Jai Thai Restaurant

Dropped in here last week to grab a quick bite to eat with several friends. Even though we had no reservations, the 10 of us were seated very quickly. They provide a pretty decent size menu with dishes divided by meat type. All of it looked good, but I ordered the Chicken Curry dish. I told the waitress "On a scale from 1 to 10, I'll have an 8". We all got our dishes served piping hot and everything smelled delicious. I dove into my hot curry and all tasted good. I don't think anyone was disappointed. After about 5 minutes, I noticed that my food hadn't "cooled" down temperature-wise, but was just getting hotter with every bite. It still tasted good and I like some good heat, so I just continued. Well, about halfway thru my meal, I just could not take another bite - my mouth was sooo on fire. I asked the waitress what "number" heat this was. She said "Our scale goes from 1 to 4 ... you wanted 8." Holey cow. Now mind, you it still tasted good, but you might want to use their 4-star scale and not exceed it. :) I would return no problem though.

Came in for lunch on a Sunday and it was largely empty. It’s a big space and has lovely arches. The food is quite good too. We ordered a papaya salad and a basil fried rice which came pretty quickly. The flavors are great and the portions are quite large (but probably normal American sizes). Service is quick and you pay at the counter. We were in and out within 40 minutes.

Came here on a Monday night with some friends after the wait for Kin Len across the street was over an hour. This a solid alternative if they’re too full. Overall, the food is solid, prices are average, atmosphere is awesome, and service is mediocre. We got the Pad See Ew and Masaman curry with tofu. Both were good! The Pad See Ew had really delicious, chewy and thick noodles, and the napa cabbage, broccoli and carrots were cooked very well. The sauce, while tasty, was a bit on the salty side. However, the tofu was not good at all - chewy, tough, and seemed like it had been frozen and reheated in a microwave. Maybe the chicken is better. The masaman curry was delicious, with softer tofu and thick potatoes. The sauce had full flavor and was quite good. The only complaint here was, the white rice was cooked with too much water and was a bit mushy. Service was a bit slow, and the staff didn’t seem all that happy we were there, but no big complaints. Overall, a solid place with good flavors and a nice atmosphere. Maybe just a little more attention to detail on their part is needed.

I love Jai Thai (Fremont only! I think the location in the Hill is gone, but if it's not never go there lol....one of the skeeziest places I've ever eaten at). I've eaten at a lot of Thai places in Seattle, and Jai Thai is a consistent favorite. Their flavors tend toward creamy, rich, and a little sweet (my preference), but they can definitely bring heat if you want it. Their thom kha soup is delicious, one of the best in the city that I've found. I highly recommend it. Other than that I've tried basically every vegetarian thing on their menu. Stand outs for me are the massamun curry (their potatoes melt in your mouth like potato chips), the mieng kham for something fresh, the gauy teiw heang (very sweet, but super unique-- get it a little spicy!), and the rama noodles (I've had so much gross, congealed tasting peanut sauces in this city.... Jai Thai's actually tastes fresh and has great consistency!). My meat eating friends also highly recommend the angel wings. And obviously you can't go wrong with mango sticky rice-- so good!