An American drinks a glass of water at my house. "This is spicy." I pride myself (and my culture) on my (its) ability to handle copious levels of spice. Chili peppers give me life - and a smooth/bright complexion. However, a recent skirmish between Absolute Thai delivery and my entire body has me second guessing my faith in the transformative power of the pepper. My beef kapow arrived intermixed with what looked like a fistful of Thai chili peppers. I tried to pick the precious morsels of meat from betwixt the fire breathing dragons to no avail. Either the cook made an egregious mistake or consciously wanted to detonate my insides because I only tipped 15%. I turned to the green curry for refuge, but like a slowly unfolding nightmare, it too was comprised mostly of Thai chilis. Suffice it to say, my pain and suffering continued well after the cook's initial act of hostility. To be honest I'm a little worried that flushing those leftover chilis down the garbage disposal is contributing to dead zones in the Chesapeake. And with that image in mind, I can't say I'm dying to go back to Absolute Thai in the near future. read more

I go here every time when I'm in DC for work and bring coworkers. Green Curry is my absolute favorite here but really it's all good. Love the small biz intimate feel of the venue and the staff are super friendly. Great find and a must visit!! read more

Incredibly disappointed. My partner and I love Thai food. We usually order from Paragon Thai up the street, but decided to try something different. Needless to say, we are going to stick with Paragon Thai. I got the Kimchi Fried Rice. I was expecting it to actually have slices of Kimchi cabbage, cucumber, or really any vegetable at all. It has no Kimchi whatsoever. The flavors are one-note and tastes like I poured a bottle of sriracha and red pepper flakes on my rice. My partner got a noodle dish with pork. The pork was overcooked and unseasoned. The noodles themselves are bland. The bean sprouts were soggy and limp. I wanted to like this place. Too bad. read more

This was a last minute decision because the place we intended to go had an hour wait time. We were pleasantly surprised! We were seated immediately and the place was impeccably clean, always a huge bonus for this germaphobe. The service was excellent and the food was exceptional! We had the Pad Thai and the Him-Ma-Parn. We probably could have shared one meal because the servings were so large. Lucky me I get more for lunch tomorrow!! read more

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Favorite Thai restaurant in Chinatown. My friend and I have come here 10 times in the past 3 months- tried most of the Currys and they're all really good. I recommend the Penang curry first! It's a really strong classic Thai peanut flavor. Their red and jungle curry is also great. We've enjoyed splitting a curry and their pad Thai many times. Solid pad Thai, but I'd really recommend trying some of their currys first read more

Absolute Thai Restaurant - Absolute Thai Penang Curry and Pad Thai - Thai Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

I was surprised at the previous ratings, this restaurant is not much to look at maybe. We were also skeptical upon sitting down to see the prices for a main dish st $18, $20 and $24, but did not leave since were already seated. But what a surprise, the food were big portions and really tasty... worth it!!! A hole in a wall, worth of a visit when you are around Washington DC like us. Great Thai food! read more

Great location close to the Verizon Center (half a block? a block?) and thus metro accessible. The exterior isn't much to look at, but the interior is fine, if a little cramped. Went in at around 7pm on a Saturday night, before a show at Verizon Center. It wasn't super full, but it got fuller whilst we were there. The food was quite good. We got the chicken wontons, the potpourri shrimp and the chicken kao soi ($6, $17 and $13 respectively) The portion sizes are generous. There were two of us and we had to take the kao soi as leftovers (we barely made a dent in it) This amount of food could have easily fed 3-4 people I think (maybe if you get a second app with it?) One point off for the wait staff not paying attention to requests. I had ordered a diet coke but did not get it and had to re ask for it. I asked for two bowls for the noodle soup (Kao soi) and never got them. Definitely want to come back and sample the other stuff on the menu. The shrimp fried rice was REALLY good (raisins in a thai fried rice? Yeah I was skeptical too but I was pleasantly surprised) and the chicken kao soi had a kick of heat to it, which a spicy food lover will enjoy (contrasting with the coconut milk in the curry soup broth) read more

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Cate & I were joined by Tom & Yummi for a repeat visit to this place. We had a very good first experience and were surprised when we realized it has been 5 years since our last visit. We arrived on Sunday @ 1230p before they get busy. We each had something different. Lara Gai, Tom Yum Soup,Choo Chee with Shrimp, grilled Salmon with pea nut sauce. Wow, it was all very good. The service was a bit spotty and a bit slow but other than that a nice lunch experience. read more

On the one hand, I really liked their drunken noodles. The texture of the noodles was spot on, and I loved the ample vegetables. On the other hand, the dish is SPICY. Not American or even Korean cuisine standard spicy but Thai-cuisine spicy. The kind of spicy where you are reaching for both a napkin and the quickly disappearing water. The kind where you can get a table of Asians to sweat from how spicy the dish is. read more

All of the Absolute Thai dishes I've tried over the past two years have been tasty and very satisfying. The portions are also good and I like that you can choose either white or brown rice. For some reason a lot of Thai restaurants don't serve brown rice. Our favorites are the green curry with tofu, and the Jungle with chicken which is kind of a spicy vegetable and chicken stir-fry. The service is very lovely too. (I''ve continued to order take-out during Covid.) read more

I had just gotten into town and a friend of mine and I decided to look around and search for some Thai food. We found Absolute Thai conveniently located behind the Verizon Center. It was a busy Friday night for most of the restaurants on the 6th street. We luckily got a table at here before the whole dining room filled up. All three courses came out of the kitchen in an extremely timely manner. My highlight was the Chicken Pad Thai. My friend really enjoyed the fried tempura ice cream. He forced me to take a few bites because he was really loving it and said he would kick himself, if he ate the whole thing by himself. I have to say that was a great way to end the meal. The Thai Smile Martinis were delicious! I would definitely recommend one of those if you want to try a signature martini. If not, then they have Shock Top, which gets no complaints here! read more

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We had an order of garden rolls and each had a noodle dish. Portion sizes are fairly hefty here. I'd come back.

I cannot believe the rating on this one is so low! We wanted to go to Daikaya, next door, but there was a 2 hour wait. (2 hours? SERIOUSLY?) We were hungry and had Shakespeare theatre tickets at 8, so we just walked in. No reservation, and they scrambled, but had a seat for us. I choose the Kao Soi -- even though they have my favorite dish, Pad See Ew, I can get that in Roanoke, where I live. I LOVED this so much I even sought out my Roanoke Thai restaurants and asked them to add it to the menu! Oh, my lord, every bite was pure heaven! Spicy, yet softened up by coconut milk, it was just luscious! My husband got the Siam Flaming Beef, and he loved it as well. I got a bite, and agree. He didn't eat mine as it was on the spicy side. I swear, if we ever go back to DC, we are coming here. Just delicious! We seriously loved eating here. Best meal ever of our three day weekend. read more

Absolute Thai Restaurant - Kao Soi so good!!! - Thai Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Scrambling to grab a quick dinner barely an hour before a Nats game--gotta avoid that overpriced and horrible stadium food--we steered ourselves to Absolute Thai after my buddy consulted Yelp on his smartphone. As an out-of-town visitor who hadn't been to DC in 15 years, I don't know jack about DC's Chinatown, but from briefly looking around I'd guess that it offers any number of Asian options that are more scintillating and authentic than Absolute Thai. This place is about as generic and by-the-numbers as Thai restaurants get. But it's pleasantly lit, comfortably furnished, and welcoming, and the food is perfectly decent and reasonably priced, so it wasn't a bad place to grab a bite in our circumstances. Ka Prao chicken was a pretty basic Thai basil dish, but it was fresh-tasting and appropriately fiery. Service was officious enough that we were able to take our seats at the ballyard about 45 seconds before the first pitch, after enduring packs of St. Louis Cardinals fans pointlessly chanting about Poo-holes on the train and in the stations. read more

This place was quite good. We were hungry around 4:30 so we stopped in and, much to our delight, they have happy hour 7 days a week! We had two small appetizers (the larb and the fried chicken wontons) off the happy hour menu, and ended up with a bill under $8. It's right by the Verizon Center, just on the back side. I'd like to come back to watch a game. Nice cozy atmosphere too. read more

Came here wtih some co-workers about twice now and it was impressive! I had the pad see ew both times and it was a hit. I like the decor - i think i want to try happy hour here sometimes. read more

Absolute Thai Restaurant - Thai Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

I went late into Absolute Thai and had the tom gha soup and chicken pad thai. The soup was very tasty and more than an ample serving. The pad thai for me was a little too Americanized for my tastes. That equals lot of sugar added when not really needed. But it was good overall and the staff was friendly and let me take my time eating. The pad thai serving was also more than expected so value wise this is a good place to go. read more

Absolute Thai Restaurant - Thai Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Delicious food. Great customer service. One of my favorite spots in near the arena. Chill atmosphere if you want to get away from the bustle. read more

Now this is a hole in the wall great food place! The drinks are poured freely and the food is really good. I enjoy this place and staff is actually nice unlike some of the H street places that rush you in and out! Parking on streets around is often available. They deliver as well. read more

We tried this restaurant while on vacation in DC and we are so happy we did! The inside is clean, comfortable and welcoming. The staff was friendly. The pad Thai was the best we have ever tasted! We would happily return. read more

I'd love to tell you how I felt about the food at this place, but we never made it that far. The ambience was nice and the waitstaff was polite, but when my co-worker tried to order a beer, they refused to recognize his Puerto Rican driver's license as a valid form of ID. Then they made the mistake of asking him for his passport to verify his age, because he obviously wasn't a citizen. Last I checked, while not a state, Puerto Rico is definitely part of the United States. We're both old enough to have seen "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in theatres, and we have enough grey in our hair and our beards - so age verification could not have been an issue. We walked out and found another Thai restaurant down the street that did accept his ID. read more

This place is such a gem!! The exterior doesn't look like much, but the interior is amazing!! I also love the sink layout outside the bathrooms. I will definitely be eating here again!! Food-wise, the laab gai is great! Papaya salad is ok. They have sticky rice on the side. I needed to find a new Thai place. This is it! read more

Great their food, quick service, kind staff. Their pad Thai chicken is really, really incredible. Highly recommended!

Great service, convenient location, food ok. I would come here again if in the area, but not to go out my way to come here. Reasonably price , great selection, love the large section of virgin drink. I had a mojito $5 and enjoyed it so much! The red curry with tofu and vegetables $13 was spicey and yummy. The fried tofu with sweet peanut sauce $6 not seasoned well, but ate it all, still good. The fat girl in me is satisfied! read more

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Had lunch here and it was good. Service was great but food wise - my dish could've used a little more flavor. I ordered the Drunken Noodles with seafood. It contained three shrimps, one scallop cut in half and tiny pieces of calamari. So was expecting more but overall it was good. read more

Fantastic food and delivery service. I am teleworking due my workplace being closed during the DC lockdown for COVID-19. I searched for a Thai restaurant on GrubHub, and Absolute Thai is close to my home. I ordered online, and the manager called to confirm my order and thank me for ordering from restaurants during this time. My lunch arrived at my apartment building 20 minutes early (yay!). The order was perfect and piping hot. I ordered the panang curry and spicy eggplant tofu--both had the right amount of spice and kick. Many thanks! Will order again. read more

The food and people were wonderful! I asked the staff what they suggested and they gave me a couple options with plusses and minuses on each. When I walked in I was in the mood for something curry, but I went with their suggestion and my goodness I was so happy that I did. The Siam Flaming Beef was such a flavorful and enjoyable dish! Plus everyone I interacted with there were sweet and kind. I will be going back many more times. read more

Got the drunken noodles and boy, they are SPICY! Which is mostly what I want from my Thai food. Tons of chili oil everywhere :) I'm a pretty hungry person but only ate about a third of the portion. Excited for leftovers! read more

This place is not good. The Tom yum soup visually resembles Tom yum soup. HOWEVER, it's really just chicken broth with some red residue in it that they're trying to pass as Tom yum soup. They don't use regular tomatoes - they use cherry tomatoes. So it doesn't give the soup that tangy/sour flavor it's supposed to have. Additionally, the mushrooms are regular, white mushrooms - not straw mushrooms that are standard in Thai soups... My roommate and I were desperate for food and the ramen place next door had too long of a wait..if you're in the same boat as we were, I suggest going here as your Absolute last resort. read more

Went to lunch on a whim with a friend. Sorta last minute but we both work nearby so it worked out well. There's a LOT of Asian food spots in Chinatown obviously so my goal is to at least try them all. (Without gaining weight.) Sorry, back to Absolute Thai, hard to miss entrance, this seems to be a theme in DC, but at least Google's got it marked well. It's actually NOT the restaurant on either side (corner stores). But it's quite spacious inside and actually kinda awesome seating arrangement, tight but comfortable. Attended to quickly and very polite hostess. It was new so I imagine waitress gave me a little extra time to figure it all out. (Basically let my friend order for me, she had been here before.) Took 10 minutes for food to arrive and it was really good! The noodles are thick and almost spongy. The broth and seasoning are amazing! The meat is pretty small/thin but tasty. She had the "Drunken Noodle w Chicken" and I had the "Pad See Ew w Chicken". Drunken Noodle was pretty good. There was just a little too much onion for either of us. The Pad See Ew looked like it was beef not chicken, which was fine since beef tasted better with the egg and broccoli. Over all experience was great and service was nice. Except at the end, which is why this place lost a star. We were sitting at a corner table and as we were waiting for our checks, a bus boy came up and moved a side table to connect to our table. While we were sitting there!!! He blocked my friend in and once the checks came back I had to help her get out! Kinda rude. But def not worth skipping this place. If you haven't been, I recommend trying it. Great food, good service. Enjoy! read more

Absolute Thai Restaurant - Pad See Ew w chicken/beef (not sure). Honestly amazing! - Thai Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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I ordered delivery through Amazon foods and was not disappointed! I ordered drunken noodles, the peanut curry (with some added spice), dumplings, spring rolls and a soup. Portion sizes were decent - could've used a bit more rice with the curry but that's personal preference as to how you eat your curry.. I tend to soak up ALLLL the juice with my rice and most don't. I also don't remember the curry having any broccoli like advertised which is a bummer. More than enough dipping sauce was provided for the spring rolls and dumplings. I do wish the drunken noodles had been filled to the brim and had a bit more meat/veg (hence my 4 star rating), but I know I'm probably being a bit greedy since it was good! No complaints really. Price was standard DC fare and delivery came quicker than expected. read more

We took advantage of a Grubhub discount offer and ordered dinner in - pad Thai and panang curry. Delivery was pretty fast, and the food was well packed. The panang curry was very good - lots of veg and meat in a creamy peanutty sauce. The accompanying rice was fluffy and even smelled more interesting than plain rice usually does. Very tasty! The pad thai, on the other hand, was not nearly as good. Gummy noodles and tough meat were way less satisfying than the curry. To be fair, maybe the pad thai is only meant to be eaten as soon as prepared. read more

Food was pretty good, service was lacking. We went with friends before a concert and it went from being empty to super busy as the concert start got closer. Friends had some drinks at the bar while they waited for us and said it was a good experience. Once we got there we got a table and quickly ordered some staples: basil rice, pad Thai, drunken noodles, and a few others. Food was good for the most part. The sauce that came with our curry puff appetizer was delicious. My rice was good, not too spicy, I think I'd ask for extra spice if I got it again. It got busy but it's a small place. Took awhile to flag someone down to refill our drink order. One of the dishes came out after the rest of us had half finished our meals. Not a big deal, but it would have been nice if someone had said it was still coming out as we weren't sure if they just forgot. read more

I found a long hair in my wonton soup. Never again! There's a reason this restaurant is usually empty.

This is the best Thai food in the District. The food was phenomenal - the Kao Soi here was as amazing as the Kai Soi I've had in Chiang Mai. The staff was beyond kind and attentive. I never write reviews but I felt like this was the least I could do, in addition to being a recurring forever customer. So glad I stumbled upon this place and strongly encourage everyone to do so as well who want authentic, delicious, Thai food made by truly lovely people. read more

Delicious thai food! one of the best green curry I've ever had. Great meal portions. If you're not sharing, there will be leftovers (for dinner-sized meals). Friendly staff too read more

The drunken noodles were sooo good. They were sweet and a little spicy and had a bit of a kick to them. They were very good though. They were very tasty and had a load of flavor read more

Service is good and place but their pad Thai was too sweet and eggplant tofu was too soupy

I would give 3 stars for the food and -10 for their SERVICES if I could. Me and my boyfriend came here on March 8 2019 which recently happened. We came when the whole restaurant had 4 customers at 4 different tables, and we came around 2:30pm. The table was set up with 2 napkins and without utensils. There were a waitress and a waiter (wearing glasses) were working on that day. The waitress DID NOT ask what we wanted to drink and automatically brought two iced water, put on our table with the whole bad attitude - it was freezing and raining outside, so of course we asked the waiter for 2 hot water. He nodded his head, DID NOT say a word and brought two hot water for us. It took us few minutes to read thru the menu. The waiter was hiding in the corner and using his phone. So we started noticing him that we were ready to order. He still DID NOT say a word, got our order for appetizer and left. When we got the papaya salad on the table, we still DID NOT have any thing to eat. Yes, they DID NOT bring any plate or utensils for us UNTIL WE ASKED them. Then we placed order for our entree. It seemed so hard for them when we asked for some spices which served at every Thai place. During the time we were there, eating, those customers left quiet quick. 3 out of 4 finished when we came around 5 minutes. So technically they had nothing to do. But, they decided play on their phones instead of checking on us if we needed to refill our water or anything else. We finished our lunch, no more water in the cups, of course we needed some more but no refill. They were on their phones the whole time, started to eat their lunch. The only time they talked to us was when they brought us the check. I forgot to mention, every time the brought stuff to us, we said THANK YOU, but NO RESPONSE. Hmmm, cool. And when they gave us changes, they DID NOT say a word. After all, when we left the place, their eyes were still stuck on the phones, and yes, DID NOT say a word to us. I felt like we came here to please for food and we got it for free. Of course I left them 15% tips which is too much for the horrible service. I would not recommend anyone to come here, especially myself. Since I'm a big fan of Thai food but this restaurant just gave me a very bad experience about them. Good luck. read more

I thought I had found my favorite Thai restaurant a few months ago, and then I visited Absolute Thai. It might have just become my number 1 contender! The appetizers were amazing. I've never had curry puffs like this. Flaky pastry crust, sweet potato inside, and the delicious sweet sauce. I was in heaven. My partner (aka The Dumpling Connoisseur) had the Kanom Jeeb dumplings and was impressed. Fresh and moist. Whenever we go to a new Thai restaurant, we get the same basic dishes - Chicken Pad Thai and Drunken Noodle with shrimp. In my mind, if a chef can't get those right, there isn't much hope for anything else. I was pleasantly surprised. The pad Thai noodles were cooked well and the mix ins were separated on the side of the dish, so you could add as little (or as much) of the peanuts, eggs, or bean sprouts as you like. The only thing missing for me was a lemon on the side. The waitress gladly brought me one upon request. The Drunken Noodle was a little spicier than ordered (mild), but the waitress brought the spice tray just in case we wanted to add a little flavor. Overall, I am excited that I have found a top notch Thai restaurant close by. I'm looking forward to returning and trying some other dishes. read more

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