pretty darn good. In fact, the cream cheese rolls were phenomenal. However, our server was terrible. He was unkempt and not very attentive (and I’m being generous here). Our waters weren’t refilled until the meal was complete… Holy Basil, was I suffering! We were out on the deck, it was a beautiful nice. The final straw for me was the resident mouse who was interested in all that was going on… I nearly jumped out of my skin. The server’s response was, «yeah, we have mice and chipmunks, but not rats». What?
I won’t go back.

OK, this is westernized and tamed Thai. One cannot eat here with the same mindset that you bring to Krung Thep, for example. At all.
It’s expensive if you go all out or like to overeat to the point where you can finish one of these monster plates. OOF. We lived in the ‘hood and were regulars regulars for years, and I recently went back.
STILL the same servers — I’m impressed with the longevity this place has with its people, who are TOPS and always have been with us.
I come here to drink. I come here to drink sugar-​laden stupid drinks and to split (DEFINITELY SPLIT) a plate of fried rice that comes out to nine to fifteen bucks or whatever and is stinkin’ good, especially if you add thai basil.
I love this lounge, even though it’s starting to look slightly tattered and not the sexy speakeasy-​esque spot of years ago. Neither am I, so we’re still friends.

I went to King and I a few years ago and still dream about it. It was my first time tasting real thai food, and they got me hooked. Everything was flavored perfectly, and it was fun dining family style. I wish I could remember exactly what we got, but it was amazing. The menu items may seem expensive, but you get your moneys worth because their dishes are very large! We went at kind of an awkward time of day, so I can’t speak to the atmosphere at peak mealtimes, but the food is amazing enough alone to give it 5 stars. Can’t wait to go back!
Still dreaming…

As a first visit and declared fan of any and all Thai food, I came away with mixed feelings about The King and I Thai.
Our first course of Tom Ka (sp?) soup was… interesting. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was eating, but it just tasted strange mostly because I had never tasted anything like it before. As second course, the pad thai was very good, and the mango sticky rice dessert equally as tasty.
The biggest impact on the experience was the unexpectedly large portions. It totally pains me to waste food and that was probably the among the most wasteful restaurant experiences. As a traveler who can’t box up food to take home and just a human being that doesn’t want to be fat, portion size and control is just as important an aspect of the meal as the price (which was a little on the high side but I’ll deal).
There is a philosophical divide in my mind about whether waiters should warn or advise about how large portions are. In some dining experiences, waiters are adamant that one entrée will be enough for multiple people. I can assure you that this is the case at The King and I Thai. If you don’t believe me, ask your waiter, at the very least. It could save you money and medical bills down the line when you’re fighting heart disease because you just had to eat the whole thing.

The King and I is always a treat. Its changed into a bit more of a casual atmosphere over the last couple of years but the food is still amazing. Their spring rolls are always delicious but I recently tried their calamari appetizer. I love me some delicious calamari– theirs comes with a ginger dipping sauce that was surprisingly fresh tasting and was a really great blend of flavors. Their house green curry is a no fail choice. On my last visit, we tried the palatial and garlic and Thai chill with beef– both were amazing. Two entrees is enough for four people, but we always order at least that because everything sounds so appetizing. They have their awesome spice tray to kick the food up a notch ‘er two and it can really help to bring some of the flavors out of the food.
The only thing that I’m not a huge fan of is their desserts. Lame-​O. We tried their heart-​shaped brownie with ice cream– nothing special. In fact, I felt like it wasn’t really worth the calories and tried to convince my hubby to take me to Seven for their chocolate marscapone cake (the best chocolate cake in town, IMO), but he had other things on his mind…
There are also a lot of elephant statues hanging around. Sometimes, if feels as if you can see someone staring at you in the corner of your peripheral vision, but it is almost always just a fake elephant :)
Overall, great quality and quantity of food I would just go elsewhere for the little something sweet, if you’re into that.

Im Thai, so I have high standard when it comes to Thai food. I expect that the professional cooks should make better tasting dishes than when I cook at home. That being said, King & I didnt really quite do it for me.
What I like the most is the space. This place is very spacious and nicely decorated. The service was decent. People might often mention the huge portion. Well, their price tag is higher than other Thai places, so of course, their portion has to be big when you have that much money for it.
On to the food, we started with calamari. I really liked the ginger dipping sauce, so this was a big hit. For my main, I ordered the shrimp and lemongrass salad. The plate came with 6 (or maybe 7?) jumbo shrimps. It was ok. It could be perfect (for me) if they mixed in some mint, a little more lemongrass, and roasted sweet chili paste, and didnt put that much cabbage. My bf ordered beef in oyster sauce. It was good, but just standard good. not really stood out.
Overall, everything was ok good. I think this place is probably excellent for non-​Thai customers, but for native Thai like me, this place is absolutely not the destination for Thai food.

I really like King and I. Good crowd, excellent Thai food (my litmus test is whether they have the Thai-​chili-​in-​fish-​sauce condiment), cool ambiance, Stoli Gold poured by my buddy Garrett a stone’s throw from my home …
Prices are offensive though. $ 16 for fried rice? Really?

Had exceptional service. The restaurant called to confirm our reservation of 8 and asked whether or not we wanted to be out in the restaurant or to utilize their special little room which is semi– private. We opted for the latter.
Our server was excellent. She made excellent recommendations, was attentive, cheerful, delivered birthday cake and cut the cake that we had brought. It’s rare to find service that good.
The food is served family style so we all got to try a little of everything. Really loved their pad thai. I’m picky when it comes to pad thai. King and I Thai was really good.

This restaurant is kind of in a weird location and it is honestly hard to find the front door. You have to walk down a bunch of steps which are very slippery in the winter.
Overall the food was good but over priced. We got a pad thai and beef curry which were both tasty but kind of expensive. The drinks were also quite pricey and the wait staff was not very attentive.

Like almost every other Thai restaurant in the Twin Cities (and maybe the US, from what I’ve seen), King and I offers a menu full of seemingly-​vegan/​vegetarian dishes which are not, in fact, vegan or vegetarian. Indeed, fish sauce or shrimp paste is lurking in every corner. Ask questions, people!
Indeed, the red and green curries at King and I contain shrimp paste and cannot be made vegan. Also, the «Roasted Red Pepper Sauce» dish cannot be made vegan.
However, there were a couple of other dishes that we could work with. We shared a «Holy Basil Sauce» with fried tofu ($ 17.50) which was spicy and loaded with tofu and basil. The portion size is huge (it’s easily enough for 3 or 4 meals), which sort of justifies the unusually high price tag, though I would prefer a smaller dish at a smaller price. For $ 17.50 you expect a 4-​star dinner or maybe a 5-​star lunch; King and I is but a generic Thai restaurant at the end of the day. This first dish was good, maybe even above-​average, but it wasn’t gourmet or spectacular.
We also shared a «Palatial» modified to be vegan with tofu ($ 17.50). Since the red and green coconut curries contain shrimp paste, The Palatial is the closest thing at King and I you’ll get to a proper curry — it’s basically a stir-​fry with vegetables and tofu or mock duck, covered in thick, creamy coconut milk. The dish was slightly bland as it was served, but we added some garlic chili sauce and suddenly it became quite good. Again, the portion size is huge, and the food is good, but it’s not outstanding.
King and I does have great atmosphere. The main dining room is a bit staid, but properly formal, whereas the bar area where we sat was lively, yet comfortable and calm enough for a romantic dinner. The bar is cozy and chill and feels like a neighborhood joint; I’ll definitely be coming back for a drink at some point.
The service was excellent. Our server, a young woman with glasses, was extremely friendly and attentive and kept checking with the kitchen to see what could be made vegan. Moreover, she told immediately that the curries were not vegan or vegetarian and could not be modified, which suggested to me that she’s conscientious and thorough about ingredient issues. She also went out of her way to prepare an all-​vegan spice rack for us, with three types of chili sauces, sans fish sauce.
All in all, King and I is a good place, though very expensive (but at least the portion sizes are enormous). They don’t offer brown rice, which is a bummer, and they also will charge you $ 1 for extra white rice, which is a double bummer. That said, this is a good place to get a drink and maybe split a dish with two other people.