In my search for Thai food close to work, I decided to try Thaiphoon. After reading reviews, seemed to be one of the better Thai food places in Palo Alto (bonus being its on the way to the Mr.'s job!) So I ordered over the phone for pick up and decided upon the Egg roll Samosa and Roti and curry sauce and I split the main dish of Chicken with Thai Basil with the man... So first off, not a great idea to split a lunch dish. Upon arrival to pick up my food, I became aware that the portion wasnt as much as we'd assumed. But it was fine, as I had the appetizers. When I paid for the food, I asked for an extra container and bag and the lady seemed to be bothered by that fact but eventually got the container and bag so I could split the food. Overall, she seemed really annoyed. Kinda glad I wasnt staying for lunch with that type of attitude around! So onto the food, the egg roll samosa was decent, sauce was decent. Nothing spectacular to brag about. I did love the Roti with curry sauce. Saved the extra curry sauce in fact! YUM! The Chicken with Thai basil was ok. No booming flavors here, basil over powered the dish so I felt like I was eating Italian over Thai :/ . It also came with a tiny salad (3 maybe 4 bites) that too was ehhh, peanut sauce dressing. What ever. Also a scoop of your choice of brown or white rice. I got white since I was sharing with a picky eater but over all... this place was noting to brag about. Nothing in compairison to the other Thai place cross the bay I just reviewed! mmmmmm, my mouth waters just to think of their dishes! Soooo, if you just want some basic run of the mill Thai food, and service come here! If you want some flavorful, tasty, delish Thai food with actual customer service, find another joint. and so... its onto the next one! read more

Met some friends here for dinner the other nite. Clean restaurant, nice decor, friendly staff, good service and food was pretty good! We must have came at the right time for dinner as it started filling up pretty quickly while we were eating. We ordered: Samosa eggrolls - Interesting. Came with a thick peanut sauce. The eggroll was light and crispy and not greasy but the filling was nothing to write home about. Red curry (chicken) - Really good flavor and not too spicy. Chicken wasn good as it was pieces of white breast meat that was lean. Green curry (chicken) - Again, good flavor and not too spicy. Same deal with the chicken above. Important thing was they cooked the eggplant just right, not too mushy and very tasty. Pad see ew (chicken) - Flavors were really good. Noodles were a good texture, not too soft and cooked just right. Just wish the flat noodles were a longer as it looked like they broke a bit much with too much mixing while cooking. Veggie and tofu with thai basil - Veggies were cooked just right. Not over cooked, not under cooked. Nice blend of spices and again great flavor. Portions are a little on the small side when you compare them to other Thai places but I suppose it allow you to order more and get more variety with your meals. I had the lovely honey mint lemonade as I've never seen such a thing before...REALLY good especially in the hot weather we've been having. Overall this is a great place to eat some Thai food and hang-out with friends! read more

I came here last week for lunch with the family. We had the thai basil chicken, pad thai with shrimp, green curry chicken, and the pad see ew. My gosh! small portions. my kids are not big eaters and they finished the pad see ew dish. the thai chicken basil was tiny, had to look hard to find that dish! Food overall was nothing to write much on either. Curry was on the bland side. thai chicken was salty. paw see ew was alright. the pad thai had multiple charred-black flakes on it. Yuck! I told the waittress(who basically ignored us the entire time). Luckily my wife knows the other waittress(from many catering orders for her company). the other waittress took it back and gave us a new order of pad thai. they took off 10% of our order. I think they better get some new pans to cook their food in. bottom line: subpar service, mediocre food, small portions, and oh yeah, look out for carcinogens in your food. At a place in the heart of palo alto, you would expect a great deal more. read more

BEWARE OF SPICY LEVELS. I ordered a pad thai dish that I thought was delicious but it was way too spicy. My heart started to beat faster and my eyes got wattery as I tried to scarf the food down fast. I'm not sure if this was my fault or my servers fault. I was trying to get an idea of how spicy the dish would be but the server just told me to choose from 1 to 5. Given how subjective this was I chose to go in the middle ("3 or 4 I said") but the server demanded a specific number so I got a little nervous and chose 4. Big mistake. TOO. MUCH. VERY.SPICY. read more

Usually my go-to place in Palo Alto for Thai food, though they are often quite understaffed and/or not service-oriented. Multiple times, I've been seated immediately but have had to wait 15+ minutes for someone to even come take our drink orders. I've even had to get up and request a waiter on a few occasions. That aside, the food is generally pretty good, with my favorites being the Yellow Curry Chicken and the Garlic Chicken dishes. Yummy food, but don't go if you're even in a moderate rush. read more

I was surprised by the 3 star average rating. My experience has been much better with Thaiphoon. I think it is one of the best Thai restaurants around in terms of value for the dollar, especially for lunch. They have a lunch special where you get soup, salad and an entree for $9. It's a really good deal and they serve it up fast if you want that. Here's an example of my most recent experience: 12:13 PM--walk in. Greeted by staff. Offered choice of where to sit. 12:14 PM--sit down 12:15 PM--place order 12:16 PM--soup is served. Perfectly fine tofu + vegetable with a clear broth 12:19 PM--done with soup. 12:20 PM--entree served. Thai interpretation of kung pao chicken. Nice white meat, no McNugget meat here. Tangy, slightly acidic sauce. Nice little salad with peanut sauce (you wouldn't likely be at a Thai place if you are allergic to peanuts, right?). Rice to top it off. When I was ready to pay, they turned around the bill in under a minute. Super efficient, fresh ingredients, good flavors. Very inexpensive. And if you want to hang around and go slower they won't pressure you to leave. What's not to like? read more

Impeccable service, great selection. I have been twice and found the green curry noodles to be unique and out of this world!! read more

I love this place! As other reviewers have noted, the red curries and the panang are the real treats here, to which I would also add their fried samosa rolls. I cannot visit Thaiphoon without ordering their samosa rolls even though I know they are probably not the healthiest option on the menu. They are too delicious to pass up. But compared to the other thai restaurants around University Avenue, what distinguishes Thaiphoon is the ambience and the courteous waiters. The lighting is good, the sound of the water fountain is refreshing, and the colors set a positive mood. read more

I've always been happy with food I've ordered here for sit down or take out. It's good quality, and pretty tasty. It's my favorite of the several Thai restaurants in the area. In good weather, there's a small but nice outdoor seating area on the street front. read more

Ordered 3 orders of pad see ew and they were disgusting. Why is the pad see ew sour? How do you mess this up so badly? Noodles were overcooked and sticking together. We ordered it to go, came home and the bag was leaking juice everywhere. Will not be returning. read more

I got the eggplant with beef special thing, and it was well-cooked, but a bit too salty. Kinda pricier than some other Thai places I love, so not some place I'd come back to a lot, but I'd come back to try some of their desserts or cocktails (I haven't seen some of these Thai tea options they have!) 3.5 stars. read more

Good little restaurant with a lot of outdoor tables. I like the food here, because the flavor is more about subtlety than pure spices. The brown rice has perfect consistency. Great curries, especially the green vegetable curry. Missing a star because the interior is too light, the wall behind the bar is cluttered, and tables inside are arranged in cafeteria-like rows... so ask to be seated outside, where you'll be surrounded by tall plants, and a rather large Buddha head. read more

Went there with some trepidation, given what I'd heard about the service. We arrived at 8 on a Tuesday, and didn't have problems. Service was friendly, food came super quick. Tasty food, and some interesting stuff on the menu. Also the decoration and vibe of the place is attractive. Good assortment of vegetarian dishes too. I'll be back. read more

The Roti Canai here was a small pancake sort of thing, cut up into wedges...2-D wedges, not 3-D wedges. I like Roti Canai that is a big sheet and folded, with crisp. It did not taste bad, perse, but I would not recommend it. The sea bass with tamarind sauce was good only because I LOVE SEA BASS. SEA BASS IS GOOD ANY WAY, most ways... The chicken pad tai was mediocre. The beef and garlic dish was alright as well...tasted like a chinese dish...something along the lines of mongolian beef. The soup was good. Some people said it was toooo sour, but tom yum is supposed to taste like that. I liked it. You know group bills, we ended up paying 25% tip, whack-a-moley. Dang. It's all good because they brought the cake we bought to the kitchen..then brought it out for dessert with extra plates and forks. Lit the candles for us too! Thank you Thaiphoon. OH OH, one more thing, cool uncentered plates! read more

I would definitely recommend this place over its Mountain View counterpart. This place is slightly decorated more upscale and the waiters are more attentive. We went here for a weekday dinner and they did a great job serving us promptly. Food got to the dinner table shortly after the order as well. I ordered the fried rice with prawns and was satisfied with the order, including the portion size. My friends enjoyed their chicken Pad Thai dish as well. read more

Thaiphoon has degraded to my least favorite thai in Palo Alto. Which is too bad - it should be good. The menu's inventive, with a little indian and a little asian. The room's nice, casual but well decorated. Prices are good, especially on the lunch special. But the food's got no sparkle. There's no depth of taste, no glorious thai heat. Last time I even ordered whatever dish I had as spicy - I couldn't taste a thing. All show, no go, take your money elsewhere. read more

The food was decent. However, the portions were on the smaller side and some of the sauces a bit bland. I usually always order pad thai when I go out to thai restaurants, and it was lacking that kick ... and far too small. My friends and I devoured the plate in a matter of minutes. The restaurant also did not have many other parties when we stopped in to dine, which contributed to a slightly dull atmosphere. I do not intend to return to Thaiphoon unless invited. read more

It's not bad, they are clean and you will be full. However, it is the driest pad Thai I have ever had. I only go here when I have to, but I would never go out of my way for it. The servers are nice and the atmosphere is nicer than most Thai restaurants in the area but there are better Thai closer around. However, it is cheaper than most places and like I said clean. read more

We've been coming for years and every time I think we should try another place. The only thing that keeps us coming is the cocktails and the proximity to University ave. The dishes are generally pretty good but the service really overshadows everything else. Last time was for my daughter's birthday and I ask if they could do something special. They completely forgot and brought the check even without asking if we wanted desert. Not so friendly or accommodating. read more

Pros: This place is clean. This place is not terribly expensive. This place has a clever pun in it's name. Cons: The food is not that great. For a Thai place in Palo Alto, it's acceptable, but go into any major urban area and you'll find far superior Thai food. I find that they overcook their curries slightly. (Especially the duck curry, which I've tried twice and have been rather disappointed with both times. And both times it's made my stomach a little upset too.) The pad thai is decent though. Service can be inconsistent. I recently went with a large group of people and was served my meal when everyone else was almost done. On a previous occasion, I went with one other person, and the food came on time. read more

The 4 of us stumbled upon this buzzing restaurant for a reunion dinner. It was a perfect fit since socializing was the top priority for the evening. The lighting was strong, not muted and the acoustics of the room made it easy for group conversation. We of course ordered family style with appetizers (when in doubt, get the lettuce cups) for the 4 of us. And the conversation was flowing as smoothly as the Singha lager. Once i started eating, I couldn't stop. The pad see ew was divine and slipped down my gullet (the grease always helps reduce the friction). After two ample helpings of each main course along with enough white rice to fill the inside of my shoe, I knew I wasn't hungry. How could i be? Have you ever heard of the term "food inertia?" Me neither! (Crap, I just googled the term and came up with 178 entries... i'm starting to feel like I'm Columbus in a world of Leif Ericsons.) But I just couldn't stop. Can Thai food have that MSG stuff? It's just so darn delectable that I just keep going and going and going... like the Energizer bunny riding on the little engine that could drinking a red bull. To address other reviews, my experience is that there are lapses in the service. But the delay is due to the restaurant being understaffed as opposed to the waiters being unresponsive. Whenever we ordered a beer, water, another entree... BOOM! we got it! coincidentally, we were situated right adjacent to the kitchen and each waiter had to walk right behind us with each order. read more

Went here last Friday Night. The food is great. - Mongolian Beef is really good. J Come here for the food not the wine list..... Don't ask for wine - they have no clue about their wine list. We asked for a "cotes du rhone" wine from the list and they brought us glasses of white wine. When I explained to them their mistake, they insisted that it was what I ordered. I know my wine - man! Don' tell me that I ordered Chablis.... Also - on the wine list - "Sarah" (spelling) for Syrah? read more

Pretty decent Thai food, and great lunch prices, but as several other reviewers have noted, the service isn't on par with the food. I would call it 3.5 stars. My friend and I went there for lunch today, and it looked like there were only two servers on staff--who apparently had to bus their own tables as well. I don't know if this was because they were short-staffed today, or if this is a regular issue. However, I had arrived to lunch about 10 minutes late, and my friend told me that no one had even come by to take her drink order yet. Then about ten minutes later, one of the waiters gave us a friendly nod and directed another server over to our table to take our order. Once the order was taken, the food came out relatively quickly--though not in the exact order in which he had taken the order. Not a huge issue, though, as our plates arrived within a couple of minutes after the other tables received theirs. I will probably be back, as I did like the food (and my friend seemed to enjoy hers as well) and the prices--at least at lunch--were really reasonable. I'll just have to try and go there after the lunch rush is over, so I can more easily find some parking! read more

It seems easy to find mediocre Thai food in the south peninsula, and much harder to stumble on something remarkable. A friend of mine chose this place as her birthday dinner venue, and what a good call. Panang curry with crispy tofu came with delectably sauteed green beans and red bell pepper that were still crunchy-fresh. Nice balance of coconut and chili. The seating is about 1/3 open-air, so be sure to get a table outside! read more

I've eaten at Thaiphoon twice now -- once for lunch and once for dinner, and I really like the food here. Saturday night we had panang curry with tofu. The crispy tofu was fried to a very nice texture. The vegetables were cooked adequately but were still fresh. The sauce had just enough body (Don't you hate runny curry?!?!), and the flavor was excellent. Our second dish was a vegetarian Pad See Ew. I didn't know what to expect since I had only ever tried the dish with beef. The flavor was quite comparable to beef Pad See Ew I have liked elsewhere, so I decided this one had to be pretty good. The noodles were a good consistency (Not mushy or clumpy! although rice noodles can often get that way!). What I liked about both dishes was that they were not too greasy, which I find often differentiates quality Asian food from the stuff that's not as good. FYI, if you are in a group of eaters who have average appetites, you will do well to order one dish per person, plus some rice to share. Although you may be able to get by with a ratio of less than 1:1 dishes:people at other Thai places, this is not one of those restaurants where each dish is heaping with food. The services is nothing to write home about because the service is kind of slow -- you will not be happy if you are trying to eat and leave in a hurry. But the good curry and good noodle dishes left me very satisfied. read more

The food here was alright - I'm pretty picky about Thai food, and it felt like there was a flavour element that was missing. The service is kind of sketchy and inconsistent. We had the spring rolls, veg panang curry, the thai basil stirfry and tom yum soup...the menu rated the last 3 items as being medium spicy, but I felt like the spices were a bit washed up. The brown rice was great - super tasty...it seemed parboiled, but like Blue Mango, I don't think they'd be willing to give up their secret on where they get their rice. The spring rolls were a bit blah - lettuce and carrots in a rice wrapper..they could have gotten a bit more creative!! OK, now I feel like I'm being harsh - don't get me wrong, I'd come back to this place. It was decent thai food - I just have many other places which I consider to be much better. read more

Thaiphoon is one of the best Thai places in Palo Alto... but not like there's a lot to choose from though. I've been here 3-4 times and always liked the food. Most dishes are really good and the flavor is always consistent. Hands down this place has the best Pad See Eww in the Peninsula. We usually get 2-3 orders of that for because everyone loves it. I don't recommend their roti prata appetizer! It's the frozen kind and the serving is way too small even for 2 people. I really like this place, but I just wish the service was as good as their food. Waiters are pretty slow for everything and bussers don't refill your waters as often as they should. read more

PAD THAI. Though I've gotten it so much now and like this restaurant so much that I've forced myself to branch out. Anything with Thai Basil is awesome, and the soups are top-notch. They can make it as spicy as you want it, so a spice fiend like myself somehow found himself outclassed here. The first time when I asked for my food to be as spicy as they could make it, the waiter said "OK, but no returns!", and I thought to myself, "He clearly doesn't know who I am." Turns out, he did, and I'm sure he was silently judging me as I downed glass after glass of water. After that experience, though, the food has been quite good. Warning, however - every once in a while, the food will drop a star somehow. It's not too consistent in quality. When it's a good day, it'll be great, but when it's not, you can definitely tell. So, 4 stars. Service is average. Almost gave it 5, because it holds a place close to my heart, but the inconsistency in food quality drops it down a bit. PS. Don't get the spinach and lamb dish. It tasted weird and watery. read more

My boyfriend and I ordered takeout here a couple of weeks ago, and while I remembered it being far superior to Rice Thai on El Camino, I was wrong. We ordered green curry with chicken, brown rice, the roti with curry sauce, and and the tom yum kai (hot and sour soup with chicken and mushrooms). The green curry was.. well, average. Compared to Rice, it lacked complexity and the chicken was a bit tough. Although the price was about the same, Thaiphoon's portion was about half the size of what you would get at Rice. (As my boyfriend put it, "this is sort of a sheisty portion".) The brown rice was a bit too chewy for me, but it's difficult to find perfectly cooked brown rice so I'll let that go. The roti was burned and tough, though the accompanying curry sauce was quite nice. By far the best component of the meal was the soup, which was delicate but flavorful. All in all, a decent meal... but I would go to Rice first any day. read more

Thaiphoon is such an unremarkable Thai restaurant that it took me 5 minutes to remember which restaurant this was when I sat down to review it. I have nice things to say. Unfortunately, these are true of most Thai restaurants I've visited in the area (e.g. Amarin, King of Krung): - Pretty decor (though they seated us next to the noisy kitchen). - Reasonable prices and specials... ~$20 for lunch or dinner including drinks and tax. - Pretty-to-look-at and tasty drinks like normal Thai iced tea and some alcoholic ones. - Large portion size. - Decent-tasting food, but nothing special. Everything from the roti and satay, to the fried rice, to the currys was good, but completely forgettable. - Wait staff that got the job done, but didn't really go out of their way. If I was wandering Downtown Palo Alto, Thaiphoon probably wouldn't be my first choice. I wouldn't mind visiting again if someone in my group was craving Thai, but I wouldn't make a special trip. read more

The food was way too salty and MSG like taste. The flavors were bold but only because they used so much sodium and oil. After we finished eating I had to drink a glass of water every 10 minutes for the whole night. We had basil beef, pad thai tofu, and short ribs. read more

Serviceable Thai dishes in a small location off of University Ave. There are probably good if not better Thai place along University but I decided on this one for convenience one weeknight. The spice isn't all that fiery --they ask you on a scale 1-5 what kind of heat you want. The lettuce wraps were the star of the evening. A minced chicken mixture with nuts, peppers and a minty glaze, which you would spoon into the lettuce leaves. If there was one quibble its that the iceberg lettuce were whiter (inside of the lettuce) more than they were greener (the outside). The tom ka kai soup --chicken coconut curry soup--was very good but the $4.95 version was too small for two. But the only next bigger size is $13.95. Whoa! That's a leap. The noodles dishes and the shaken beef, this one a common Thai or even Vietnamese dish were fine, but not especially extraordinary. The lychee honey iced tea was excellent, a perfect complement and alternative to the rather milky Thai Iced Tea. My companion had a huge 24 oz bottle of icy Kirin beer, which was quaffed quickly. Dessert was sweet sticky rice, served with coconut ice cream and mango slices. While good, the rice was indeed way too sweet. read more

There really should be a 2.5 star button. That said, why would you read a review for a 2.5 star place? Maybe the author intrigues you? I think that might be the case;-) What amazed me while driving around downtown PA is the over abundance of Thai places. Heavy competition for Thai iced tea (which Thaiphoon phailed at) and Pad Thai (decent, ok, edible, fine, eh) I asked the beautiful girl across the table, why Thai has not gone the route of other Asian fares - where's the fusion? - where's the experimentation? - where's the cojones? (sorry I thought balls was too mountain oystery for this review) Thaiphoon was boring. Edible and boring. Actually just boring. read more

Lunch time, noon rush hour with a friend. The minuses -Service, lack there of until we asked to order. -Food, lack there of until we asked where our food was after we saw several tables get served who were seated after us. -Setting, too loud with a fan that makes a dizzying affect with the overhead light. The plusses +Low price for Palo Alto (my pad see ew vegetarian dish was only $7) +Very vegetarian friendly with a wide selection read more

Acceptable thai food. The sauces and the fresh spring roll were good, the BBQ Thai chicken was low quality and the sizzling beef cubes were overcooked. The service was friendly but amateurish and it took a long time to both get our table and our check. They do have a nice little outdoor patio, large bottles of Singha, and a large menu, so I bet there's something good in there. read more

Let's get one thing straight about downtown Palo Alto: it's not a place where you will find amazing, perfect, authentic ethnic food, but you will find some decent food regardless. Thaiphoon is one of those places. I have definitely had better Thai food, but not on the Peninsula. There are a lot of decent Thai places between Palo Alto and Mountain View, but Thaiphoon is the best. You just need to know what to order. My suggestions: - Chicken Pad See Ew - Definitely better than the pad thai (which is decent nonetheless). They put a decent amount of garlic in this and the noodles are always cooked well with just the right amount of that kind-of-charred flavor - Chicken with eggplant - Standard thai chicken with eggplant that is cooked really well - Chicken with garlic thai herbs - Sounds so simple, but the herbs they use are SO flavorful. Can you tell that I like chicken? Things that I would likely pass on: - BBQ Chicken - it is a huge plate of just chicken and nothing else. A girl needs her vegetables. It's just too much of just-ok chicken - Mango chicken - it's just anticlimactic. The chicken with garlic thai herbs just has so much more flavor. Pass. - Beef with basil - this is usually what I get at Thai restaurants when I'm scared that their food will be bad, because you usually can't mess it up. They do a decent job at Thaiphoon, but why have something so basic when you can eat something delicious? Also, if you like tom yoong gai, I suggest you just get the dinner special with rice, soup, and salad for an extra $4.95. It's a good deal if you really want some soup. read more

One of the better thai places in Palo Alto.. What we ordered: Shaken beef Grapefruit Salad Red Curry Yellow Curry Fiedler rice with crab and shrimp All the above was wonderful. Yummy. Service was quick and good. 3/5 stars because the classic Pad Thai dish could be better... read more

Given that I work right across the street, I felt like I really needed to try it out - and I was craving Thai food last Friday. I checked out their web site and decided that I would order take out. It was around 1:30p so I figured it wouldn't be too packed - not that it mattered! I quickly placed my order and ten minutes later, I picked it up and was back at my desk. I should have just eaten there, they have an outside seating area and it's usually really nice and sunny. Maybe next time with a coworker. I ordered the chicken basil lunch plate which came with a small side of salad with peanut dressing. It wasn't bad at all. I ordered my dish with brown rice as well - which I was really pleased with since some Asian restaurants don't offer brown rice. It tasted great and fresh. No complaints whatsoever. Next time I will eat there and order an appetizer and dessert. I'll update this review soon! read more

This place makes great food! I order from here regularly and it's consistently good. Generally the flavors are on point and the chicken/pork meat is good quality (though like many take away places isn't excellent). The musamun curry with slow cooked beef is a must-get, and (though it's kind of weird they have it) their kung-pao is good too. Their chicken with Thai basil is only a bit spicy but well flavored. Their mango specialty dishes are really nice for something on the sweeter side. My only complaint is (for me) the food is not spicy enough. But that's what sambal oelek is for! read more

We had dinner there last night, with our 3 kids. Here's the gist of it - The positives: Dishes are flavorful, atmosphere is friendly, suited for a family wanting to dine in Palo Alto, excellent Thai drinks, reasonably priced dishes, you must try the fried banana with Thaiphoon made coconut ice cream (delicious), staff was friendly. The negatives: they seemed under-staffed (took over 15 minutes to get someone to take our order), food wasn't hot. read more