There were tons of options at Maikham. The server was super friendly and helpful and talked to us about gluten free options. I ordered the Panang with Tofu. I am not sure if it is made with fish sauce, but it tasted a bit fishy to me. The dish wasn't super fresh, and hence the loss of 1 star. Also, I prefer a bit more liquid in my Panang. This seemed like a mix between a stir fry and other Panang dishes I have had. The server asked us how spicy we wanted our food from 1-5 and our dishes were made accordingly; which was nice. I also liked that our table of 4 was given 2 wine bottles of water, so we didn't need to wait for refills. The flavor and freshness wasn't quite where I would like it to be, for me. I react to high histamine foods so I usually eat pretty fresh foods, and this meal did cause a histamine rash. For most Thai food fans, this place is alright, just not knock-outta-the-park, write-home-about good. read more

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We used to eat there weekly. At some point we learned that the curries were no longer vegan. It seems like now many of their sauces are not as well, so will regrettably not be back. read more

Been here twice, and fantastic both times! Would come here more but always tend to be coming through on a day they're closed, which is always a bummer. The sukiyaki is my go-to. My husband has had rice dishes and both have been great. We had the black sticky rice the first time, but despite the menu saying it comes with coconut ice cream, it did not. I had the tamarind spritzer and it was very syrupy sweet, but still tasty. Lots of veggies, and nice and fresh tasting! read more

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Food was outstanding. Great service too. I enjoyed every bite. I had chicken satay as an appetizer and everything was just so well done and on point. Very enjoyable dining experience. read more

Maikham - Pud de ew - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

Very good service & friendly staff Food wasn't to our taste and very pricey! Meat on stick app- overcooked Lunch plate- ok but 1 drumstick for chicken? Weird Noodle dish- brought home to fix up over again... $61 Very few customers read more

We did take-out from here the other night and it wasn't the exact style we were expecting. Maybe the Lao influence was the less sauciness that we are used to, on the curry in particular. Take-out isn't always fair to the food because we don't get to eat it fresh and hot so if there is a next time, it will be eat-in. We had fresh rolls and wings as apps. Both were good but the wings suffered from the trip home as did the other hot dishes we ordered. The crab-fried noodle dish was quite good and the red curry with tofu was not bad either, just not what we expected. One point of note. We like spice but are always wary at new restaurants because we don't want to unexpectedly get blown out. After a discussion on the phone, we settled on a 3 for everything just to get our bearings. Admittedly we were told that wasn't too spicy but it would have been a 1 or 2 at most other Thai restaurants in our experience. Again, if there is a next time, we will start with 4s and probably try a 5, something we rarely do at other Thai spots. As a final story, the kitchen made a mistake packing the order and left out two key dishes. We didn't notice it at the time but we got a call 2 minutes after leaving apologizing and asking us if we wanted to turn around, which we did. They gave us a $5 coupon for our trouble which was nice so there probably will be a 2nd time just to cash in the coupon. Another note is that the restaurant was nice and warm on a cold, windy night unlike many places these days. read more

Not impressed at all with the food we ordered. The only thing that was good was the crab rangoons. The phad thai and panang curry lacked flavor and spice, despite ordering them as medium. The dinner was pricey for what we got and just boring. I don't understand the good reviews. These people need some good and real Thai food. read more

One and a half hours after giving my order I asked for it to be pt in too-go boxes. another twenty minutes later I finally got handed a bag with cold and gummy noodles. Rude and incommunicative. Don't waste your time and money. Go to QQ Li's by Starvin' Sam's instead. you'll have a much better experience read more

I came here with my boyfriend since we wanted to try something different while in Fairhaven. I got the Pad Thai with Chicken, he got the Duck Curry and Thai Iced Tea, and we split the Mango Sticky Rice for dessert. Overall the dishes were delicious and you could tell the kitchen put work into making the food look good. I would definitely come again. The Pad Thai with Chicken was flavorful, the vegetables were cooked just right, there was no artificial orange coloring you sometimes see in pad thai, and it was topped with a cute little carrot flower. My only grievance was that it was a little oily and the noodles stuck together but it didn't take away from the overall meal. The Duck Curry was also really good! It was rich, creamy, and coconut-ty. My boyfriend was full even before we went here to eat, but the aroma was so enticing and flavors were so good that he ate almost his entire plate! The Thai Iced Tea was also really creamy, sweet, and delicious. The Mango Sticky Rice came with black sticky rice which isn't something I've seen before. The rice was the perfect consistency being soft and chewy and the mango was perfectly sliced on top of the dish. read more

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Very flavorful Thai food with fresh ingredients and herbs. Server very helpful explaining the many items on the menu. Food came quite quickly even though busy inside, outside and take out. Tables well spaced for conversation. Outside patio on busy street but very popular. Food decently spiced, no choice of heat offered. read more

Maikham - Shrimp salad with lemongrass - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

This place has really good food. In particular I'm a fan of the Panang (Chicken), which is a red curry. My girlfriend is a fan of their Khao Soi. I'm a thai food lover and taste thai restaurants often and this place is so far the best in Whatcom. There are other decent ones. read more

Maikham - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

Ate here on a Monday evening. Waitperson was friendly and helpful. Barbecued pork skewers appetizer arrived quickly but was pretty flavorless. Napkins and silverware were lacking, so we had to ask for them. Then we waited over an hour for salads. Neither I nor my dining partner tolerate much spice and were promised salads without chili. When our salads finally came, they were with chili and too spicy for us to eat. They offered to remake them, but we didn't want to wait another hour. We left 2 hours after arriving, still hungry. We weren't charged for the salads, though. Probably just a bad night. read more

I really appreciate the freshness of this Thai food! So good! The ambiance is great and the service friendly. Sometimes it can be a bit slow, but I still refuse to go anywhere else for Thai because the food here is so nourishing. read more

Hands down the best Thai food around!!! I've been going to Maikham for a couple of years now and have never had anything but an amazing experience. The taste is incredible and their staff is awesome. Usanee, the head chef is very nice and personally makes sure you're taken care of. I highly recommend!!! read more

Welcome addition to the Bellingham food scene! There are several Thai restaurants in town, but Maikham is different. In fact, it's different from any of the Thai restaurants I've been to as I elaborate below. FOOD: We ordered the Chicken Avocado Curry (description from the menu "chicken or vegetarian green curry with avocado, herbs, and fresh basil") and the Chan Pad Pou ("crab fried noodles with tamarind sauce"). Unlike other Thai restaurants, they didn't ask us how spicy ("how many stars") we want our food to be. Both of the dishes were well seasons but were not overly garlicy or merely spicy with hot peppers. For example, in the chicken avocado curry, chicken was cooked with a bone in it. The bone and the vegetables make the curry delicate yet rich in flavor. It's more rich in umami, rather than spiciness. If you're used to spicy Thai food, you may feel underwhelmed or unsatisfied (just a heads up). Another difference was that the chicken avocado curry was not saucey. It was more like stir fry. SERVICE: Our waitress was friendly and very helpful. My friend and I only knew we would be ordering a couple of dishes to share but had no idea which dishes to order. Our waitress asked us a couple of simple questions, suggested two dishes, and explained why she recommended them. We were both glad that we followed her recommendations. OWNER: The owner is the chef. She's from Thailand. She came to our table to talk to us. She told us she used to work for the American Embassy in Thailand as a translator. People started calling her the "curry queen" because everyone like her curry. LOCATION: I had difficulty finding this restaurant. I used Waze and Yelp, but both failed. It's in a new building across the street (12th street) from Filling Station. CONCLUSION: I would like to come back to try other dishes. I do like spicy dishes, but it takes a lot of skills to use spices to create dimensions. Most Thai restaurants I have tried have failed in this regard. Maikham seems different in its approach to create dimensions. They seem to rely on combining different ingredients (like chicken and avocado) to achieve it. Once again, I would not be surprised if someone finds their food to be "tasteless." Both my friend and I enjoyed the delicate flavors they delivered. ***************************** If you found something useful in my review, please hit "useful" to let me know. Your feedback helps me improve my future reviews. If you love food and traveling, follow me, or better yet, let's become friends on Yelp! If you think your friends will find my review useful, please share it with them! Thank you and happy Yelping! read more

Maikham - Chicken avocado curry - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

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Absolutely the best Laotian /Thai restaurant in the area. From the time you step in the door, Leslie greets you with a smile and lots of menu ideas. The food is fresh, authentic and delicious. We love Leslie's positiveness thoughout the visit. We can't wait to come back for another delicious meal! Highly recommended! read more

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This place offers some of the best food in town made with the freshest ingredients. Their flavors are out of this world. My favorite is their duck red curry, which has pumpkin, red and green cabbage, broccoli, pineapple, and much more to make the flavor so complex and tasty. The portions are about 1.5x bigger than other restaurants. However, with all the positives, their prices do tend to be on the higher end. Also, their hours have been irregular as I went during their posted open time, but was actually closed. Finally, I found a piece of hair in my food once, but the owner agreed to make me another dish as replacement. read more

i've been to this place maybe five times now. Always very tasty and authentic. Great service. Beautiful location. best Thai in Fairhaven!! The Tom Kha Gai soup is my favorite. A bit expensive, but you get what you pay for :) read more

Tried this for the first time since we're in the area. The portions were rather small and pricey. For example, the chicken satays were 2 skinny pieces and Included a half inch of cucumber salad in a standard condiment container. That said, the food was flavorful Given our experiences with other Thai places in town, it's unlikely we will be back here. read more

I enjoyed my lunch at Maikham today. The Phad Kimaow (drunken noodles) with beef was delicious. I also had the Thai ice coffee which was great, very strong with the perfect amount of sweetness. The owner is so friendly and will make the food to your taste. Everything is extremely fresh and presented beautifully. The restaurant is clean, beautiful and nicely decorated. read more

Maikham - Phad kimaouw with beef (drunken noodles) and Thai ice coffee - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

DELICIOUS ‼ Please go here if you are looking for fresh ,unique flavors. Not like anything else in town. The owners are SO friendly , smart & know what they are doing. Try it once for lunch or dinner and your hooked. Our new Go-to neighborhood Thai spot. The pad Thai isn't too sweet or too many peanuts it's just right. I would ask for a few more limes. Drunken noodles with spicy basil and chicken ! Spring rolls with veggies!! SUPPORT THIS RESTAURANT ‼ SO GREAT‼ yum yum yum read more

Maikham - Put an egg on it!!! - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

I'm a huge fan of Thai food and I think I just found the best Thai that I have ever had. The owner, Usanee, is a very sweet woman who has been fascinated by cooking since she was a young child. There is a very interesting article about her life journey in Cascadia Daily. Her nickname here in Bellingham is Curry Queen. I live in Santa Barbara but I can tell you every and any visit to Bellingham, I will be eating at Usanee's restaurant. You gotta try this place!!! read more

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Wow! What a great spot. If you haven't been here you must go!My husband and I love Thai food and this will be our go too from now on. The food was cooked perfectly, great portions for the $ and it was absolutely delicious. The owner takes a lot of pride in serving her customers good food and it shows. So don't waste any time! Go and check this place out. read more

Maikham - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

My wife and I went for a day tour of Bellingham and hang out at the Fairhaven Waterfront boardwalk. I craved for something fresh, unique and authentic and found this Laotian-Thai restaurant. The fresh rolls were superb together with the fresh papaya salad. Also had the fresh cucumber salad. And after that shared a vegetarian Pad Thai and another Mixed Vegetable Dish. Wish I took a photo of each plate because the platings alone made us feel special. Chef Usanee gave us a brief history of the food and culture and her culinary expertise. If you want freshness and simplicity, this is the place to be on your visit to Bellingham. read more

Maikham - Vegetables Pad Thai - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

Food was fresh and colorful. We enjoyed fresh roll, Phad thai, duck curry, khao pad, and mango black sticky rice. We had our pup with us so their outside seating (on that nice warm day) worked out well. read more

I just want to open this up with the fact that she greets, seats, takes orders, cooks, AND serves the food. So if you're looking for fast, this ain't it. But if you're looking for delicious, THIS. IS. IT. Honestly, I had been looking for Usanee since the last time I ate at her previous restaurant about 4.5 years ago. I came back to Bellingham for another trip and after a few years of not seeing her restaurant come up on Yelp, I'm so glad I searched again! She was back!!! Myself, my boyfriend and a friend went in. When we first drove by, it looked like it was closed, but after a quick phone call it was confirmed they were open and we decided to go in. Usanee came running in shortly after us and explained it was really busy the night before (which I was thrilled to hear!) I told her I remembered her from the previous restaurant and how good her food was so I had to return! She was very happy and humbled to hear that. After a bit of looking over the menu we ordered a Thai Iced Tea, Thai Iced Coffee, Tom Kha Gai Soup, Phad Krapao Shrimp, Chicken Avocado Curry, and Duck Curry. Needless to say, it was ALL delicious. She really is the Curry Queen!! We finished every single bite, and I didn't even have time to take a photo because we were waaaaayyyy too excited to eat. It was only her and her sous chef, and although service might seem a little slow at first, I promise you it is worth the wait! Besides our party of three, there was a party of four also seated after us, and about 3 pick up orders all in the same hour of her opening her door/turning on her lights. Remember, as I mentioned previously, she greets, seats, takes orders, cooks, AND serves the food. She really strives to connect with each of her patrons and is extremely grateful for the support. She told us after we were done eating that she had made a come back, and then COVID happened and so it really hit them hard, but she had just been voted best International Restaurant in the PNW by Bellingham Alive, and the article would be published soon. I write this review with hopes that everyone who reads will go and support a local hard-working woman that brings passion and love into her cooking. A passion and love you can taste, and feel with her presence! Tell your friends, family, visitors to the area, heck, anyone you hear that's heading to the area. She makes you feel comfortable and you leave not only with a full belly, but a full heart! I will come back here every time I'm in Bellingham. So, please, save a seat for me Usanee! read more

Maikham - Me and Usanee, the Curry Queen, herself! - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

Hyper friendly environment and very good Thai food right in the best part of town. What else you can ask for??? This is a new addition and a really welcome one especially considering that Bellingham kind of lacks good Asian restaurants. Everything was very good and tasty all at a good price. Very much recommended read more

Nice servers. Outside area surprisingly quiet from traffic. Our dog was welcomed. First course chicken wings were hot, spicy and delicious. We shared a beef noodle dish and a pork rice dish. Both delicious. We will come again. read more

Food here is authentic and delicious. Very happy every time we visit. 5 stars because the in person customer service and food are great, but once we ordered take out and they gave us the wrong items and food quality was reduced due to being packed poorly and therefor cold, a bad experience that cost us $70. Having said that, we will definitely go back- but no more takeout. read more

More of a 4.5/5, but the food was so delicious I rounded up. The prices are on the higher end, but the entrees are really big so it's worth it. However, my friends and I ordered the spring rolls and that was a really small portion. Otherwise, everyone was nice and the food was soooo good. Would come again. read more

Maikham - Chicken Khao Phad - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

The food here be is authentic. Very delicious. just be careful when ordering level of spice. I ordered a medium and my nose was running. But the food is so good. I will eat here again. Place is small on the inside. read more

I have said it before, I'll say it again! This place is awesome every single time!! The food is so fresh, flavorful and beautiful! Check out the photo of lunch today- Boat Noodles Soup. read more

Maikham - Boat Noodle Boat Noodles Soup - Thai Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

I've been to their original restaurant that was located on State street and had a delicious meal. I've also had the pleasure of trying some of their catering options at an event in the past, which were also delicious. A coworker and I decided to try out their new Fairhaven location and were not disappointed. This is definitely not your traditional restaurant Thai Food, I almost think of it more as home style or home cooked Thai food. The restaurant is welcoming and the staff super friendly. I opted for the chicken massaman curry. The curry was delicious, fragrant and spicy and rich. I like the ratio of sauce to vegetable, just enough to coat everything and not swimming in liquid. The vegetables were fresh and delicious, and I was surprised to find an entire tender braised chicken leg as opposed to strips of chicken breast, I like the braised meat, as it's more tender and a nice alternative to what you usually get. The wait staff and owner felt bad about our long wait to get our food, I get it, they're newly open, so they gave us a little dessert treat of Taro wrapped I. Sweet rice that steamed in a banana leaf, DELICIOUS! I can't wait to come back and try more dishes! read more

Love this place! We wanted to try it for a while and finally made it over. The ambiance: nice, clean, cheerful. Plenty of outdoor seating too. The food: really good. Smaller portions but cooked well and everything tasted fresh. The service: Super friendly and helpful. Really enjoyed chatting with our server. Overall, a really positive experience. We will be back. read more

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This place is great! Always fresh ingredients. The veggies are never overly boiled/cooked. Lots of flavor and friendly staff. Nice ambiance as well :) read more

Went with 2 girlfriends and will return again. A simple deco, no nonsense & some random wall hangings place, with some nice Thai baskets n antiques. Food was excellent. We had Grilled chicken with papaya salad & sticky rice- very authentic. Larb was also tasty with freshly squeezed lime. Owners were extremely friendly and pleasant. Highly recommend read more

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Spending the weekend at Chrysalis, walked over for some dinner. Excellent service, delicious entrees. Two stand outs: the Sauvignon blanc and the mango black sticky rice with coconut cream. Above is from 2022, just stopped by for dinner again this weekend (March 2023) and the food remains impeccable! read more

We went to Maikham for dinner and found the service disorganized and chaotic, but friendly. We were motioned to a table that had a reserved card, but we hadn't made reservations. The staff then reorganized the entire restaurant to accommodate a table for five. We sat for about ten minutes before we ordered and we had to remind the staff about our drinks. Wait staff then asked if we wanted our food in courses, but we decide we'd make it easy for everyone and we took it as it was ready, including appetizer. It was all worth it, because the food was the best Thai food I have had in Bellingham and the best I've had since I was at Pok Pok in Portland. The complexity of discernible flavors was refreshing and everything was as fresh tasting as possible. This is the place for Thai food lovers, not fast food. read more

May have just been a bad day but oddly dinner came out one dish at a time five minutes apart and empty dishes hung out at the table for the meal and till we left. The high reviews brought us in but we won't be back. read more

Wow... The food here is spectacular! What a treat to taste the intricacies of authentic Lao cuisine. The Tom Kha Gai soup is subtle, delicate and very light on the coconut milk, a revelation, and beautiful with scalloped carrot roses on top. The Chicken Avocado Curry was satisfyingly flavorful and original (and I'm dreaming about it now). The Duck Noodles with vegetables tasted both nourishing and indulgent. Our server Leslie was charming, knowledgeable and attentive. Visiting the area, but if lived nearby, I'd eat here every week. read more

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