THAI TOWN
at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, A9, 7th FL
9 Song Shou Road
Xin Yi District
(02) 2723-9987
MRT: Taipei City Hall
website: thaitown.com.tw
$$
Kid friendliness: high chairs and children's dinnerware available.
Visit reviewed: 4/6/2009
Previously reviewed: 10/27/2006
Since my first time eating at Thai Town and writing about it's take-out almost three years ago, I've eaten there a number of times, each time being impressed by its consistently good food and ample portions. It's a great place for a lunch date or even better, a huge group lunch so that you can have more dishes to share in a stylish, modern setting.
My favorite dishes to order are usually the Moon Shrimp Pancakes, Thai style satay, Thai Fried Rice Noodle (or Pad Thai) or Seafood and Pineapple Fried Rice, Curry Chicken and Spicy Fried Greens with Shrimp Paste.
But today, we tried out some new dishes- the Spicy & Sour Shrimp Soup(Tom Yom Kum) and the Green Curry Chicken in Coconut Sauce. Both were spicy, but good.
The Green Curry Chicken was more like a sauce than a curry (as the menu states)- and you definitely need the Thai white rice to balance the spiciness. When you order your food, your server will ask if you want regular rice or Thai rice, you definitely have to pick the long grain Thai rice!
The Tom Yum Kum was sour and spicy just like its name in Chinese "Thai guo suan la tang" and had hearty lemongrass, tomato, spicy flavors. I've only recently discovered a newfound love for Tom Kha Kai which is a Thai chicken coconut milk soup (but isn't on the menu here)
While Thai Town is more a casual sit down, chain-store version of Thai food (rather than the local mom and pop shops you'd find in LA) with a large English and Chinese menu of standard popular appetizers, main dishes and even desserts. It's one of my top choices for Thai food in Taipei, my first choice being the delicious Mei Kung and third choice is the fusion-esque Patio (formely Patara)
I know there are quite a few other Thai places in town I have yet to eat at, but when your favorite places are satisfying your stomach, I don't have a reason to wander.
other THAI TOWN locations in Taipei
Zhong Shan Shin Kong Mitsukoshi
No. 15, Nanjing W Road, 7 FL
(02) 2542-7277
MRT: Zhongshan station
49 Ren Ai Road, Sec 2
(02) 2351-0960
133 Anhe Road, Sec 2
(02) 2735-9638
116 Tien Mu West Road
Tien Mu District
(02) 2826-4852
68 Tien Mu East Road
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, Building A, 7th FL
(02) 2873-6680
Miramar Shopping Center branch
22 Jingye 3rd Road, 2nd FL
(02) 2175-3355
165 Chen Gong Road, Sec 3
(02) 2791-9608
5 comments:
Wow, their plating design is pretty good here! I like the abundance of ingredients in the curry but I agree there should have been more of the curry and not just the vegetables and meats!
The pad thai looks interesting- it doesn't look like it uses ketchup or any orange colored item like most Thai restaurants do! At least they didn't add ketchup which I have tasted in at least 2 restaurants in Asia... :(
EatTravelEat: yeah.. most of the pad thai here is not orange.. I'm actually used to it being on the pink side in the states..
We used to eat at Thai Town Restaurants quite frequently. especially in Neihe, Zhonghe (Global Mall) and W.
The last two times we visited their branch in Banqiao, 台北縣板橋市文化路一段65號, however, we were so off-put that my wife and I have vowed not to return. I'll just do a quick run over of what transpired on those two most recent visits: The first time, the waitress refused to talk to me or even look at me. (I'm not Taiwanese; I'm American.)
Our second trip, on June 14, 2011 at around 8:00 p.m., was really bad and speaks to some of the worst elements of restaurants operated in Taiwan. My family ordered the "set meal" and some beers. Choice two in the set meal was all pork dishes. as my wife and I don't like to eat pork (like so many other people out there), we asked to change to a beef dish at a cheaper price. The waitress didn't want to help us though.
She simply shrugged: "That is impossible: 沒辦法! Why was it impossible? I have no idea. She could have solved the problem by changing the dish. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised, especially since I am a loyal customer and the "customer [should usually] be right." So I asked:
"Let me speak to the manager, please."
When I spoke to Amy, the manager, she refused to do anything. She just made a bunch of excuses and was very stubborn. She stubbornly said 沒辦法! again and again ("There is no solution! There is no solution! etc.) My wife said Amy was glaring at me, but I didn't notice. I don't understand why Thai Town Restaurant does not treat it's customers
better. Why are they so small-hearted that they can't even make one small change to the set meal when a loyal customer asks them to?
We then left to enjoy a pleasant Shabu Shabu meal next door.
I went to the Ren-Ai branch of Thai Town during January 2012, and honestly, it's the best Thai food I've ever had. Pricing is very reasonable too, for the quality/quantity of service and meals.
台北市仁愛路二段49號 (a close enough walk from the Zhongxiao-Xinsheng MRT station)
Thank you for posting these recommendations. It's great to read about all of your foodie experiences - makes me feel like I'm still in Taiwan (of all the things that I love about Taiwan, food is probably the one on my mind most frequently). I live full-time in New Zealand, but most of my family are in Taiwan.
Patrick- there are a lot of times that Taiwanese eateries refuse to accommodate requests that aren't in the system.. I don't know why but I've been turned off to many an eatery by their stubbornness (NY Bagel refusing to to-go French toast, Haagen Daaz refusing to let us sit down after we ordered ice cream to-go and not letting us pay the extra service fee). But at other places i've had the pleasure of people going the extra mile... So it's hard to say. I think with chain restaurants sometimes they don't want to do something outside of the box so they can't get in trouble for it later on?
Spoink: I like their food too.. I think it's quite consistent and fairly priced, the more I try other thai places. Thanks so much for your comment! Hope you can leave more on other places you like! :)
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