Stopped in for lunch today, it was early so I was the only one in the restaurant. I'd like to preface my review with this; I've been here once before for a fresh roll, apple salad and soup and I thought it was great. Service was much better and the food was WAY better. Today, very disappointing. Really small menu for lunch. I was going to order Gang Gai, the only thing they had that sounded similar was just called Red Curry, you choose your protein and level of spice. So, I ordered that. Complimentary soup arrived almost immediately. Very good flavor except a 1/3 of the cup was bamboo shoots. I ate all the broth and egg and a few shoots, but couldn't help but notice all the shoots! I left them in the cup. Food arrived very quickly after that and AGAIN WITH THE BAMBOO SHOOTS! They were everywhere. The sauce, eh. It was thin, odd perfume flavor (maybe Thai basil) and just not like Gang Gai. It wasn't, so maybe that's the problem. The chicken and peppers were ok, but overall not great and definitely not $8 worth of peppers and chicken. I just kept moving and moving more bamboo shoots into a pile. Ugh. The rice also is not Jasmine like I prefer with Thai, it was just overlooked white rice. The place is cute, clean and efficient but the kitchen was not wowing me today. Sorry. read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - WAY TOO MANY BAMBOO SHOOTS! - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

Great food. Since moving to Michigan 10 years ago I have been pretty dissapointed by the Thai places here. This one is awesome. We have only been there once but will be sure to be going back soon. Spicy Noodle was great Tom Yum Goong was amazing. Fresh rolls were huge and delicous Southern Noodle was wonderful Penn, the owner, is as friendly as they get. What a cutie. read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Southern noodle with tofu - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

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I absolutely love this restaurant. I've been to two other thai restaurants in the area and I keep coming back here. I find myself comparing other thai Restaurants to this one, as if they are the benchmark for delicious thai cuisine. I've tried so many options and i've never been disappointed. The medium spice is my go to level, the vegetarian dishes are so flavorful, and the staff/owners are so kind; they remember my order and my family. I could eat lunch every day and dinner here every night. My girls love the noodles dishes and the basil rice with no spice. I can't decide which fish is my favorite, it just depends on the day. read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Pad se'ew ... delicious! Kids love the broccoli and eggs with the large noodles. - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

Penn's is money. Some of the better Thai around the area. My fiance and I have shopped most of the places in the Royal Oak region and for the most part they all run pretty standard. Penn's is a cut above though. Penn herself is always there in the kitchen making dishes fresh, especially the Spring Rolls. Unquestionably the best we have had. They come out crispy and hot and you know they were made just as you ordered them. The one inconsistency you could argue would be with the spice level. Maybe we said mild and meant medium or said medium and got mild, but we have dined in several times and you can always ratchet it up yourself to suit your taste buds. It may be safe to say that when we discuss food options, it might go something like, "Sushi? Ehh. Mexican? Nah. Pizza? Blah. Penn's? Mmm." read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

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When you ask for heat, they bring the heat on! They don't joke about spicy here, if you ask for it, you're going to get it. That's what I like about it. Penn's is a cute little Thai place that has switched hands a few times, but hopefully it will stick with her now. I tried two dishes, the red curry with tofu and the papaya salad. The red curry was rich with flavor, coconut-iness, and full with curry flavor, nothing watered down. I ordered it medium, what I remember from this dish, is the wonderful flavor of the curry, but the heat, man, the heat. I may have had a few beads of sweat on my forehead. The papaya salad was also good, but I had slightly higher expectations. It didn't have as much flavor as I was expecting, but it's also wonderful to have a salad once in a while with a kick. You get to order this salad also with the spicy level you wish. I chose medium of course and here is this nice slightly acidic refreshing salad, that has a kick, some heat, and you're sweating again! It's a neat contrast if you're not use to it. They are super nice inside and I would gladly go back to try more and more. read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Red curry with tofu - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

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The Beau used to live near Penn's so he used to eat here all the time. When we were in town doing some grocery shopping, the Beau wanted to stop by for dinner. It is a very small restaurant with old decor. We ordered the spicy noodles with pork and the green curry with chicken. The spicy noodles were good, but a bit too oily. The green curry was very delicious! I would definitely get this again! read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Spicy noodles. Delicious, but a bit too much oil. - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

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We have been looking for great Thai food in the Metro Detroit area. This is not it. The food was good but their has to be better out there. The service was not so good. We were sat with no chop sticks or flatware. Food started to arrive and still no way to eat it. We had to track down the server down in the back to get them. My arm is in a sling. I was served coke from a bottle with the cap screwed on tight. I finally got the cap off and ended up spilling the coke while trying to poor it into a glass of ice. I was not offered another glass of ice or another. When I finished eating I had more than half of my food left. We again had to flag down the counter guy for our check and for a carry out container. No help was offered to pack my food. I will not return. read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

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Had the Red curry and 1 order of spring rolls. Have to say it was underwhelming. Spring were at best and couldn't find the vegetables in the Curry. I expect to get a decent amount of vegetables but come on. I mean literally hard to find. Not again. read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen is everything that you'll ever want from a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant. The food is served fresh, the staff is friendly, the environment is quiet, and the price is right! Penn, the owner and head chef, is always at the restaurant to greet you and offer suggestions of her favorites on the menu. The location is a bit funny, being in an older strip mall type venue, but for a quiet night or a quick lunch I couldn't care less. Besides- once the food arrives (which is always within minutes of ordering), I am too focused on the sensory overload of thai spices to care about the scenery. I personally was not a huge fan of the fuji apple salad (it seemed like just sliced apples with some light citrus on them to me), but all of the soups are to die for. The spring rolls are fresh and savory, and every new entree we try becomes "our new favorite." By far, my fiance & I's favorite place to nosh out on some spectacular thai on a quiet evening. read more

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We have enjoyed several meals from Penn's. Usually we do carry out. It's on my way home from work - lucky me!! Recently got an order for 4 adults and everyone loved their food! Great vegetarian options. We really liked the curries and the noodle dishes. Wonderful flavors and spices. Need to order again to try some additional menu items. They recently did some updates to the interior. It's not a fancy place - just a small dining room in a strip mall near Crooks & 14. read more

I am not the biggest lover of Thai food, but this restaurant could easily change that after just two visits. The place is small and intimate, which in my opinion is usually a good sign because the service is better, and in this case, definitely is. The food was very delicious, to the point I wished I wasn't full because I wanted to keep eating.. The staff was very attentive, and the owner came out to see how we were doing, which I feel is rare these days, and she even sat with us and took a picture, which she collects under the glass on the table tops. There are pictures of many happy customers. She seemed like she was so happy just to make us enjoy our dinner. I read other reviews about people complaining about her, but I feel like they don't know how to take a joke. I went back for the second time yesterday, and the restaurant was empty because of the time of day. I had the same server as before, and he made me feel just as much of a VIP as he had before when the restaurant was busier. The food was still amazing, and I needed to take some home with me, which I later ate that same night, and I wish I hadn't because I wanted it again today. The rapport with the customers is amazing, and I love the feel of the environment. I have no interest in going anywhere else for Thai food in the future if I cannot come to Penn's Thai Kitchen. read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

Well, I read many of the positive reviews here about this place, so I had to try it. In short, it was simply OK. I had the spring rolls as well as Pad Ped (veggies with curry sauce) for my entrée. 1. The positives: They give you a lot of rice, which I appreciate since I love rice, and from my experience, most places never provide quite enough. 2. The negatives: The spring rolls were disappointing, as they consisted mostly of the exterior (deep fried) wrapper with very little filling inside. So, they seemed rather dry. Also, they give you very little sauce to dip them in. Maybe a tablespoon- full at best. As for my entree, I requested it with steamed tofu, but they were unable to provide it because they said that all of their tofu is precooked (deep fried) and I'm not a fan of deep friend tofu. They offered to give me extra veggies to make up for it, which I took them up on. I've frequented many Thai places around the Troy area and find that most are pretty similar with each having different strengths and weaknesses. I also like Penn Thai Café on Rochester Road, but their spring rolls have rice wrapping, which feels like your biting into rubber and they can be tough to chew. I'm still partial to Sy Thai on Big Beaver as well as Thai Taste on Livernois, the latter of which has excellent deep fried spring rolls and the quality and taste of their food seems pretty consistent from visit to visit. read more

The more I dine here, the more I love it. Fresh Thai food. Soups are delicious. I have liked everything I've tried on the menu. There is one thing I wish would be different and that is how long they cook their noodles. They are always tough to me. I have had to ask them to cook them for longer and they still sometimes turn out harder than I like. It's personal preference, I suppose, but I don't like to fight with my food. The owner is a super sweet lady. Always friendly, and will come up to your table to see how you are doing and how you like the food. Lots of thought goes into this place. The food is always hot and the atmosphere is never cold. My suggestions: Tom Kha Gai soup and Pad See Ew entrée, preferably with chicken. read more

This is the best Thai we've had in the Metro Detroit area. Ended up ordering more to take away.

Great little Thai restaurant. Great flavor and nice staff. It was my first time but won't be my last.

As someone who eats out 4-5 times a week, I needed a change and something other than the pizza joints and chains you can find in the surrounding area. This place turned out to be a hidden gem, and so I hope you'll try it too. I hate the location of this place, but the food totally makes up for it. It's delicious every time, I'm a sucker for the pad thai, curry, and broccoli dishes. The spring rolls are a good starter as well. The veggies are always fresh, and both the chicken and shrimp are great too-never had a bad experience here. The coconut ice cream with peanuts is yummy if you have room for dessert! I love this place because its great for carry out or dining in, and if it's carry out you prefer, this isn't one of those places that slacks off or puts less effort in just because they hand it to you in a box. Friendly staff and the owner will most likely be the one cooking for you. This is one of those places where as long as you don't judge it by what it looks like on the outside, you will enjoy your experience. read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Fresh spring rolls w chicken - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

I just had the Chicken Pad Thai and it was just okay compared to other Pad Thai in the area. The problem is that it's been two hours since eating and I feel very nauseous like I'm going to be sick. They must be using very cheap or expired meat/ingredients. I have a strong stomach and normally never feel like this after eating so Im certain it's from this food. Believe the other bad reviews. I thought I would give this place another chance but it just hasn't been the same since the change in ownership a couple years back. When Penn actually owned it , it was a good place. As far as I'm concerned the entire K&S mall should be demolished. read more

Just ordered for carry out for the first time. My husband and I both got pad thai. I got medium veggie and he got spicy chicken. Both were pretty good. I did wish there were more veggies in mine to compensate for the no meat. Standard thai menu, quick timing and friendly service. Would recommend! read more

Easily the best Thai place around the RO/ bham/Berkely/ Clawson area. I've tried them all (10+ places) and no one does spice and flavor like them. I am especially a fan of the Pad Thai (extra spicy) and drunken noodles (extra spicy). If you're debating one Thai restaurant over another- get takeout from here. read more

Very good and clean. My friend is strictly gluten free and I'm gluten free preferred and they are accommodating. Very tasty food and great spice! We toss between the curry dishes, and they were all great. Friendly and clean establishment. read more

This is my favorite Thai place in Michigan, so far. We usually get Massaman curry with fried tofu and Pra Ram Long Song curry with chicken and then mix the two! The savory and sweet potato and coconut milky Massaman with the salty and hot peanutty Pra Ram Long Song make my tastebuds sing. The most recent visit, I ordered takeout for 4 including the above curries, Pad Thai, veg fried rice, *drunken noodles* and chicken satay, along with Thai iced tea. The Pad Thai is good, and they use the appropriate noodles based on the dishes, unlike some other Thai places around (*cough* So Thai Waterford). I ordered this medium plus and it was definitely spicier than all the other dishes, which were mediums. The drunken noodles somehow got lost in translation and we ended up with an order of Spicy Noodles. I didn't have a menu to see that they don't make Drunken Noodles. I would have appreciated if they mentioned that when I ordered, and then I would've ordered Pad Se Ew instead. The Spicy Noodles were tasty but not amazing. If you love simple dishes, you would probably like this! It's noodles, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. The fried rice always has a burnt flavor here, but this time it tasted less burnt than the garlic fried rice has in the past. Satay can be one of the best things you ever put in your mouth, but this dish here is inconsistent. Ours last night was overcooked (chicken jerky on a stick) and the peanut sauce was heavy on the PB and light on the spice. Overall, I'd give 5 stars if everything were excellent, but Penn's Thai Kitchen is definitely solid and we eat here fairly often. Be sure to call ahead for your order, as it saves time rather than waiting after placing in person! They prioritize their kitchen with first-come first-served, and a couple people were pretty pissed that I walked in and took my order out within 5 minutes when they had been waiting for 30. Apparently, they've never heard of calling ahead. ;) read more

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This is a quaint Thai restaurant in an unsuspecting aged plaza, which would otherwise be missed if it weren't for it's raving yelp reviews! I love Thai food, but my husband is not that fond of them, so whenever I have a lunch date with one of my girlfriends... guess where we're going?! Although it was a busy lunch hour, the service was nice and attentive. Getting refills on drinks without having to ask = attentive in my book, haha. I wanted to try a new soup, although their Tom Yum looked delicious, I went for their Tom Kha Gai. It was really tasty, a nice creamy broth with onions, mushrooms, lime, cilantro, and just the right amount of heat to melt that frostbite off my phalanges! It was a surprisingly large portion too. One gripe... their entree menu is kind of limited. They have all the popular classics, and they do them well, but I was in the mood to try something new and different, but just ended up getting their Pad Se'ew. It was really good, don't get me wrong, and again a large portion. I would definitely eat here again, well worth a second or third trip! read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Tom Kha Gai soup - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

I've had a variety of food here on a few occasions. VERY salty, runny broths. Flavors are bland. For carry out, they do not included utensils or napkins. Small portion of rice for the Thai specialties. There are better Thai places. read more

Don't get me wrong- my last experience with penns was AMAZING! The customer service here is awesome and Penn is so nice. But tonight something was up. My fresh rolls were loaded with mint. Like burning mint. The green papaya sala had some weird red liquid in it that made it super spicy. We got a new dish to the distress of my mom, the server was very nice about it though. I personally dont like the Pad Woosen, I find it too salty and prefer the Southern Noodles. I tried the red curry today, I'm not much of a curry person but it seemed nice. We had coconut ice cream that was a little frozen but it softened up. Tonight was a bit off but I didn't get to choose the plates, an they seemed busy take out wise. Overall it was an okay experience it was nice seeing Penn again. read more

I haven't been back to Penn's in years, I heard they changed owners so I was excited to give them another try... It was absolutely delicious, and the service was so attentive. Extremely clean and well priced! Can't wait to go back!!! Soooooo good! read more

A friend was craving Thai and I noticed this spot with good reviews in Royal Oak. It's not on the regular beaten path but easy access off 14 Mile. Good parking and located in an older strip mall. Dining room averaged sized and not many folks dining in at 7:30 on a Saturday night. No waiting and sat in place of choice. Orders taken quickly from the wait staff (and cashier, and take out order taker). More folks arrived while we ate. No bathrooms in restaurant but within strip mall- make sure you take the correct key for the correct bathroom- blue for boys and pink for girls- just as you'd expect. My friend ordered red curry with fried tofu and I ordered green curry with chicken. I also got soup with lemongrass and shrimp. Big servings and couldn't finish the tasty broth. Curries were steamy and full of fresh veggies. Huge bowls served with plenty of sticky rice. Spice was a bit more than anticipated, but still manageable. I ordered mild and my friend medium. She coughed after her first big bite- I was surprised as she is a seasoned spice girl. She and I were both fine after an adjustment. read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Red tofu curry top, green chicken curry bottom. - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

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I like the people who work here - they are always nice. The menu is normal Thai stuff, and the portions are plenty. Got the curry noodle with steamed tofu, the tofu was fried. But that wasn't the end of the world. It was fresh and steaming so it did the trick. Only 1 gripe, I wish the hot was hot. It is not. It is not the BEST Thai food in the area, but it is pretty good. read more

First time here and Penn's Thai Kitchen did not disappoint! I was craving some thai food and wanted to try something different. Our usual is sy thai but I think I have tried everything by now. I usually start off with pad thai at a thai place to truly test them out. Ordered a pad thai with spring rolls! Mild for me and with chicken. Delicious! I have been craving pad thai and this really hit the spot and only about $8 or so. The spring rolls were plenty and delicately crispy! Yummy and just filled with thinly sliced veggies. Love spring rolls! I'll be back to try some more goodies so I can write much more. read more

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Extremely disappointed. I've tried a lot of Thai food restaurants in my time and Penn's was easily the worst. The food was completely flavorless, as if we were eating undercooked noodles with pepper flakes. We ordered drunken noodles (how do you mess up drunken noodles??) and the spicy noodles. Both dishes were also very dry. We got the crab Rangoon and spring rolls for appetizers, which were relatively mushy, and also flavorless. Won't be going back, I hope more people write reviews so that the 4 star review doesn't trick someone else... not to mention, I wish I still had my $45 read more

Food and service are amazing. I eat here regularly for lunch. Sometimes dinner. The owner is a super cool Thai woman, I love chatting with her and the waiter, while I eat. The waiter is super friendly and really cool. Favorite dishes: Red Curry Green Curry Cashew Stir Fry Sweet Basil Stir Fry Southern Noodles The Hot and Sour Soup and Tom Yum Gai are amazing too. Eat here! read more

The food: good. The staff: okay. The owner: horrid. Super rude in an outrageous way. If you'd even like a tiny add-on (for instance, onion) she is willing to completely humiliate you by charging out of the kitchen to confront you about "changing her menu" in front of other customers. She actually said "this isn't Burger King, you can't get it your way"....needless to say, I won't return! Which is a shame because I live close by and have enjoyed carry out in the past. I will say, the staff seemed very embarrassed and were apologetic. I felt bad for them. read more

Chinese take out meets thai. And I'm not the biggest fan of Chinese take out. I ordered the pad thai and some spring rolls. While waiting I was given a free bowl of soup, which was delicious. Then came my spring rolls which were very below par. Too oily and crispy, which I generally like crispy spring rolls but not to the point where you bite them and they fall apart. Inside was sludgy, as if they were frozen and then thawed with a deep fryer... On to the pad thai. It was alright. Definitely way way too much oil and lacking flavor. Out of the dozen or so thai places I eat at the flavor profile is intense and you can taste the spice. Not here. I could've ordered a hot and it wouldve been mild+ at another establishment. It was essentially a lomein dish from a chinese place with a thai twist. Maybe that's why people love it, however I eat thai specifically for the rich flavor. The staff was lovely and very welcoming so they have that going for them. Yet, if you want real thai food I'd go elsewhere. If you want insanely americanized "thai" food this is your joint. TL;DR: What I received was the Thai food equivalent of mild foreplay. But I showed up expecting to go all the way. read more

Close. Very close. It's almost everything I was hoping for in a Thai restaurant in the Detroit Metro area, in my QAFSEM (Quest for Asian Food in SE Michigan). It's definitely my new favorite Thai place. The good: - The dishes are spicy and punchy. There aren't any sad flavors here. For example, we ordered Curry puffs from the appetizer menu. They taste a lot like Indian dosas, but they were served with a sweet tamarind? peanut sauce that really accentuated the curry taste well. I was impressed. - We didn't get spicy hot dishes, so I can't say how spicy they can go. Note to readers -- I am giving this restaurant 4/5 without having their spiciest food. You may stop being surprised now. - The service is prompt, and the family running the place is very friendly, especially with children. - The curry was excellent. I could smell it coming to the table. - Thai Iced Tea ($2) was good. Not too sweet, not too spicy, not too creamy, but a good mix of all three. Yum. - Prices were pretty reasonable. Appetizers were about $5, salads $5-10, entrees $10-$13 (depending on the meat). The bad: - It's in the funniest location, one of those outdated indoor mall/arcades in the restaurant that looks like it used to be a Mexican restaurant. The Curry puffs looked a LOT like empanadas... - Definitely not very fancy. Again, looks like a Mexican restaurant. Not an elegant place for a date. - The basil fried rice, while quite flavorful, was flavored mostly with salt. Not a lot of garlic, and definitely not a lot of basil. I think it's designed to be spicier to offset the salt, so I might try that next time. Big fan. A place where, if I had a chance to sample more dishes (i.e. soup, salad, noodle), has a great chance of getting 5/5. read more

I was super excited to try this place based on the reviews. We decided to come for dinner on a weekday while visiting someone at Beaumont. It was not good. We got quite a lot, several apps and several dinners. Spring rolls were ok, they were pretty lacking in flavor. I heard the waitress saying to another couple ordering carryout, "If I may, the spring rolls are amazing here." So not true. She also didn't give us enough silverware or any plates to eat our apps off of. We did ask for more silverware but made due with no plates. In the middle of taking our order, the waitress excused herself to answer the phone. We asked each other if she was going to cook our food too... My fiance ordered jasmine tea, which was pretty good. However, I thought it would be nice if she gave him the tea pot to refill as necessary, but instead she just kept coming back out with the teapot, which was the same size that they leave on your table elsewhere. She didn't ask if we wanted water, which I feel like is pretty standard if someone orders a hot beverage. We ended up asking for some. The food came out wrong--2 of us had our food while the other waited. Fiance got Pad See Ew, which usually has those yummy wide noodles. The waitress did say it had wide noodles when we asked, but when it came they were not what we wanted and were very chewy, and seemed not cooked all the way. Then, our other companion noticed that they gave her chicken when she had asked for tofu. If that wasn't bad enough, the chicken was RAW. Like, not maybe a little underdone, that chicken was pink-right-out-of-the-fridge raw. Disgusting, and dangerous. Rather than taking it right back and taking it off our bill, which would have been the correct course of action, the waitress said, "Well we can re-make it with tofu or with chicken. We can just cook it more if you don't mind eating the chicken. Are you a vegetarian?" Our companion informed her that she would indeed prefer tofu, since that's what she ordered, although she was not a vegetarian. So the rest of us had our food while she waited for hers to be re-made, which came after we were done eating (even though tofu doesn't require much cooking). The second version had no flavor and was not spiced at all, even though she asked for medium. My basil chicken was ok, but very average. I asked for mild with spice on the side to adjust to my own liking, but did not get the spice on the side. By the way, we were the only people eating, so it's not like they were busy to forget all of this stuff. This poor guy came in to pick up his carry out and was there almost the whole time we were waiting for his food. We bought the Yelp deal, and it did get applied to the bill, but was super confusing how she did it. I really can't believe we were charged for the raw chicken dish. Had it been my food, I would have said something, but we just wanted to leave. Last thing, the bathroom is down the hall in the shopping center, and you have to grab a key to get in. However, the key didn't work, so after 5 minutes of jiggling the key in the handle and even trying the men's room, I gave up. I would never return here, not for their food, and certainly not for their customer service. read more

My new favorite Thai place!!!!!!! Best Tom Kha soup, huge fresh rolls, and best spiced basil fried rice!!!!!! Very generous portions for the $$$ read more

Penn's Thai Kitchen - Thai Near Me - Royal Oak, Michigan

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I don't get it. I don't get it. It's oily. It's nasty. It's not even thai food. IT'S GREASY BURNT CHINESE FOOD!! detroit. when can you get thai food right? it's a shame you have so many so called thai restaurants and you can't even get chicken pad thai right. oh. and this place even messed up my thai iced tea. it was too much condense milk and sweetener. read more

Im not one to normally post this kind of stuff, but everyone in the area should have a heads up. Wednesday before we left for vacation, we ordered thai from Penn's Thai Kitchen and Catering on 14 and crooks. We get take out at least every other week and loved it there and tip everytime. This time we immediately we noticed it had a foul smell, and once we got home with it and opened it we found the chicken was under cooked and/or spoiled. Mushy texture and not kind to smell. Accidents happen and fortunately we didn't eat this otherwise the flight would have had us using everyones vomit bags and our vacation would've been awful. Being that they were closed by the time we sat down to eat I called and left a message explaining what happened and we would call back when we get back into town. So the problem is not that, a simple credit or refund would have been awesome. An apology and this would not be on here for you to read. Instead after calling back we were accused of trying to scam for a free meal, no apology, like we were lying. Told we should have saved the rancid food in our freezer till we got back so we could bring it back in and being argued with over the phone. I LOVE supporting local business especially in my city. However if that appreciation isn't going both ways I have no problem letting everyone know to avoid this place. read more

Found this place by accident. We were looking for a new Thai place, so I did a search on Yelp. This place had several high reviews, so we t hought to give it a try..NOT disappointed at all. DELISH!!! We both had bowls of soup...soooooooo much flavor. We then had the spring rolls (not the fried ones) and they good, but they could have used a bit more cilantro, a little mint...to flavor them up a bit. Also the dipping sauce was a bit too sweet. I think a peanut sauce would have been a better match. My husband had the red curry chicken with veggies...UNBELIEVABLE. The flavors burst in your mouth like fireworks on the 4th of July. So many different flavors and all melding together nicely! I had the Pad Thai with Shrimp. DELISH! The nice thing about Penn's Pad Thai, the sauce is there, but it doesn't overwhelm the dish. Some places make the sauce sweet, too hot and too much, so it doesn't sit well on your palate. The portions are big, so we had plenty to take home for lunch the next day. I think the prices are appropriate for quality and quantity. The waitress was very friendly, quick service...Penn is one of the few owners of a restaurant who really cares about what the customer thinks. She also has a great sense of humor and is very personable. The ONLY negative...the venting in the place is poor. We stunk to high heaven when we left there. You could smell grease on us quite sometime... Happy Eating!! read more

For one reason or another, I've fallen way behind on my reviews over the course of the summer. I've got a laundry list of joints to write about, and this is the first. Let me start off by saying, I've grown fond of Grandma Penn. She always seems to be the only one there when I dine, and is just the most friendly restaurateur I've yet had the pleasure of knowing. Heck, she even gave me a bowl of the homemade coconut ice cream with a candle stuck in it for my birthday! But, I digress. The food at Penn's Thai Kitchen has consistently been wonderful. As Janelle mentioned, the curries are just excellent - I am partial to green curry myself, but they are all great. The basil stir fry, which I had the pleasure of sampling not too long ago, was some of the best stir fried food I'd had in recent memory (I'd give more details, but it's just crossed that threshold of memory where I remember my opinion of it, but not what that opinion specifically entailed). More recently, I tried the basil fried rice. (Perhaps this is a trend...) I was honestly not quite as pleased with this dish as I was with the comparable stir fry, but it was still very good. The vegetables were fresh, all cooked with minimal oil, etc. In retrospect, I just wish the basil had been more prominent in the flavor of the dish - it was merely hinted, at best. Additionally, I love the tom kha gai, and order it each time I go. With chicken, or just vegetables, it's great all around. I will definitely be visiting g-ma Penn again and again. read more

I can't believe i'm doing this, but I need to invoke the ultimate Yelp cliche: "I really want to like this place!" You see, Penn's Thai kitchen is VERY close to my house. Hence the reason I really want to like this place. I have been dreaming of the day there exists an excellent Thai restaurant within walking distance of my house. I may have to keep dreaming. I have been here a total of three times now. The first time I went, I ordered Pad Thai and it was really truly awful. The noodles were under-cooked, and there was no flavor whatsoever. It's as if they completely forgot to add any sort of sauce. Okay. Maybe they just don't do noodles well. The second time I went here I decided to try the Red Curry. This too was terrible. It was very watery and didn't have much of a flavor, but had a terrible smell. I couldn't believe that this was the same restaurant that was getting rave reviews by tons of elite Yelpers with all their elite Yelp cred! I held off on reviewing this place for a long time, refusing to believe that the emperor had no clothes. I finally made it back a third time because I'm lazy or stupid. You decide. I ordered the Thai Fried Rice & some Penn's Fresh rolls. This is the first time I actually enjoyed what I ate. The fried rice was flavorful, and the fresh rolls tasted... well... fresh. I could do without the mint leaves, but it was still pretty good. Here is my dilemma. Twice I had absolutely awful food. If I had written my review after my second visit, I would have to invoke the penultimate Yelp cliche: "If I could give ZERO stars I would!" But my third visit leaves me with many questions. Were my first two visits just a fluke? Is there something special about this place? I'm willing to give it a fourth try based on the strength of my third visit. Another compelling reason for me to give it another shot is the fact that Penn herself is a very funny and charismatic woman. The young woman who took my order over the phone and was working the register was also very sweet and courteous. She asked me if I had ever had the fresh rolls before, and gave me pointers on how to best eat them. (Pour the sauce on them. Don't dip.). She also gave me a really sincere "Enjoy the rest of your evening!" and a smile as I was leaving. It made an impact with me, and It's the little things like this that can really set one restaurant apart from the others. I am giving this restaurant Two Stars™ for now. I will update my review accordingly after my next visit. read more