I don't like to write low-star reviews but this place is rather exceptional in just how abominable it is service-wise. I came here when they had just opened and hoped they would improve. They haven't. I understand some places are just inflexible in terms of things being made a certain way but that does not begin to account for anything about the way I have been repeatedly treated here. I was just made to feel very uncomfortable, and wanted to leave. The food is okay. Of course, my brain being battered by person after person could potentially have had some effect on my buds' ability to do their tasting job .... The service is very rushed -- regardless of how empty the place is -- and pressure-filled. Even attempting to recall the various elements of just what made the service and experiences so bad makes me feel uncomfortable and I want to leave again -- even though I am safe at home now! In most places, I want to thank the chef if I happen to get the chance but here I just feel icky at the sight of the person who created the dishes I had to finish in order to re-attain my very longed-for freedom .... I felt trapped there. I didn't even want to wait for the food to come. It's difficult to describe or figure out what actually happened. The words were kinda almost alright, I guess .... The delivery certainly wasn't! I'm getting a headache thinking about it so I think that is the best I can do. To be clear -- in case I wasn't -- I do not recommend this place. There are plenty of other restaurants Thai or otherwise. Pama Thai is spectacular, superb, excellent, friendly, beautiful, roomy and accommodating. Panida Thai and sushi bar is another wonderful Thai restaurant in the area that is, again, friendly and accommodating. If you don't particularly need Thai food, there is no shortage of all kinds of fare even within walking distance of this place. I recommend anywhere else. Then again, apparently some people love it. Perhaps they enjoy the snobbery because it gives them that real Potomac feeling. Perhaps they feel rudeness is more authentic to the culture and represents Thailand instead of pandering to polite Westerners. Perhaps they like the rushing and hurrying and being cut off and talked down to or don't notice it or are proponents and practitioners of these kinds of behaviours themselves and so they fit right in there. Whatever the reason, this place still stands and it may suit you! I hope so, so that it will always be full and I will never be lulled into thinking the empty seats and nice-looking outdoor area will somehow equate or lead to having a minimally acceptable experience there. I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it.
I think 'dismal' is a good word to give you the most basic idea of my feelings about this place .... 'Abysmal' is another good one! I'm seriously aghast reading the good reviews -- what could anyone possibly see in this place? It's not just one but now two of the most horrific restaurant experiences I've ever had in my lifetime including decades of Thai food that was all better than this! Being cut off while I'm speaking, not allowed to ask a question about the food available on the menu, having the first person we encountered speak to the waitress on my behalf to explain I'd eat only certain things so the waitress made assumptions and essentially spoke for me when she arrived, leaving me to stammer that yes, it's true, but that doesn't mean I don't have any questions! Then not being taken seriously, feel just totally disrespected, talked down to, treated with impatience, like I did not matter -- what value did I receive for my money, time, or effort? It was more like an attack than service. I mean, multiple verbal attacks. Then, when leaving, the waitress shouted from the door something about tea while appearing to look at me. I told her 'No, I don't want tea. No tea. No tea!' getting louder to make sure she didn't bring me tea. I thought maybe she'd misheard me somehow or seen me move my mouth in a way that looked like 'Tea.' Then she said to me as if I were such a hassle in her life that she was talking to someone else. Why was she shouting across the restaurant? Why not walk over to the person to whom she was 'speaking' (shouting!) and why not be more careful with where her eyes land so I would not make that mistake? Why blame me for her mistake? It was a seriously all-around shameful experience. I cannot understand how this place is still here! Horrible! read more