Disappointing Massaman Curry. This dish specifically centers around avocado and cashew. Visit Champa in Brier Creek and you will see. I always have tofu and vegetables added, so there Is an additional charge. At the price of the curry, while I understand many places like to upcharge for avocado, if the dish calls for it then that should be a notable ingredient. When arriving home with my takeout I opened it to find no avocado. Pouring it into a bowl I found a 1 inch by 2 inch sliver of avocado. I live too far to drive back and it was far too late at night after a long day to waste my time on the phone about it. This is something that shouldn't be remedied via customer complaints. It should be done correctly every time as the dish is designed. The 4 crab Rangoon were sweet, not the best I have tasted but pleasant. Of note, the Nam Tok beef appetizer had sensational flavor. I highly recommend it. read more

When you just need a quick bite to eat at lunch and don't want to drive around and around aimlessly this is your place to go. I was driving aimlessly and saw the big sign in a strip mall so I Yelp'd it and saw some decent food selections so I pulled on in and decided to give them a whirl. Low and Behold I was impressed by the food that I had which was the Spicy Tofu lunch special Spicy. Because I LOVE Thai and am HUGE on authentic Thai food I can't say this was the Best Thai or that the Thai here is extreme in authenticity but I can say They Try and it was tasty. So before you decide to pass up this little stripmall gem you should think again and give them a whirl. The only turn off for me is the temperature in the restaurant during the summer hours and the fact that flies get in and aggravate me (They have no control of this so I can't count this against them). Let's not forget the watery ginger salad that come with your food as an option or you get the no flavor soup which are both signature items at any Thai or Japanese restaurant. Enjoy and Happy Eating read more

A lot of people seem to like this place, but I can't quite love it. My parents and I walked in to make a to-go order when we were spending the evening at Beer Study. We waited about 5 min at the front of the restaurant and no one bothered to come to greet us. We ended up seeing that they had a website and you could order online, so we walked out and placed an order as we walked back to Beer Study. We arrived to pick it up a few minutes after when they told us it would be ready, and then again had to wait - first for the bartender to even come back to the bar, and then for the order to be ready - despite the place being mostly empty. Food is always pretty good, but the service is rarely if ever anything to write home about. I'll stick to Bangkok 54, which has good service and great food. read more

One of the best restaurants in the Triangle. The food is superb. The cocnut cake alone is enough reason to go there. But other reasons? Everything on the menu! read more

Love this place! The lamb chops are great and the bbq chicken! And don't forget the coconut cake!! So glad they don't take your temperature anymore!! read more

Had a lovely massaman curry with vegetables. Not particularly large portions, but delicious and fresh. The salad before was kind of generic asian restaurant salad with the ginger dressing. Server was attentive. read more

Thai Café - Thai Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Cannot say enough good things. My roommate and I religiously order from here every week and are never left disappointed. Our go to is the Panang Curry which I would give more than 5 stars to if given the option. I have tried other Thai restaurants in the area and nothing compares. Thank you for existing. read more

Authentic? Not at all. When we walked in, we saw no Asians here so we kinda got the bad feelings. And yep, we were right! Food here is served with a bunch of salt, salty to my core! The papaya salad was such a mess, the papaya slices were all falling apart, same as the noodles. Soups were salty too, worse than instant noodles I made at home. Pretty sure it was microwave soup since the bowl was super hot but the content was at most warm... My boyfriend ordered a $15 dish with a few beans and beef, salty as hell that he couldn't finish half of it. And he was starving before coming here Staff was slow Worst experience ever! This is not ok. We will never come back!!!! read more

Took my dad here today for his 83rd birthday. Nice selection of items and several specials available for lunch. Coconut soup with shrimp was excellent as were the spring rolls. The jumbo shrimp special was beautifully presented as well as delicious. Our waiter Alex was very attentive and was so nice to put a candle on my dads cake which leads me to the desserts. The coconut cake is homemade and absolutely fantastic as was the creme brûlée. I'm from Charlotte and will definitely return when visiting my parents. read more

Thai Café - Jumbo Shrimp special - Thai Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Went in for lunch ordered green curry. There are many other Thai restaurants in the area which are lot better than this. Firstly, the server was rude in answering the questions about the curry as I'm vegetarian and few restaurants put fish sauce in curries. Once served, no one came back for water even after asking for it. Served water with the check. Seemed like they were in a hurry to clear the single table I was sitting on, as they came to ask thrice if I'm done while I had plenty food left in my plate. Food 3/5 Service 1/5 Ambience 3/5 Maybe it was a bad day for the server so giving it total 3 stars but I'm not sure if I would want to visit again. read more

My husband and I stopped in during an intense rainstorm to sit at the bar for dinner and drinks and we were turned away because the 5 bar seats available had paper to-go bags in front of them for pickup. We were told by the bartender that she "had to have room at the bar for pickup". Double up the bags in front of two bar seats if that's the case. Don't turn paying patrons away while more than half of your bar seats are empty so that 5 paper bags of food can have that space. Poor customer service and bad business decisions being made here. Won't be back! read more

I usually only get the basil rolls here, but today I decided to branch out and get an entree. WRONG. The sauce (even though it is nowhere near the spicy that they claim) and the vegetables are good, but this chicken tastes like dinosaur meat. If they're going to serve dry ass meat like this maybe in place of the missing rice next time they could just send me off with an IV drip? Sticking to what I know next time. read more

This place used to be great. A go to spot for dinner with friends. The quality of the food has really dropped. I thought it was a fluke, but three consecutive visits with disappointing entrées and my beloved thai baskets soooo greasy, they were difficult to eat. This one is off the list for a while. I'll check back to see if they bounce back. It's a shame to see a great spot lose its way. Service was always iffy, welcoming but not attentive. But the food was so good it was still worth it. read more

Fantastic! The food was fresh and delicious. I had the drunken noodles with chicken and the spicy coconut soup. The only thing I would suggest is that they make the chicken in smaller pieces for the soup, but the taste was great. Our server was prompt and polite and I would go back again! read more

I could eat their basil shrimp stir fry and noodles with chicken and veggies all day long (and did ). Our daughter ordered it curbside in Durham and, wearing masks and gloves, they put the order in the trunk of our car. It was SO good she ordered it again the next day via Grub Hub. Even better 2nd time around. Perfect spices and heat. read more

The BEST Thai food restaurant in NC. I stopped by for lunch today with my family. We ordered the Ka Praw Lamb lunch special, Crispy Catfish, Crab angels, and Coconut Soup. Everything was fresh tasting and delicious. I highly recommend the Lamb! Service was awesome as well. Our waitress Li Li took great care of us the entire time. I will most definitely come back! read more

Thai Cafe is the best affordable Thai food in the Triangle, in my opinion. My favorite dishes are the green curry and drunken noodle, both very flavorful and just the right amount of spice. It's usually easy to get a table, and the lot has plenty of parking. The service is pretty good too, and they offer carry out, which is usually ready about 20 minutes after you call. Great for a casual weeknight or special weekend dinner. read more

I couldn't get through to the Wake Forest location so I called the Durham one. I've been there a few times, and always had a great experience. Tommy went WAY above and beyond to help us get an order in at the Wake Forest location. My bf wants super super super Thai spicy food, and Tommy made sure to let their chefs know to blaze him up. He is hilarious! I give this place 5 stars for the sheer fact that Tommy is the man. :) read more

First time ordering fold from this place. Ordered the Thai 3 Flavor Fish -Special. Disappointed to see tilapia fillet instead of a whole fried fish. I had this mental picture of what it will look like but when I opened the container and saw this I was very disappointed. I tasted the sauce and i just dont get it. The green and red peppers are just too overwhelming and it does not go well with the fried fish. The smell of the bell peppers and the taste of the sauce and consistency, just dont pair well.The fish is unseasoned, very bland,no taste. It looks like it was just thawed then dumped in the fryer.Definitely not worth the $16 price tag. The fried rice is okay.Its generic, nothing special about it. Barely ate any of the fillet fish. Thank goodness. This is my first time ordering here. I won't be back. So disappointing. read more

Thai Café - Thai 3 Flavor Fish -Special Entrees $16.95 - Thai Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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This restaurant is so close to my heart. The staff is friendly and the service is great. Every dish on the menu (especially the drunken noodles, crispy fish, pad see ew and silver noodle soup, and the coconut cake is to die for) is made with love. Wonderful place for dine in or take out! read more

I'm originally from the Bay Area, so I've been spoiled with really authentic, and good thai food. The food was very average compared to what I'm used to, but I found that it's the best that you can get in Durham. Their food was affordable, and good for the price! I wouldn't go here if you were in a hurry, but the service does their best to keep customers happy. read more

I have only ever been here for lunch, but I appreciate it as a tasty, fast option that you can get in and out of during a work-break lunch. The food is good, the portions are on the larger side (I always have leftovers for the lunch portions), and the lunch menu has plenty of options for any palate. The crab angels are some of the best crab rangoon you can get in the area (is crab rangoon Thai? no. Is it really even Chinese? still no....but that doesn't mean it's not good). I like to keep it simple with the spicy coconut soup and the pad prik, or the pad thai. They're just really good, well executed staples. The staff are also quick with the service and the check, without making you feel like you're being rushed. There's ample seating even during peak lunch rush, and parking is usually not a problem. I have friends that come here much more often than me who are HUGE fans, so I'd trust them to be a good option for dinner, as well. read more

I was served raw lamb.. couldn't take second bite.. isn't it job of a server to ask me if I want rare or well done meat.. I am not an animal and I can't eat raw meat.. read more

Thai Café - Char lamb lunch menu - Thai Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Five of us had dinner here tonight; it was great! Four had crispy catfish and one had sweet & sour shrimp, plus we shared cocoanut cake and Creme brûlée. Excellent service, flavors, ambiance and reasonably priced! Love it! read more

Thai cafe is really good! I love their salads and peanut dressing, and my favorite meal is nam tok beef. It is technically an appetizer, but it's definitely enough to eat as a meal. I haven't tried much here, but plan on coming back. read more

Thai Café - Nam tok beef - Thai Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

My absolute favorite for Thai food. Don't believe the review of the coconut cake someone wrote. The coconut cake is DELICIOUS, made on-site, melt-in-your-mouth goodness. The BBq chicken is heavenly, Drunken noodles, Salmon and eggplant or chicken noodle bowl are all good choices. The Thai steak salad is wonderful. Everything is scrumptious! read more

The coconut cake is the best cake I've ever had! I've tried many variations of coconut cake and mine even come close! Highly recommend!

I don't know if my preferences have simply changed the older I get, or if places trend downhill the longer they're open... but Thai Cafe is one of those spots I used to enjoy immensely, that in recent visits disappointed. Still, they continue to be immensely popular, and even expanded their space; but it's also true that in Durham we have slim pickin's for great Asian food. Here's what I know: the spicy basil dish I got had a one-dimensional sauce with two wimpy sprigs of basil. I do give it points for protein. I ordered with beef, and it came with a ton of it. Sadly, the beef was so tough, it was difficult to enjoy. My standby's would have to be the curry dishes; although, they are not a marked improvement from the kind I can whip together at home with coconut milk and a jar of curry. read more

Thai Café - Chilli Pepper Basil (with beef added) - Thai Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I almost want to give this place 1 star because of my most recent experience here, but before that it had been decent. I got there a half hour late and my group still hadn't ordered and had been trying to flag down their server forever. Good for me, bad for them. One person had to actually get up and go up to another server who was just standing there to see if we could order. She then said, "Sorry, I'm not your server." She was just standing there doing nothing! The service during the rest of the meal did not improve. Our server looked pissed off and we had to flag someone down again for our check. I ordered the Drunken Noodles for the first time here, in the past I've tried the Pad Thai and Salmon curry. While in the past the food has been good, the noodles this time was waaaaaaaay salty, I could feel my blood pressure rising. Really disappointed, I want to love this place, but one horrible experience destroys it for me. read more

It's places like this that make me wish that half stars existed because I wouldn't say that this place is a 3, but I also wouldn't say it was a 4. I've been here a few times, but on one specific day, my significant other and I got greedy and ordered enough to feed us for two days. Their basil roll appetizer is mediocre, pretty run of the mill I would say. Surprisingly enough, the simplest thing on their appetizer menu is my favorite - the crispy fried tofu. I'm a sucker for anything deep-fried. With sweet and sour peanut sauce? Game over. It's the Asian in me. Their Thai tea and Thai coffee are the sweetest I've ever had. So if you like yours diabetically sweet, this is the place to be. I've had everything on their rice/noodle menu with the Drunken Noodles being my favorite. I usually get it with chicken and the chicken is always tender. The green curry and panang curry are both delicious. Even though the green curry has three chili-peppers next to its name on the menu, I personally don't think it's that spicy, but then again, I grew up in a house where you had to special-order your dinner if you didn't want any chili in it. The other reason why I like this place is because they're open late on Fridays and Saturdays. They don't close till 11 PM, which is unheard of around these parts unless you're hitting up a bar. The staff has always been great and there's always plenty of parking. Word of advice though. They started serving sushi not too long ago. They should stick with their Thai food. I'll leave it at that. read more

Background, I never liked this place and haven't been in many years because in my previous experience Twisted Noodles a few miles away has better food. Thai is one of my favorite cuisines, and I have it on a relatively frequent basis, as there is a fabulous local place Indochine (in Wilmington) close to where I live. Thai Cafe is my sister's favorite Thai place and she was visiting from Switzerland, so we went there on a sleepy Wednesday night with the rest of my family who we were all visiting in Durham. Restaurant was half empty yet we were standing at the entrance waiting for a table for what seemed like an eternity. Waiter takes our order we get our food, and my sister's order (panang curry) came out instead as drunken noodles. She was forced to wait for her dish while she made us eat so our food wouldn't get cold. I ordered the drunken noodle with tofu, as the last time I ordered my usual go-to, pad see ew, was disappointing. Well add this dish to the reasons why I won't be back every again, the dish just tasted like salt, was incredibly dry, and had no bright flavors like it should have. I ate about five bites until I packed it up in a to go box for one of the other family members to finish as leftovers. So disappointing, but I should have known better. read more

Super quaint and cute spot in Durham. The service was rather quick and the staff were friendly. The portion sizes were great and the food was super flavorful! read more

I ordered take out from Thai Cafe last evening and was awfully disappointed to see at least one member of the kitchen staff not wearing a face covering. I won't return until they can assure customers that this has been rectified. read more

Thai Cafe is where I go when I need Thai food. And yes, I NEED it. For me, the food is what counts, not service or atmosphere. That being said, the service is fine and the interior is surprisingly nice. In terms of service, Thai Cafe is a thousand times better than Twisted Noodle. As for the food: Thai Cafe has consistently good Tom Yum and Tom Kha Gai soups. I've had the Chai's version of Tom Yum when I had a craving and it just didn't cut it. Thai Cafe has the right blend of broth with sour limes and lemongrass with chili and a hint of fish sauce. I like their Green and Panang curries and "drunken" noodles. All pretty standard dishes. I miss Thai food from big cities, but until Durham magically transforms into SF, Thai Cafe will keep me alive. read more

Solid Thai food, convenient, and friendly service = 3.5 stars. My friend and I are on a quest for the best Thai this side of I-40. Thai Cafe was our first stop. Herein are our rankings (in "basil leaves") of the dishes we sampled: SPRING ROLLS WITHOUT SHRIMP - 3.0/5.0 leaves. Adequate but not as full of basil and flavors as they could be. BASIL CHICKEN* - 3.5/5.0 leaves. Decent-tasting, nothing objectionable. GREEN CURRY WITH STEAMED TOFU - 3.0/5.0 leaves. This dish appears yellow instead of green and was not quite as hot as we would have liked, but nonetheless, this was a curry experience that totally passes the test without throwing up any alarming red flags like bizarre veggies/consistency. SERVICE - 5.0/5.0 leaves. A staff member chased me down at Local Yogurt on one of those bitter freezing cold nights because I'd left my wallet in my chair! All in all, this was a solid Thai experience--a place you could fairly confidently take a friend from the big city who might have a (poor, ill-conceived) notion in the back of their head that there can't possibly be decent Thai food in North Carolina. Not the best in the area, but definitely worth visiting more than once when you need a Thai fix. The service was very friendly from start to finish (Food: 3 stars; Service: 4 stars). Unfortunately, we asked for "medium" hot and the green curry came out so uneventfully hot we determined we'd been served a woeful "Gringo Medium" dosage of heat. I imagine if we had stated "Thai Medium" to the waitress then that may have done the trick, as there was evident interest in tailoring the spice level to a customer's palate. On the bright side, we did request hot sauce, and the waitress happily provided us with a platter of spicy additive options, including some crushed dried pepper powder, which added some punch indeed. Bottom line: I'd visit again. The ability to walk over to Local Yogurt for dessert afterwards is also a plus! *We hadn't firmed up our sampling menu yet when we visited Thai Cafe, so we ordered Basil Chicken instead of Pad Thai. Rest assured, all reviews henceforth will include a rating for the house Pad Thai. read more

My review is for take out only as I did not dine in the restaurant (although it looks cozy and clean!!). I ordered pad see ew with chicken. My food was good--although not the best Thai food I've ever had. (I am a little biased because I've been to Bangkok). The portions are pretty large. Bottom line: worth visiting? Absolutely! read more

Hosted a friend's surprise birthday party here and had a great experience. There were 15 of us, and the manager was incredibly accommodating when an additional table's worth of people showed up (beyond the reservation they had made). We had brought our own cake, and they stored it for us in our refrigerator, helped us with all the serving ware. At the end of the night, they cut a separate check for each of us. The food was satisfying all around, everyone got exactly what they ordered, the way they ordered it. There was general consensus that all the food was good, especially the Pad thai, Penang Curry and soups. I have zero complaints, and am really happy with how wonderful the staff was for making my friend's birthday a great experience. read more

We have been coming to this restaurant since it opened. We have always thought this was some of the best tasting and presented Thai food we have ever had. IT was usually consistent. Something has happened over the past 6 months. We have been there on two different occasions and something has changed. I don't know if the chef is different or what but the food has slipped in flavor and execution. The vegetables are not cut with the same precision and the food has become sloppy. This used to be one of our go to restaurants. Until the management addresses their standards we will not be back. read more

Went here a few months ago for dinner after being told it was the best Thai place in the area. Well, it didn't look or feel much like the American Thai restaurants I am used to. I opted for a low-carb menu option: Pad Won Sen made with mung bean noodles, which admittedly I have never ordered before, but it was unremarkable. Just blah. (And lesson learned about eating a whole plate of bean products.) As for dessert, I was disappointed that they didn't offer any of the Thai restaurant staples, e.g., mango sticky rice. They had only 1 dessert option - creme brulee, if I remember correctly - and I passed on it. It's great to offer something different and avoid being cookie-cutter, but Thai cafe just didn't satisfy my Thai cravings. Bangkok 54, although not perfect, is a better option. read more

3.5 stars would be a more accurate review, but I'm feeling generous tonight. Thai Cafe has a good, but somewhat limited menu. The gang panang goong (shrimp panang curry) was cooked nicely. The portion of lad na (wide rice noodle and broccoli with gravy) was generous. Didn't see any comfort foods like khao mun gai (hainan chicken) and khao moo dang (roasted pork). And no khao neuw mamuang (sweet sticky rice with mango) for dessert??? (Okay, maybe just a seasonal thing.) Service was attentive. That it's actually run by Thai people is a plus. The space is open, warm and inviting. They have a completely out-of-place mini-sushi bar. Points off for conforming to the awful pan-Asian trend that's so prevalent in this area. The only competition in the area is Twisted Noodles. It's a toss-up between the two. Quality is marginally better at Thai Cafe, but variety is better at Twisted Noodles. Ambiance is nicer at Thai Cafe, but Twisted Noodles is more convenient for me personally. Worth a return visit and take-out. It's open relatively late too. read more