We tried Nara to see the changes. Honestly, I'm not too fond of the newer recipes. I don't understand why the curries are all so sweet. The roti was soggy and very oily. It was so disappointing. read more

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I came here for lunch, and as I was perusing the lunch specials, the server, possibly the owner, stated that today, October 31st, being Halloween, it was considered to be a holiday. I thought that was odd but okay. Since I've never frequented this establishment before, I always order the Drunken Tofu Noodle along with curry puffs to see how it is. It's my barometer for judging how they are as a Thai restaurant. The server mentioned their curry puffs contain chicken as an ingredient. I was fine with that. The server boasted that they make it in-house, so I was looking forward to it. After she placed it down and I took my first bite, I was expecting it to be crunchy as it's fried. I was met with it firstly, with it being room temperature. Taking my initial bite, I was disappointed with the lack of crispness. The stuffing inside was also very mushy, and it was supposed to be chicken curry puffs. I was, however, able to taste the curry powder, so that was good. The Drunken Noodle had American broccoli and baby corn in lieu of onions and carrots for vegetables. I was expecting the usual long flat noodles, but the flat noodles appeared to be broken into shorter pieces. At the time of my ordering, I had no idea it didn't come with the standard tofu because they kept asking if I wanted shrimp, chicken, or beef. I was surprised when they upcharged me an extra $2 for the fried tofu. My stomach was bothering me today, so I asked for it to be mild. It definitely took me by surprise as it was spicier than I planned for. It was extremely greasy; however, the taste of chili paste was evident, giving it a good flavor. After finishing up, the employee asked me a couple of times if I desired any dessert, to which both times, I indicated I was quite full, declined, thanked them, and requested the check. I could see the clear disappointment on their face. The ambiance is quite beautiful, and their food was tasty. Being seated at a booth allowed me to feel deliciously isolated and get some reading done. read more

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I came here the other night with a friend and I will 100% be back ASAP. I LOVE this place. The service was fantastic, the woman serving us was so friendly, and just had such great energy. The restaurant has such a unique decor, with these really cute booths. Last but certainly not least, the food. I got the Pad See Ew with tofu and it is the best I have ever had. The food came out extremely quick, nice and hot, and delicious. Portions were generous and my friend got the Drunken Noodles with beef, and she said that they were amazing as well. Prices are very reasonable too, and they have some deals depending on what day of the week you go. I highly recommend this spot!!! Definitely a new favorite! read more

Nara Thai - Pad See Ew (with tofu) - Thai Near Me - Freehold, New Jersey

It has been several years, since I'd been to this location. It was formerly called Pokok Southeast Thai and now Nara Thai. I'm happy to report that everything from the delectable food, to the stellar service, to the modern ambiance helped make this birthday dinner for a friend excellent. Food: We ordered Steamed Shrimp Dumplings, Thai Red Curry with Chicken, and Chicken with Vegetables and Cashew nut. Everything was full of flavor and spice and not watered down for the American palette. We did ask for the entrees to be mild. They were still very spicy. Service: We received exceptional, friendly and personable service. Ambiance: The interior is very modern interior for a restaurant, located in an unassuming strip mall. Everything from curtains that adorn the booths, to green foliage with a buddha sculpture create a nice vibe for a great dining experience. Price: The other prices appear to be on par with similar establishments. read more

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The food was amazing and so was the service. The staff were very friendly. We usually eat a little spicy and the food was made to our taste perfectly. The ambience is very good too. Will return again!! Our fav dishes are : Drunken noodles, Thai basil chicken entree and mango sticky rice in desserts The pricing of the dishes were reasonable too. read more

After reading the reviews, I've always wanted to try this place but never got a chance to. Hubs and I got here right at the beginning of lunch hour and were immediately seated. Hubs ordered lunch special # L1 - Singapore Laksa (noodle Soup). It has ramen noodles with vegetables, bean sprout, egg, tofu, broccoli, carrot, coconut milk with laksa curry sauce. He got it with thin rice noodle (pad Thai noodle) and ordered it mild spicy. Hubs thought it was good but he wasn't really inspired. He ordered it mild spicy and it wasn't spicy at all. It was a relatively light meal but nothing really to write home about. I had lunch special #L14 - Spicy Tofu Basil. It has fried tofu, bell pepper, carrot, broccoli, onion, chili leaves, spicy basil sauce. This was ok but no big deal. Hubs thought it was a little more flavorful than his because mine had a little bit more spicy in it. He thought that this entree was a bit pricey because tofu is cheaper than vegetables. Service was quick and friendly. Glad we got to try this place! read more

I should of known the problems were going to start when I spoke more Thai then the owners of the restaurants.... As my wife was craving Thai food, and every other Thai restaurant seems to be on Thanksgiving break, Nara Thai was our first, last, and only option. Ordering over the phone was easy enough, but I very quickly came to the realization that the owners of the place seemed to have copy and pasted their Thai menus from someplace else and did not know exactly what they were serving. For example, in Thai, "Tom Kha Gai" is Coconut Soup with Chicken. So when I ordered Tom Kha Gai off their menu...I was puzzled when I was asked "what type of meat do you want in your soup". Nonetheless I fully understand it might of a miscommunication and carried on...I shouldn't have. After picking up the large group order and making it back to my house, a few things became very apparent. 1. The apps were actually pretty good. My friend's Indian Roti had good marks and the Tom Kha Gai helped a sore throat...albeit if it was a little sweeter then usual. 2. They have no idea how to cook rice noodles. 3 out of 4 people ordered a noodle dish as their main and everyone had a glob of noodles stuck together clearly indicating they didn't get the starch out before cooking. While this obviously is a home cook mistake if you have never worked with rice noodles before, for a restaurant calling themselves Thai and charging north of $15 for a plate of noodles this was unacceptable. 3. This place is WAY too expensive for what you get...and they charged me a 3.5% fee for ordering over the phone. How else do you want me to order? Pony Express? In short, if you have a craving for Thai food, there are plenty of other options nearby that can satisfy your craving...and won't charge you for having the gall to order over the phone. Best, Matt read more

Nara Thai was exceptional! I called ahead and placed my order. It was my first time patronizing the restaurant. The young man who answered the phone was cordial and very knowledgeable of the menu making suggestions where I had questions. The ambience of the restaurant was intimate and welcoming when I arrived to pick up my food. The food was very good! The fried Nara dumplings were delicious. The Tom Yam soup was the best I ever ever had. The drunken noodles were prepared very well and had the requested amount of heat. The curry rice was very flavorful. I certainly recommend a visit! We will be back! read more

Very satisfied with my order ! Everything arrived on time and tasted delicious. Will order again.

Excellent food, pleasant authentic ambiance, and very friendly hostess. My wife and I had lunch and enjoyed it very much. I strongly recommend this nice restaurant. read more

The noodles were very good, however, the chicken dish was dry. Carrots were sour (I think they went bad?). Service was poor. We had to ask for utensils after the waitress brought our food. We ordered boba, but the first time the waitress made it, it didn't have the boba in it. We requested a remake. After 10 min, we still didn't get it, meanwhile, she was talking on the phone w/ her airpods in. We were already close to finishing our food, so we just ended up canceling the drink. The decor was beautiful though! Loved the cushions and lights and centerpieces read more

Nara Thai - Stir 47. Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashew Nut and 67. Golden Noodle - Thai Near Me - Freehold, New Jersey

Went here after almost 3 years and got the favorites - Thai Green Lemon Fish (#33) and Fried Beef on Hot Iron Plate (#46), with a mango milk tea. The fish was particularly delicious (golden pompano), which felt different from my visit 3 years back. Couldn't get enough of it. Customer service 10/10. read more

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The food was not as good as Pokok. Not authentic at all. The service was not great and time will tell if it's a training/experience issue. They messed up our order and brought out different food. The ambiance was around the same as Pokok. read more

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Did a takeout yesterday from Nara Thai. Ordered India Roti Prata(vegetarian), Pineapple fried rice(vegetarian) and Thai green curry (vegetarian). All dishes were delicious and good. Called restaurant to make dishes without mushrooms and eggs and they obliged. Thanks Nara Thai. read more

We found this little gem thanks to Yelp. We tried the drunken noodles and the lemongrass shrimp. Outstanding for both! The seasoning and spice levels were amazing! Spicy, but not overpowering. You were still able to savor each ingredient. Service was great. They could not have been nicer. The place is very inviting with small booths that create a nice cozy place to dine. By the way it's byob. read more

A lovely addition to the freehold restaurants. A good replacement for the past Thai restaurant. Food is good. Staff has a hard time with English. read more

Food is consistently incredibly good, the people are very friendly, and service is always quick.

Ordered the Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, Masaman Curry, and Red Curry. All were excellent! Will definitely order from Nara Thai again in the future. read more

The food was not very fresh. I had drunken noodle. The only way I could have enjoyed it is if I was drunk! When you tell the waitress no spice and the order is all spiced up proves to me that the food was pre mixed and everyone, like it or not will get the same amount of spice. In other words mild, medium spice and strong is one in the same. Good service...atleast I didn't have to go into the kitchen and get it myself! Nice ambiance. Bring your own if you want it to be fresh. read more

This place got way better since my last review 3 years ago. And i tried new things from the menu so that helped too. Inside it's beautiful, very ornate. The staff is very friendly and a little hard to understand. But the food is so good!! I ordered the beef mango, veg red curry, and pineapple fried rice vegetarian style. * Side note: the red curry is still pretty spicy even when you order mild. (But that's why I don't order medium lol) read more

First time here after passing by a bunch of times. We came on a Sunday night so it's pretty quiet, maybe one other table here. The food was delicious. We were very happy with the pad Thai and pad see ew. It's also byob. I have to say haven't experienced anything like this. The lamp over our table was emitting so much heat we were so warm. At one point thankfully it got cooler in the restaurant. Probably would have stayed longer if it wasn't so hot. Also interesting that we had leftovers and they charged us for the containers which I've never heard of. Server was very nice. read more

Very poor Customer Service!! Glasses were dirty. They don't give utensils unless you asked and food was not fresh. Worst dining experience ever... read more

Was there 2 days ago. Only 4 tables were occupied. Took a long time to take our order and then after about 45 minutes the waitress kept coming to our table to apologize and said it won't be anytime soon and brought out the wrong order. We left. read more

All the foods are delicious. And their Thai tea is the best in this area. All the servers are kind and friendly, they bring me their special hot chili oil which tastes so good. Will definitely recommend everyone to try if you like spicy food. The booth is quiet, private, and cozy. read more

This restaurant is beautiful- from the decor to ambience to the menu and the presentation of food. I really wish the food tasted better. The menu is beautiful- with large colorful pictures. Everything in the photos looked delicious and we wanted to try everything! We sat in the booth, which had a private feeling. The booths are sort of sectioned off with a quasi-curtain. To start with, we ordered the ribs. The presentation was beautiful and we were tempted to get it when we saw the menu pictures as well as a neighboring table with this dish. The ribs though, were not fall-off-the- bone tender. It was tougher than I expected. We also ordered the Penang curry chicken. It was good but would have been better if it was mixed with some vegetables instead of just chicken. The spiciness was a little overpowering. Hubby didn't like the Tom yum soup, which he normally loves. He fired off a laundry list of complaints with each mouthful (not enough vinegar, not much ingredients except broth, etc, etc) The salt and pepper shrimp was good, and beautifully presented. The dishes are pricier than most Thai places I've been to and service was very slow. read more

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Its my family's 2nd time coming here. We decided to go here for my birthday. The food was great. Itll be great if it tells you on the menu the entrees size portion wether if it feeds 2 or 4 people. We ordered a few appetizer, entrees, and dessert. We got the mango sticky rice and it was delicious. It was probably my favorite. The mangoes were ripe. It'll be great if portion was a little bigger. They dont do anything special for birthday occasion like they could have offered another mango sticky rice for free. Our total came out to be almost $300. They should have photos on all food shown on menu. We got lemongrass porkchop but on menu photo it was different from when it was served to us. read more

Nara Thai - Thai Near Me - Freehold, New Jersey

Went for lunch; we have eaten here many times but not in a year or so. Should have been suspicious when we saw a large table in the center of dining room near the entrance with toys, massage guns and air purifiers for sale; notice taped to table notifying of .50 charge for containers (presumably for leftover food). Waiter mixed up our order, and entrees came out 20 min apart. Thai fish cake appy was greasy and did not have the texture this dish should have (have had a much better version here in the past) and not served with the usual go-with. My Tom yum fried rice was mush; had large chunks of almost raw onion and chewy squid which did not taste fresh. My wife's drunken noodles were also subpar. We have enjoyed coming to this restaurant on occasion since it opened. Sad to see it has gone downhill. Possible we were there on an off day. I suspect not. read more

Nice Thai spot, definitely ask for the flight of jalapeños, chipotle, peppers to add to food...nice spice up. And ask for meal to be made with extra chilis. read more

The food was very good nice heat to it great selection decent prices. The staff or owners a little casual but they did come and help whenever we needed anything and I do recommend taking a trip there clean nice well established restaurant by the way is bring your own liquor. read more

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A bit pricey especially charging 50 cents for doggie bag - food excellent. Imho high end Thai food. Extensive menu. Roti and summer rolls terrific. Chicken curry and seafood basil fish excellent- Will return They really shouldn't charge for the microwave safe doggie bag - but ok read more

After a day with my kids at Great Adventure, we decided to eat dinner outside of the park. No one really knew what they wanted, and a restaurant search came up with Pokok as one of the sponsored places. It had a lot of good reviews, so we decided to check it out. About a half hour from the park, the restaurant had several patrons inside, and the center table was loaded with bags to prepare for take-out orders of which they were constantly being picked up. If there were a contest for prettiest menu, Pokok would win hands down. Everything pictured in the menu looked amazing and there were so many choices. We ended up with the Combo Appetizer which included fish cakes, spring rolls, wonton, shrimp on sugarcane skewer, and a chicken made wrapped in some type of leaf. My son made the mistake of trying to eat the leaf which was not a good thing. All on the plate was quite nice, not overly fried, and all had a favorite. There was plenty for the three of us. For entrees, my son had the Indonesian Turmeric Rice which he really liked a lot and even got the "you cleaned your plate" complement from the staff. My daughter had the Malay Curry Chicken which was the best dish of the evening. Nice spice and a little kick to it. There were good sized pieces of chicken and potato in the bowl. My dish, Triple Taste Duck, or duck three-way as I called it, was a dud. Duck was a little overcooked, the sauce too sweet and overpowering, and not enough onions and peppers. I still ate it, but was wishing I went with one of the curry dishes after trying my daughter's. We also each got some bubble tea because my kids always wanted to try it. They both got milk flavor and I got mango. Both kids were not impressed. I tried theirs and I felt like I was drinking flowers. My mango bubble tea was just fine. Service was friendly and attentive. $99 for appetizer combo, three bubble teas, and three entrees not including tip. Definitely get the curry. read more

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Had a good experience with dine-in. One of the very few places where you can have your Dogs inside. Team was accomidative and the recommendations were awesome. Food and ambiance was great. read more

This is a review on a first time take out order. Both the chicken sate & green curry fried rice were delicious, fresh and bright with flavor. Their style of chicken sate was a stand-out - honestly the best I have had in years including the sauces which looked & tasted homemade. The rice dish offered a generous amount of veggies, chicken & Thai basil - if you order mild dishes the heat on this one might surprise you so be aware of that. I thought it was perfect for me. They sell packaged homemade jerky at the entrance that looked amazing. In terms of service & ambience, the food was packed with care & traveled well. Though I did not dine in the woman who took my call was patient and friendly at pick-up. The inside ambience was clean & inviting with Thai influences throughout. Pokok will definitely be my Thai spot going forward - excited to try their curry, jerky & papaya salad next/ read more

Everything is nicely decorated inside and the waitress that served us was super patient with us when deciding on what to eat. The prices are a bit on the higher end compared to the other Thai restaurants I've been to but the portions are quite large. All the dishes we got were super delicious. I highly reccomend the lemongrass grilled pork chop as it had an immense amount of flavor to it. read more

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My mother and I came for one day .the food is beyond excellent here ,very pleasant service and the interior felt very homey and cozy

My hubby and I came for a luncheon in weekday. The place is clean and comfortable. We had a chicken satays for appetizer. We don't really like it ( l thinks it's not grilled and the sauce without the lemongrass) Singapore Laksa is my favorite, if you like the curry soup! My hubby ordered chicken with green curry. Taste pretty good. read more

One of the best Thai restaurants in Monmouth county Food is perfect & bubble tea Owners are very nice read more

Ordered take out for first time after reading good online reviews. Vegetable fried rice was a total disappointment with too much soy sauce where it made the rice a bit bitter! Vegetable and Tofu green curry was spicy at regular level (I guess) even though we specifically asked for MILD :( I will be careful when I order next time from them. read more

Nara Thai - Thai Near Me - Freehold, New Jersey

Had a very enjoyable time last night celebrating my birthday. Very nice atmosphere, seated in a booth that was reserved in advance. The owner/manager/chef Phensri personally greeted us and was very friendly. Service was excellent. We had the Thai spring roll appetizer, Tom yam prawn soup, sweet & sour beef, Thai basil stir fried beef and 2 orders of drunken noodle with chicken. All meals were delicious and did not disappoint. Prices were slightly high but worth it. Leftover containers are 50 cents each additional. Highly recommend this restaurant. read more

First time with wife and parents. Decor was ok with a mix of traditional Thai feel and big screen TVs. Food wise, it was pretty good for the price and taste. Got mostly noodle dishes, dry and soupy. Decent portions. Service is ok. Was not crowded when we walked in, and the hostess/waitress took several minutes to even acknowledge we were there. Not really friendly, but did eventually get seated. Our server seemed like she just started because she did not know the menu very well. She also overcharged at the dinner pricing even though it was the lunch special. Would go back for the food. read more