Mild Thai spice should not mean without flavor. I had the crispy duck which was over steamed vegetables and am still searching for the flavor. The duck (not certain it was duck) was battered and fried which masks the flavor of this meat. The sauce was not rich and I really couldn't appreciate the basil. I didn't finish it. My appetizer was the steamed dumplings which were also nothing exceptional. I'm not Asian so don't pretend to be an expert but I have had Thai food all over the world. This doesn't rank very highly. Service was very good quick and friendly. This spot in Bethesda has been a Thai restaurant for decades. It is not the same. read more

They have 3 dishes that I really like. The crispy duck which is called the Sala Thai Duck. It is a deep fried duck that is reminiscent of popcorn chicken, but with duck meat. I'm not sure how well it goes with the vegetables that it comes with and I wish there was a good dipping sauce to accompany it, but on its own, it's still really good. For appetizers, their dumplings are like meats in a dumpling wrap. Very tasty on their own. Pineapples fried rice. I get this with chicken added and it's delicious. The pineapples (from my experience in July and August) are fresh, ripe, and cooked. Everything was savory or sweet that I ordered. The staff was super helpful, plus they were supportive in working around allergies. I already recommend them to friends and family and I have ordered from them at least twice. Are they 5 star spectacular? Maybe not. But they do a lot right, the food I've had is good, 4.5 stars isn't a thing, and 4 stars didn't feel right either. Plus I have plans to go back here for dinner next week with friends. read more

Ordered takeout. Red & massaman curry, Pad Thai, soups, shrimp & brocolli All dishes were very good,by everyone.

Takeout review!!! This was delicious! I can't believe I waited so long to try it.. very large portion of spicy fried rice, great flavor, perfect chicken, they added extra broccoli for me with no added charge. The spring rolls were delicious too!! I also highly recommend the Thai tea, it was tasty, ice cold, and also very good portion size. All in all great first experience and definitely will be back :) read more

We ordered pod Thai which had been premade the noodles were all soft and broken up and we also ordered Kapow chicken which was supposed to be ground with basil and it was thin chicken slices with string beans and it didn't taste like anything I was really disappointed and I will never ever go back there again read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Basil chicken - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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I'm not sure why the reviews on here are so bad, this is the best thai food that we've had in the area. Would have given this five stars but haven't had enough of the menu yet. Started with pad thai and pad see ew and it was excellent. So much flavor and such a great portion. Will absolutely be back! read more

Loved the red curry and pork belly! Our server was great too and helped us avoid our food allergies.

We order takeout from here a lot. Their panaeng curry is some of the best in Bethesda. They don't offer the Thai spicy option, it's always still mild even though I ask for "extra extra spicy". Regardless if the lack of heat, they use crushed peanuts in the curry sauce which is delightful. I've gotten the pad Thai from here too and it's pretty on point with others in the neighborhood such as Bangkok Garden. Fun fact: they are the first restaurant I've seen that shrink wraps their containers so the delivery driver won't spill sauce everywhere. It also keeps the food piping hot. read more

This place is fantastic for the food, service, and entertainment. A delightful place for a Friday or Saturday night date. Jea, our sweet and attentive server, made excellent recommendations when we were debating between two dishes and kept our drinks filled all night. Our food came quickly and was hot & delicious. For dinner, we took a yelp recommendation of Mai Fah. Delicious rice noodles stir fried with shredded black fungi, pork, and egg. Perfectly cooked and flavorful. The profile of this dish is similar to how fried rice would taste, but with rice noodles. We also ordered the hot and spicy catfish and duck. The duck turned out to be mostly fatty bits and skin which we won't order again, but the catfish was fantastic. Perfectly fried filets; no breading just the way I like it coated in a lovely, flavorful red sauce. An abundant amount of sliced hot peppers hit the pan and added texture, freshness, and heat to the dish. Beautifully decorated with peppercorn and basil leaves. We ended the meal by enjoying music from the Jazz band. A very nice touch to our Friday night! read more

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Delicious drunken noodles -- a good level of spiciness. Fast service. We liked the pumpkin tofu curry too.

Headed out for a quick drink & saw the "Live Jazz Music" sign in the window, so I popped in. I wasn't expecting the Hostesses to tell me there weren't any tables available due to previous reservations being made. After a few seconds of banter in trying to get her to tell me yes or no that reservations was necessary, I left. I came back to grab a Take Out Menu & she said she had a table for me...ok, round two. I sat by the window right next to the 2 Person Band & enjoyed the music for a few minutes before TiTi my server arrived. She was full of energy & with fast service. As quick as I ordered my wine, she was back with it & asked if I wanted to order my entree. Told her no, I wanted to start off the Veggie Spring Rolls. They came pretty fast too & were very fresh & cooked well. Not greasy or flaky & the veggies were crisp. TiTi was on me like every 5 minutes to see if I was ready for my entree. & after a few more "not yet's" I was ready to order & TiTi was no where to be found, classic, LOL! I had the basic...Veggie Pad Thai w/o the peanuts & didn't have a long wait for it to come out. Great preparation of fresh veggies & sauce with a pretty good portion. Nice little outing with live music & tasty/quick Thai food for an early Saturday night bite to eat that hit the mark. read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Veggie Pad Thai. - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Got takeout on a moderately busy Thursday night. Service was quick and friendly, and the food was great but pricey. We ordered the larb gai, green curry chicken, ka prow, and spicy eggplant. My favorite was the ka prow chicken because it was spicy and sweet. The portion sizes were also fair and the right amount. Everything came with rice. I loved dipping my rice in my stir fry sauce! read more

This a cute corner store resteraunt. The staff is very sweet, they start u off with a water and have both a drinks and dinner menu. Their tai tea is probably one of the best I've had in Bethesda thus far. It's not too expensive ^ this can be a cute place to eat with friends read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Thai Thai Iced Tea Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles) Spring Roll - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Great pork pad Thai. Love the food but not sure how healthy it is? Anyways, a good place to hang out with friends and have a good time. read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

My whole family loves this restaurant. Consistently quality and delicious authentic Thai dishes. Excellent service.

Ordered from Uber eats and came to our dooo piping hot. We got the pad Thai and drunken noodle. The drunken noodle was better than the pad Thai except that the noodles were gummier than usual. The price was very reasonable tho, and because it's so conveniently close we will most likely be going back. Huge portion sizes with take out too. read more

Food was poor quality, specifically the meat was nearly inedible. Ordered multiple entrees and was not satisfied by any. Service was also left to be desired. If your after good Thai try somewhere else. read more

I have been to Thailand many times and love the food there. I have been to Sala Thai twice and ordered the shreded beef Ka Prao both times and it was excellent. Prices are quite reasonable. read more

The pad Thai here is to die for. I've gotten it dozens of times and it is very consistent. I also love the spring rolls and dumplings. Can't go wrong with the fried rice either. Mom loves the wonton soup and pad see ew. I would give this place 6 stars for the pad Thai if I could! Servers are super friendly. Ambiance is fine but that's not important to me. read more

Order through Door dash was not complete. Refused to deliver the missing items. Unacceptable resolution.

Ordered Thai food. What was delivered was watered down Chinese food. Just terrible.

Everything was pleasant and on point service was excellent the food was terrific loved the duck

Three stars and change. I prefer dining in for extra lunch specials-- service is fine, spice levels are customizable, and their spring rolls are okay. Pricing has gone up almost every year, and any year the prices stayed the same resulted in the takeout containers getting smaller. I've tried most things on their menu, and the duck curry and eggplant dishes are probably my favorite go-to's. Chicken here tends to be drier than the pork, so consider yourself warned if you're trying for a cheaper protein than the beef. I've only gotten stale rice once or twice out of many batches. read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Gai him ma parn. - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Nice waiter terrible food So much salt I feel like i had a whole bunch of sea water Don't come here Save yourself read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - PURE SALT HORRIBLE - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

I had a fantastic time at Sala Thai. Ordered the Tom Kha Pak Tofu and Drunken Noodles. The ambiance was great with live music and entertainment. The wait staff was quick and efficient! Price was reasonable for Bethesda! Will come back again. read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Dr Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles) with Tofu! Very delicious and spicy! - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Check out their Groupon offer when in the area. Solid 3-star location with easygoing friendly folks. We've had our fair share of their menu options for years. From past work lunches to random casual dinners, their kitchen is pretty steady. Their dishes tend to be on the sweeter side though. But I guess that's their cooking style. For those who prefer sweet pad thai, come on over. To each their own regarding flavor. Personally I like spices over sugar. No big whoop, I just add heat then it'll do. Still a par dish that's familiar to most. We habitually share our standard starter which is the papaya salad since it produces good lingering moderate heat for us. Once more, to each their own. Plus we enjoy shredded green papaya. Next time I'll choose the chicken yellow curry fried rice. There're just a few dishes I haven't tried yet and that's one of them. read more

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This has been one of my fave thai spots for years. They're usually friendly with good service but today that changed for me. About a month ago, I stopped in to purchase the broth only to their woon sen soup. The young man that helped me was very understanding and accommodated me after I explained that I was on doctor's orders for a liquid only diet for the next few weeks. He explained that when I return, just call and they'll help me. Fast forward to today, I call since I'm in the area and tried to explain to the woman that answered what I ordered nearly a month ago. There was a language barrier and she ended up quoting me one price and I was okay with that until I asked if I could get two orders (equivalent to 4 containers of broth) then she put me on hold and came back w/an entirely different price and upcharged me! I would have purchased at the first price but to change the price to gain a profit on someone dealing w/an illness post surgery was not cool and very disappointing to me. I explained what I was charged the last time but she argued with me that the young man wasn't supposed to do that even though I told her that he went to the back to speak with someone before selling it to me. After a five minute call of going back and forth w/the woman, I decided to cancel all together and take my business to another thai restaurant closer to my home in Arlington. Needless to say, after nearly 7 years of patronizing Sala Thai, I won't be back! read more

I do not like places that assume that I will like spicy food, given that I am Indian! Seriously people - ASK ME! So this woman serving me does not ask me what kind of spice I like, and I end up with Drunken Noodles that make me feel like the crying tiger!! Not a fan! I also had the minced chicken soup - a little on the sweeter side, due to the sweet corn, but it was enjoyable regardless. I tried a bit of the panang curry and it was ok, the larb gai was not half as flavorful as it should have been!! I saw the server very rudely tell a couple who walked in 10 min prior to closing that they could only do take out - why they were seated and served water BEFORE she let them know - I have NO clue! Will i be back? Not unless i have the "living social" deal that the hostile/ fake-polite server told me I needed buy 48 hours in advance of coming there!! bleh! read more

Cold - you have to keep your jacket on. Service - great for Uber eats, and grub hub customers Have to beg for drinks, and wait 15+ minutes for any service. Not somewhere to take anyone you want to impress. Unfortunately because I have loved the chain for 6+ years, but feels more of a delivery restaurant- makes sense... so this is for those hoping for the old school way of eating and enjoying a night out. read more

I'm not sure how this place has low reviews. It's the best Thai place in Bethesda. I'm not sure I'd give it 5-stars in NYC. But in Bethesda it's the best place and is 5 stars. Everything is always good. We've ordered from everywhere and this one wins. Our most frequent order is their pad see ew. read more

I've gotten takeout from Sala Thai a few times now, because it's pretty close to my apartment. Each time, I've called in my order and picked up within 15-20 minutes. I've never had to wait- my food has always been ready when I've gotten there! They also do online ordering through GrubHub, although I've never used it. First things first: the chicken pad thai rocks ($8.95 lunch, $10.95 dinner). It's basically what I order every time, and it's always exactly what I expect. For appetizers, I've tried their chicken satay ($6.95) and thai curry puff ($7.25), and wasn't blown away by either. They also have a great selection of vegetarian entrees. My friend ordered the vegetarian kee mao ($7.95 lunch, $8.95 dinner) and she said it was tasty (and spicy!). Overall, a solid Thai place. Nothing too amazing, but there are some tasty dishes on the menu. read more

This is my first visit at this location and I'm very impressed with the excellent service, the food and the refreshing list of cocktails. The waitress was friendly and was very helpful with making great suggestions for cocktails and dessert. The roasted duck curry was good, a little bit lack flavor however, the mango mojitos were absolutely amaaaazing, specially for just 7.99 (kudos to the bartender!) I was thrilled to have yummy and surprisingly inexpensive mango mojitos here after enduring horribly made $17 strawberry mojitos accompanied by the a bartender with a nasty attitude at neighboring restaurant. they are also quiet generous with their Thai iced tea portions. the coconut dessert was delish. The jazz band playing also created a happy atmosphere which is nice, specially on a rainy day. Negatives? There aren't really any...I left a very camper! My only suggestion would probably be better decore and larger rice portions since those tiny tea cup portions aren't enough! Even though another cup is only a $1 extra up charge, it's better to maybe up the price of the entrees as a whole by a dollar, because asking for more rice because the sauce to rice portion doesn't match is unnecessary :) Otherwise, 5 heart shape stars, specially for the value and convenience in location :) read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Nice Thai restaurant, the staff is friendly and the atmosphere is good. The food was made very fast and the portion is good, not too big or too small. read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - TOFU PREW WAN Fried tofu sautéed with mixed vegetables in sweet and sour sauce. - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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I only came here because I got a voucher from Living Social. Thank God I didn't pay full price because my dining experience here was the worst I've had in a very long time. First of all, the waitress gave me a dirty plate for my appetizer and when I asked for a clean one she just took the dirty one and sat behind the bar. After 5 minutes, I had to walk over ask her for the plate. Secondly, the food is below average. We ordered the chef's special and a King Pad with chicken. The chef's special was super super spicy and not even flavorful and the chicken in the Pad King was dry as hell. The rice that came with these dishes tasted like the rice from cheap Chinese takeouts. There's a great Thai restaurant called Thai Arroy in Baltimore. The prices are about 50% lower and the taste is heavenly compared to this. They give you soup or salad with an entree or lunch as well. So, back to this place. During checkout, I gave the waitress my phone with the voucher on it and a credit card. After she gave me the receipt I circled the tip and was ready to leave. She stopped me saying that I haven't paid. Apparently she didn't charge the rest of my bill on my credit card and said that the minimum for using a credit card was $10. Ok. Can you do anything right? It's not like the restaurant was busy. There were only three other tables of customers. That's it. Not coming back. read more

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Very average food with very strange service... I should've read all the negative reviews here before entering that place! Tom Yum Soup was indeed too salty, first waiter (older woman) was unfriendly and looking with some arrogance at the clients. Second waiter (younger girl) was a bit friendlier but she was obviously discussing the clients with the older women in Thai language! Food very very average! Wouldn't recommend this place. read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Sala Thai is my favorite local Thai restaurant. The food is consistently good with fresh, bright flavors and the menu is varied, but manageable. In particular, the Pad Mah Kuah J (eggplant with basil and black bean sauce) and this month's special Pumpkin and Tofu Panang are to die for! During the day, the location is perfect for people watching amid the hustle and bustle of downtown Bethesda. The dining room looks very nice at night, but a bit shabby in daylight. I would give five stars if the dining room were cleaner and the damaged upholstery repaired. read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Green papaya salad and Pad Pik King Tofu - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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This is our go-to spot for Thai food in Bethesda. Always prompt service, good quality and fresh taste. Once we are done with COVID-19 , I highly recommend checking out their happy hour. Great deals on drinks and apps! read more

My family and I came for dinner and everything was just average -- from the service, ambiance and food. We ordered our usual - dumplings for an appetizer, fried rice, chicken panang curry. My mom also got the rockfish that was on special. The dumplings and curry were okay, but I've definitely had better. The brother and dad complained that the spicy fried rice was too spicy, and we all have a high tolerance for spice. My mom really liked her fish and ate every bite. As for the restaurant it was too dark. I normally like dim restaurants, but it seemed like they just didn't have any of the lights on. Candles on the table might've helped. And for being in downtown Bethesda, I just thought it would be nicer inside. There's a parking garage a block or so away, but its quarters only. But it is free on holidays and on Saturdays and Sundays. Overall, it was fine, I just probably wouldn't go out of my way to come here again. read more

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Very disappointing. Reminds me of the 2nd rate Chinese places I quit patronizing decades ago.

Absolutely outstanding Thai food ! When I ordered pineapple chicken, I expected a plate full of chicken and pineapple. Check out the picture ! Wow, what a beautiful plate presentation with a delicious pineapple ! Thanks for a superb meal at a great price ! I recommend eating here anytime. read more

Sala Thai Restaurant - Thai Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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