Typhoon!

At first, I was like, «How inconsiderate. Why would any Asian restaurant name itself after a disaster that devastated most of the continent a few years ago?»
Then I realized I got my words wrong («tsunami»), face-​palmed myself, and sat down to order with friends. The food was amazing – the clam chowder is out-​of-​this-​world good, and I had no complaints about any of the dishes. Each one had its own unique taste and texture (unlike some Thai restaurants that just kinda use the same ingredients for every dish, and and change the name by using chili flakes/​soy sauce/​oyster sauce).
The only gripe I have is that service is slower than molasses. The table that was seated after us got fed up, and nabbed a waiter for service. Then, they had to point the waiter in our direction as we hadn’t been serviced either.

Craving Thai food, I came across this place as the location was close to my hotel on Broadway and the décor looked nice. Honestly, I am always a bit skeptical about «fancy» Thai restaurants, because in California, the best ones are the hole in the walls. However, this place proved me wrong.
Pros:
1) The waiter! From the moment I walked in, the waiter (his nick name was «Nick») paid very good attention to what I had asked for, when I wanted my food (as I hate getting my main course while I’m eating my appetizer), and was very helpful in providing his opinions on the dishes available and how he can substitute/​add items to make the dish perfect for what I was craving!
2) This place has a special Vegetarian/​Vegan menu, which you can ask for. The dishes are mostly the same from the main menu, minus the meat/​fish. Also, they are VERY flexible in adding options.
3) Drinks: Ordered the Typhoon Cooler: Good mix of Malibu rum and pineapple – not too strong but perfect for a summer drink. It also complimented my food very well.
Appetizer: Papaya Salad– Being a vegetarian (most of the time), I was a bit hesitate on the «fish oil dressing» since at previous restaurants I have had a very bad experience. Asking the waiter for his opinion, he did mention that the fish oil dressing was the main part of the salad, but it was very well mixed with the lemon dressing and promised it would not be overbearing. He was ABSOLUTELY correct. It was a perfect mix of lemon & spice. Also, as I love peanuts, I asked him to put extra on the salad. Not only did he do that but brought out an extra side of crushed Peanuts. I was in Heaven.
I couldn’t finish the salad, since the portion was HUGE (enough for two people) and I knew I wanted a main entrée. While eating the salad, the waiter had stopped by asking if I need anything, how the food tasted, and if I would like another drink he recommended. He also asked me to take my time and order the dinner when I was ready to eat it as it comes out really fast. This was a HUGE plus points for the waiter.
Dinner: I was debating between the Eggplant & drunken noodles. As I love both, I asked the waiter what he thought was special in both the dishes. I liked his honesty, b/​c he stated that the drunken noodles were good since they were not too oily but the Eggplant dish was different than many places b/​c sauce was spicy and tasteful. He sold me! Since I wanted to eat some greens in my dish, I asked for some string beans and he was VERY accommodating.
When I got the dish, I had enough time to take a break from my Salad and make room for the dish. Again, I was in HEAVEN. The tofu was small, but it was cooked well with the sauce, the eggplant was not soggy or hard, and soaked in the sauce as well. The string beans were a great addition to add some additional greens to my meal. I tried stuffing myself but hit a limit half way through the dish. The Portions again, are HUGE (if you had an app).
Dessert: Although i was stuffed, looking at the dessert menu i couldn’t resist. The Fried Banana looked amazing, but I literally had no room. I asked the waiter again, since he was 2 for 2, and he recommended the homemade ice cream. He stated it was not too creamy or too sorbet like. He was absolutely correct .It wasn’t too sugary, and it was light enough yet heavy enough. Since he knew I was health conscious, he also added some fruits on the side without me asking! In addition, after bringing my dessert (which he brought out about 10 minutes after I finished eating so I could take a breather) he offered more fruit if i wanted.
Although I couldn’t finish my dessert, I believe this was the best Thai food (outside my comfort restaurant back home in San Jose). Definitely recommend this place – portions are huge for the price, service is excellent (ask for Nick), and the décor is also great for a intimate setting!

Sheik Thai place. Great atmosphere for business meetings or a romantic date. The food is only average. They have a nice tea selection. They’re open later than most which might make it the only Thai place within your reach for dinner. This is a chain and recent articles suggest the chain is in trouble. If you’ve been thinking about checking it out you might want to go now. If it’s just you I’d recommend Thai Peacock right around the corner. Literally almost half the price and has actual flavor.

I’ve been to the one on 23^rd in NW Portland, but that was about 4 years ago. I loved the summer curry dish with the spinach and scallops but when I recently went to this Typhoon! off of Broadway, they didn’t have it.
Was I disappointed, yes but whatever. Instead I ordered the Death by Asparagus dish, supposedly an ‘award-​winning dish’. It was terrible and yes, I literally almost died eating it. The asparagus was thinner than the pair of chopsticks I was using, the tofu pieces were tiny, and the dish in general was way too salty. Is the cook blind?
The atmosphere and service itself were fine but for the price, the food was definitely less than mediocre. I hate to be blunt but when it comes to asian cuisine, if there aren’t any asian customers… it usually isn’t a good sign. Overrated like P.F. Changs. Never going back to any Typhoon! location ever again.

How have I never reviewed Typhoon? I have to admit that there is a part of me that feels like I shouldn’t be giving a place that has multiple locations 5 stars, almost like it feels as though you are saying you love something like TGI Fridays, but that’s not the case here.
I have eaten at all of the Typhoon locations many times, and the quality of the food is always almost unrealistically consistent.
The quality of the noodle dishes, and the complexity of the curries is always spot on, and they are real professionals at this.
I can’t be a hater, Typhoon is a fabulously run business from my perspective, and I’ve never left feeling like my cravings weren’t satisfied in every way.

Maybe only 2 stars for the food we tried, but I’m granting 3 given that I liked the décor and the service was really good, and I’m hoping maybe I just didn’t choose great dishes. (Note, they do need to replace the cracked booth seats though.)
We liked the salad rolls appetizer with prawns, vermicelli, mint and basil in rice paper. The dipping sauce was on the verge of too sweet. The pad thai and the stir fry prawns with crispy basil were OK because we were starving, but definitely not good enough to make me want to come back and try more.
They don’t validate parking, despite lunch costing over $ 32 for just two of us. For me, it’s another «glad I tried it but I won’t be going back» kind of places.

My office frequently gets take out for lunch. Though the food is DELICIOUS, we’ve yet to have our entire order correct. It’s getting to the point we need to actually open each container to make sure everything’s there. Even when they rattle our order back to us as they point out each item, something’s wrong
And even though we call every time to let them know, not once have they offered anything in return.
That said, the food is AMAZING.

Ahi spring rolls; I will be fantasizing about these for days to come. They were fabulous. Bite-​sized with a slightly crunchy wrapper with a touch of seaweed. I am thinking I just might go back and get some more today because they were so damn good.
My entrée was the lobster pad Thai. I was a little leery about ordering lobster in a dish like this because I always wonder if they will be generous or miserly with the lobster. What the heck, I decided to order the lobster. I did order my Pad Thai with no onion of any kind and you can imagine how pleased I was when the server delivered my dish with a GIANT onion as a garnish sticking straight up like a giant phallic symbol. WTF? If I say no onion, let me assure you that I really mean no onion. Please listen when I say no onion of any kind. That includes giant, smelly, garish, garinshy onions. Thank you.
I was really pleased that they were very liberal with the lobster. There were huge chunks, medium chunks and bite-​sized chunks of moist lobster. This was almost enough to make me forget about the onion incident. The noodles and sauce were nice and flavourful. This is the kind of yumminess that one needs after a hearty New Years Eve bash only hours before.
The server could have been a little more attentive. I felt like I had to wait a while to a get her attention to ask for salt and extra lime. The lime was not very ripe and I didn’t get much juice out of it. I like that extra tang. Why is it that Thai places never have salt on the table?
When it came time to pay and leave, the server misplaced my debit card after running it. I had to keep shooing her back to keep looking for it because I was not going to just go home and cancel it… yes she finally found it.
Thank goodness the lobster and ahi was so damn good.

This place can be described in one word: Chewy.
Chicken Satay Skewers: Chewy
Panang Curry with pork: Chewy (how can you make pork chewy???) and also way too salty
Pineapple Fried Rice with chicken: Chewy, and missing the pineapples until we inquired and had to wait for a re-​fry, which then came back with a whopping 5 pieces of pineapple.
Deep-​fried Wontons: Chewy
I’ve had far better Thai food for less, the curry and fried rice are certainly not worth the price for the quality, or lack thereof, of the food.

Beef with Grapes. Enough said.
Well, maybe not quite enough… I have eaten here a number of times and always had good stuff, when I tried the Beef with Grapes dish the first time I was blown away and haven’t ordered anything there since, besides this dish. So, my review generally is that this is a pretty good place… but more specifically that you should have THIS dish. 4 stars for the place, and the atmosphere, and other dishes on the menu… 5 stars for the service and this dish. I always had good service here.
Dish is just wonderful, I like tangy and vinegary dishes anyway so this unique combination or temperatures and textures, and meaty sweet sour tangy spicy thing going on is just amazing. Very satisfying. I absolutely look forward to this dish as a must have if I am staying at the Lucia or Vintage Plaza.

Not sure if having bagels & hard-​boiled eggs for breakfast the last few mornings and sitting in the car for 10.5 hours has skewed my tastebuds or not, but yes, I’m giving Typhoon! a generous 5 stars.
The food was fab-​u-​lous! We started with the Chicken Larb. It had a great lime flavor and enough spice to not put your tongue on fire but still taste great. For our entrees, we had Panaang Curry with chicken and Garlic Pork The Panaang Curry was awesome. It was so flavorful that I even ate the peas (I normally don’t eat peas). The Garlic Pork was deeeelish! The pork was tender and the sauce was light — not too thick and not too garlicky (although I wouldn’t mind that!). For my drink, I had the Pineapple Express. Whoa… It hit me… hard! But it was very good!
What a great meal to welcome me to my first trip to Portland!

What a nice little restaurant within the Hotel Lucia. We ended up here after the first Thursday in the Pearl turned out to be a traffic nightmare.
We quickly found a spot in the garage around the corner and parked and walked in without reservations. It was fairly crowded but they found us a table very quickly.
I ordered a tasty stir fry with some chicken. There was a great sized portion which I promptly saved for a lunch for the following day.
I really enjoy their great variety of teas. They bring them in their own little tea pot and allow them to steep until they are ready right there at your table.
I was pleasantly surprised with their desserts. The red velvet cake was not only beautiful but very tasty. It was such a masterpiece I had to take a picture. Take a peek at it you’ll want to try it.
A great treat within the Hotel Lucia.

I went here for lunch with a coworker while in town on business. I like flavorful but not spicy food and I enjoyed my lunch here.
I got the Basil Chicken and thought it was good. It was a big portion and satisfied my appetite. My friend had the tofu pad Thai which looked good to me.
Take this review with a grain of salt if you’re a serious Thai food person. I’m an occasional dabbler so it worked for me.

Ok, why did I come here?
Oh yeah, because it’s listed as a place to earn miles for AAdvantage.
Well, I guess I got my miles, but I am definitely never coming back here again. The service is great, ambiance is beautiful, but the food is definitely the worst Thai food I’ve ever had. And I’m not even Thai.
Parking was expensive and difficult in the nearby US Bank parking structure.
I ordered Pad See Ewe, Asparagus Lover, and Garlic Pork. Usually, you can’t go wrong with Pad See Ewe… but somehow I went really wrong. It was way too sweet, and it was nowhere close to authentic. I’ve had better for waaaay cheaper. Asparagus Lover was alright, but a little on the salty side, and not worth how much it cost. Garlic Pork was WAAAAY too salty. I was extremely disappointed in this dish. We had to get some rice to balance it out, but even so, it was still overbearingly salty, and had a really tough consistency, making it difficult to eat. Not even close to the delicious garlic pork I had at Thai House in Berkeley, which was also a lot cheaper.
Expensive, barely ingestible food. Not even close to authentic, but even so, not even close to tasting good. I wish I had spent my money on other AAdvantage approved restaurants such as the amazing La Note in Berkeley. Sushi & Maki in Portland would’ve been a better choice too.
It was my first night in Portland after a long drive up from the SF Bay Area, and I truly regret ruining my first Portland food experience with this restaurant. I’m SO ready to redeem it with all the other amazing restaurants and food carts I’ve heard about in Portland!

I love Thai food. Typhoon! is located next door to the Vintage Plaza Hotel (where I was staying). How convenient and lucky was I?
Right before I had entered Typhoon! the first sign I see was «IT WASN’T US.» In the midst of the recent horrible news regarding another Typhoon (location: Santa Monica) and its sushi bar, the Hump, was blasted for serving whale. I can understand why Portland’s Typhoon! had posted this statement. I don’t think both Typhoons are owned by the same people. And I just read that The Hump has indeed shut down for their indiscretion. I guess never eat at a place called The Hump, they’ll either serve you whale or camel? Thankfully, I have never eaten there. Anyways…
I ordered my usual Chicken Pad Thai noodles (I didn’t see the Pad Woon Sen) for take out because I couldn’t miss an episode of Lost (it was a Sawyer episode!). I had to dine and dash for dinner. I asked for extra hot sauce on the side because I wasn’t sure how spicy they would make this dish.
In an instant, my order was ready and off I go to my room — just me, my Pad Thai and Sawyer! The first bite on the chicken, I thought, was a little dry. But I guess it was just one dry piece because the rest was tastier. Otherwise, I would’ve been really bummed out eating dry chicken with my noodles. The dish had enough spice & sweetness that I only added a little bit of the hot sauce.
I would have to give Typhoon! two thumbs up for their delicious Pad Thai dish. And I’m glad that they don’t serve whale!

I went there for Happy Hour, so this review is regarding to its Happy Hour only.
I would actually give it a 3.5. The wait staffs were actually really nice and I think it made everything feel better. We sat at the bar, where the decoration and the atmosphere were actually nice and quite. The dishes came quickly, too.
As far as food goes, I think it was actually rather over spiced — the salad and the jumbo shrimp were the worst offender — both were too salty. I should have order an extra bowl of rice. The better choices on the menu — Onion Rings and Green Curry Soup…
I think I would go back for a beer, and some pan-​Asian food. It is actually a nice place to have a conversation with your friend (s). Just remember to order an extra bowl of rice.

I went not expecting much as I take pride in being extremely Thai food savvy, esp having been to almost the entire Thailand when I was growing up in Asia. The menu was huge but the portions were tiny. for $ 18 our entrée curry dish came with 3 scallops and 4 small prawns, not being greedy or anything but anyone would agree with me that is downright pathetic. I did enjoy the stuff tofu dish though, it was served crispy, the dipping sauce delish, something I hope to find in my hometown of Vancouver BC.
I didn’t assess this place with my pad thai test as from previous reviewers I already knew it was a miss. We did order their Tom Kha Gai and the broth was to die for but once again, there were only 4 – 5 morsels of chicken.
Hence in short, its not the to-​go place for Thai food in Portland but if one is looking for a nice ambiance with so-​so Thai food, this place fits the bill otherwise, I am sure a food court vendor would be able to whip up a better Gai Pad Bai Gaprow.
Still in Portland at this time so definitely hoping to find some good Thai grub today!

With all the amazing possibilities around Portland, it was with some disappointment that we ended up at Typhoon!
The menu looked promising; the restaurant smelled yummy; and we were starving. Chances were, we were going to be happy campers.
In some areas, yes, others, no. We started with the fried spring rolls, which were really bland and flavorless; for entrees, we had the basil chicken and the shanghai greens. The basil chicken was okay — except I didn’t enjoy the fried basil flavor. The shanghai greens (chicken with bok choi) was yummy and flavorful.
Overall, it was an okay dining experience, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here — especially with the other options in the area.

I’ve had some good meals here, I won’t lie. And this is the first restaurant to introduce me to noodles so wide you have to fold them to put them in your mouth. But! The food itself is not really the star here. Not sure if that’s a feature of all Typhoons (I’ve only been to this one and the one on NW 23^rd.
In comparison to the NW 23^rd location, you’re way more likely to see Prom/​Homecoming/​Snowball couples here. On the other hand, as the seating and waiting area is seemingly more ample, you may be more likely to get a seat with less of a wait. Parking is downtown, so good luck with that.
In general, most dishes don’t deliver a lot of «pop.» It’s just like… yeah, ok, that was aight. But you do get cloth napkins and pretty decorations. So, there’s that.

This is the Hotel Lucia anchor restaurant.
The food is ok but it’s the superfriendly and youthful staff that make so much of its energy and fun.
Service was hammered with a few big parties but I noticed everyone jumping in to help out. They really do care here.
The best dishes were curried.