Went out on a Friday night with the family for a good Thai dinner. We've enjoyed Thai food in many parts of the country and have eaten at most of the Thai restaurants in San Antonio. We've enjoyed the food at Tong's on Austin Highway and Thai Topaz--Castle Hills (the location on NW Military is more appropriate for a nice dinner). This was our second time eating at Thai Dee. The first time was over 5 years ago when our son attended the International School of the Americas right around the corner. Back then, our older son recommended the restaurant as being a popular place for good Thai food. I don't recall the specifics of what we ordered, I just remember having GI (gastro-intestinal) issues after the meal.
OK, we put the past behind us and decided to try it again after many years. The online reviews from Google, Foursquare and Yelp definitely influenced us to give it a shot again. The restaurant has the allure of being one of those hidden gems tucked away in a less well-kept part of town (next to a convenience store adorned with classic loiterers). The line flowed slightly outside the restaurant door as customers waited for a table. We don't mind waiting, especially for good food, so we took this as a positive indicator. After a 20-25 minute wait, we were finally seated at our table. We watched as the person cleaning the table proceeded to clean the seats of the chairs with his towel (do you know what E. coli is?) and THEN cleaned the table top. The table top had a sticky feeling and to make matters worse, there was bucket between our table and the table next to ours catching water dripping from the ceiling. Upon a quick visual inspection, the ceiling displayed significant mold damage. OK, I was still willing to overlook these details if the food was flavorful and on par with the Thai food we've had in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, or even Austin (and from the reviews, we thought that this place might live up to that standard).
Our small son had to go to the bathroom and immediately upon entering it, it was apparent that the place needed some maintenance. The floor was filthy and slippery. There was feces all around the toilet seat and even around the base of the toilet near the floor. I didn't want to touch anything and did not want my child to touch anything either. In my mind, if the bathroom is dirty, then the kitchen is probably equally as dirty.
Again, I was willing to overlook these issues if the food lived up to the reviews. Well, we finally received our food. Calamari, shrimp dumplings, Pad Thai and Green Curry. The calamari was good, not great, but solid. The dipping sauce had a sweet and spicy flavor that paired well with the dish. The shrimp dumplings were not so great. After one bite, I felt an immediate twinge in my stomach. I cut one in half to discover that there was hardly in shrimp meat inside. Maybe it was minced and therefore difficult to distinguish from the soft outer wrapping. Tried another one, but they were not worth it. My son and wife did not like them either (we recently ate at Titaya's in Austin and had to order a second serving of their shrimp dumplings because they were so delicious). We awaited the Pad Thai and Green Curry--staples at most Thai restaurants and therefore a good barometer of other dishes on their menu. After one bite of the Pad Thai, I put my fork down. I picked it up again and gave it another shot. NOPE, both terrible and inedible. My wife was so hungry that she said she was going to eat the Green Curry no matter what. WRONG, the shrimp had a frozen taste that permeated the entire dish. The after taste alone required extra drinks to try to drown out the bad taste in our mouths. We all agreed on the two dishes and decided to remain hungry and leave. We asked for the check. The waitress asked if we wanted to box the food to go. We politely declined. She looked confused. We did not comment, just said that we needed to be somewhere else by 9:30. We paid the bill without complaint and took off. We'll chalk up the loss to a well-learned lesson and will commit the experience to memory. WE WILL NEVER RETURN TO THIS RESTAURANT! Long review, but felt compelled to warn others who are seeking out a nice place for high-quality, flavorful Thai food. Here's our breakdown: Ambience: 1 out of 5, Food: 1 out of 5, Service: 4 out of 5 (we did leave a 20% tip and usually leave 20% or more at most restaurants, it wasn't the wait staff's fault that the food was bad and the restaurant did not meet basic environmental/sanitary standards).
Our quest for GREAT, not good, Thai food in San Antonio continues.... read more