This is easily the best meal I had since the indoor dining COVID ban was lifted. Before I get into the deets- a little backstory to get your palate going: I always thought PuTawn was a great resturant serving wonderful Thai food. After getting an invite to a "soft opening tasting menu" for Zabb PuTawn, I was a bit perplexed. Why the name change? It's the same owners and the same staff, how is this a new soft opening? Then all was explained. 1 Michelin Star Chef Therdthus from Zabb Elee of Jackson Heights joined the helm of the kitchen as Executive Chef. To honor his prior achievements and creativity in Northern Thai Delicacies, the name Zabb was added to the title. A wonderful addition to the Upper East Side. We came at 730p on a Friday night wirh a reservation for 4 to partake on their soft opening deal: tasting menus- chose any 3 items + bottle of ice cold Singha Beer for $20. An amazing deal, which has undoubtedly ended by the time you read this review. Right off the beginning, really nice and attentive staff that greeted us immediately. Beautiful arrangement and decor that made the most out of their tiny space (it worked despite the shape) with a sparkling clean bathroom. The hardest part was choosing only 3 items with all the choices on the menu. Between the 4 of us, we teamed up and tried 10 different things with only 2 items overlapped (to keep the peace b/w the hungry dogs ). We ordered the following: Northern Style Pork Stew Crispy rice & soured Pork Sausage Chiangmai Chicken Curry Noodle Bamboo Shoot Salad Chef Tony's Special Combo Somtum Islan Catfish Larb Deep Fried Fermented Pork Ribs Chicken wings Phayao Spice Pork Larb Northern Thai Pork and Ong Curry And finished with an order of Mango Sticky. Yes we were stuffed and we could have avoided the dessert, however, I always judge the authenticity of a Thai restaurant based on their mango sticky rice; It was a winner! Yes, all the food was fricken excellent! But what was most impressive was each dish stood up on its own! Interesting and unique, each dish had its own bold flavors where NONE of the profiles overlap. A true stroke of genius by a Michelin Started Chef and certainly not of what you are used to in the typical Thai Cuisine. Highly recommend this place, can't wait for the finalized menu, and super happy for Zabb PuTawn to be located in the Upper East Side!!! A true gem! read more

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Quaint little Thai restaurant In The upper east side. I come to this area often and was delighted to see a Thai restaurant with such an extensive and authentic menu. One of my favorite thai dishes of all time is Khao Mahn Gai, which is steamed chicken and rice. For their lunch special you can add a starter, appetizer, and a drink to any entree. I of course got my favorite dish and it was delicious. Service was attentive and price was decent for the area. I would recommend this place for a quick stop to fulfill your Thai food craving, I'll be returning everytime I'm in the area to try something new. Disclaimer: I wasn't able to take any photos of the food itself because because I was starving and scarfed down the meal, enjoy! read more

Zabb PuTawn - Front page of menu - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

quality thai came here with some friends for din. it was pretty crowded and the tables are tightly packed. we had to wait 10 minutes despite making a reservation. however, the food made up for it. started off with the moo ping which came out hot. very juicy and generous portion of meat. for the main when for the basil fried rice with beef. was quite delicious and good portion size. well spiced and not too salty. asked for it to be made mild but it still had quite a kick. service was excellent. overall, quality thai food and not too expensive either. can see why it is popular read more

Zabb PuTawn - Basil fried rice with beef - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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This place rebranded and reopened recently on the UES! Very authentic Thai place but make sure you let them know how much spice you can handle because it's no joke! We loved the crispy rice pork sausage and catfish wrap! They currently have a tasting menu special of $20 for 3 meals and a free beer! We also got a Singh keychain when we paid. Will be back! read more

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Everyone needs a go-to Thai place and if you live on the UES, I'd highly recommend PuTawn. Their prices are reasonable and healthy sized portions. If you pay in cash, you get 10% off your bill too! Their menu is very extensive, 8-9 pages and they range from authentic Northern Thai food to your bread and butter Thai favorites - Pad See Ew, Penang Curry, Drunken Noodles, Tom Yum soup - they have it all! Our party of 6 made a reservation on a Saturday night and were seated promptly. We shared 4 appetizers and ordered our own entrees: -Fried Tofu ($7) -Spring Rolls ($8) -Chicken Wings ($10) -Yum Goong Salad ($14) -Pork Panang Curry ($15) -Chicken Pad Thai ($13) -Tom Yum Noodle Soup ($14) -Kow Soi Gao ($18) I personally had the pork panang curry and thought it was great! There was a reasonable amount of pork and the curry was very flavorful, with real authentic curry leaves inside the soup. Will be ordering takeout from here in the future, excited to try their Pad See Ew! read more

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PuTawn is a great. It excels at the basics (pad thai, green curry, yada yada) but also offers some more unique northern Thai dishes. Everything is very flavorful, the prices are good, and the service is great and very attentive. The main reason that my wife and I choose PuTawn over other local Thai places is the spice factor. Of course, not all of PuTawn's food is spicy, but if you want to chase the burn, PuTawn will deliver. Their chef takes the phrase 'extra spicy' very seriously. Just be careful what you wish for. Also, the portions aren't huge but they are plenty. You will leave stuffed, though don't expect to leave with full doggybag's worth of lunch for tomorrow. But most importantly, PuTawn does not scrimp on the key ingredients. My wife had the Pad See Eew with Shrimp, for example, and it was LOADED with fat, juicy, shrimp. If you're looking for spicy food (or just all-around deliciousness) on the UES, look no further. read more

Imagine a thai girl in NYC coming home from the tiring corporate world and looking for Som Tum Pu Plara + Sticky Rice, and Pork jowl grilled for dinner.... THIS IS WHERE I GO! Oh my lord I was lucky enough to have Zabb Putawn next to my house that I could order Som Tum and many more thai food just like when I was back in Bangkok! I love this place so much I don't want to move out of Yorkville because of it lol you'll find the kindest server that would treat you like a family and the ambiance is amazing! read more

Excellent food and very pleasant staff. Our favorite Thai go to. We are strict vegetarians and they are very accommodating. read more

@zabbputawn where you will find amazing hospitality and food with insanely great flavors,this is where you need to go for delicious Thai Food! I fell in love with how everyone was so welcoming during our entire dining.I loved how awesome our server Kao was introducing us to his favorite "at home dishes" What we had: Thai Curry Puffs Pad Thai Kanom Jeeb Yum Woon Sen Kow Tum What we Drank Thai Ice Tea Let us say, we've had plenty, by far this was our favorite- it was so great we got seconds! Don't forget when you're in the Upper East Side, Don't forget to mention SidechickNYC told you you feel like family with the warm and friendly setting read more

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Friendly Thai hospitality, cute little store for a more casual meal. Food packed with flavors, the Pad Kee Mao and the award winning Pork Ribs Stew were the winners! read more

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Would give this place another star but the two times I've come they 1) took a really long time cooking the food and 2) they forgot about one of our appetizer dishes and we ended up taking it home. Overall, the employees are still very nice and are very accommodating. It's a small place and can get very busy so I recommend making a reservation just in case. Overall, this place has good Thai food. Their pad see ew has an A in my books. It's not too sweet and not too mushy either. I have gotten it with tofu before, however the tofu chunks were huge and really had no seasoning sticking to it. I'll stick with the chicken if I get it again. Their chicken over rice was juicy and the rice was flavored well with the broth. The portions are also large and I always leave with leftovers. I'm looking forward to coming back when I crave Thai food. read more

Zabb PuTawn - Chicken over Rice - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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I tried this restaurant based on a recommendation, but it was a miss for me. The Pad Thai was edible and would have gotten 3 stars... if that was the only thing in the order. The incredibly watery Tom Yum (shrimp), and the drunken noodles with almost no meat (and what meat there was, was incredibly dry) dropped the rating. read more

Zabb PuTawn - Very watery Tom Yum Goong (Shrimp) - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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Super authentic, felt like we were the only non-Thai diners there. Loved the variety of dishes on the menu - we ordered some standard dishes as well as some new-to-us dishes such as spicy raw marinated crab. Reasonable prices. read more

Zabb PuTawn - Raw crab mango salad - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

very authentic flavorful and delicious food. I feel like so many thai spots in the UES all taste the same and lack flavor but this place is special. I got the curry chicken egg noodles which was SO GOOD, had so much flavor with a good amount of spice. Chicken was tender with a filling serving of noodles. I also got the half chicken which does take some time to cook if you order it. It was very soft and tender and dipped with the curry made it even better. We got complimentary side salad and dumplings with a drink due to the lunch special. Ginger lemon tea was so refreshing and perfectly sweet. If you like something sweeter i recommend the hibiscus iced tea! Would come again to try more of their menu! read more

It was the first time here and things couldn't have gone any better. This place was fabulous both food and service. We ordered the basil fried rice, pad see ew, and the pork for an appetizer. When I picked up the food, the guy was super friendly. I got home and the food was delicious. The food was incredibly flavorful and outstanding. I even called the restaurant after our dinner to thank them for the great experience. It is the first time I tried this and love this place. I look forward to keep coming back here. Kudos to the team here. read more

So disappointed to write this review. My husband and I have been eating here for a while and twice it's gone downhill. We ordered online delivery from here a couple of weeks ago for 7PM and they delivered the food at 5:50PM instead. I guess it beats being late but we have a life and ordered for a specific time on purpose. We ended eating our food cold. I understand when delivery food is +-15min early or late but over an hour early to beat their in house rush is poor planning on their part Tonight we ordered from them again and they were late. I called and the lady on the phone didn't even realize our order was late or that we had even ordered online. Fine. Once I gave her my info she had our food delivered fairly quickly. Food was hot and honestly delicious until I found A WORM/CATERPILLAR in the salmon dish. I called to complain and they asked for the food back in order to get a refund. I then tried to clarify what they would like back. Just the worm dish or all the dishes and she responded with "just whatever you want we are really busy here right now". They asked us to leave our food hanging on our door for them to pick it up so they could refund us. Nobody picked it up. We found it outside our door this morning. We will never order from here again. read more

Zabb PuTawn - Pad phed with a worm - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

We took an hour train ride to come try their mango sticky rice. Upon entering, it's a small little Thai restaurant, decor is a little too dark to my liking but food is very good. We love the drinks, very delicious though I think my Thai iced tea was a bit too sweet but it's just because I have a low tolerance for sugars. The drunken noodles, coconut curry noodles and northern sausage were all delicious! We also ordered their famous mango sticky rice but I didn't find it special but also a bit too sweet to my liking, though I can see why people love it. Overall, we love the food but probably will not return due to the long commute. read more

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Great authentic Thai food, we took the ferry here after seeing the Kor Moo Yang and it didn't disappoint. Very juicy and big portions. We also ordered the Kow Soi Gai and it was also very good, the curry and chicken were very flavorful. The staff were also friendly and refilled my hibiscus juice to full when I wanted to take the half finished drink as takeout. read more

Zabb PuTawn - Kor Moo Yang (Grilled Pork Neck) - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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Squid: Grilled marinated squid served w/nam jim Thai seafood dipping sauce Pad See Eew: Sweet Dark Soy Sauce Noodles Broad rice noodles w/Chinese broccoli and egg, sautéed w/sweet dark soy sauce and oyster sauce Pad Kee Mao: Drunken Noodles Broad noodles, mixed vegetables, wild ginger, pickled peppercorns, sautéed with spicy basil sauce Thai Iced Tea On a cold wintry night pushing 15°F, this was a nice respite from the frozen tundra out in the city. Squid was fresh and chewy, pairing well with the nam jim. Both broad noodles were similar with a rich blend of spice and flavor. The Pad Kee Mao w/crispy pork had breading that was slightly on the tougher side. Pad See Eew was excellent in every way: the gai lan added a nice crunch to a mostly savory dish. read more

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Absolutely delicious spot on the UES. The UES is very highly saturated with Thai restaurants and is mostly dominated by mainstays Up Thai and THEP Thai, but this 6- year old restaurant definitely gives those frequented spots a run for their money! The restaurant is not large, and only boasts about 10 tables, so takeout and delivery are very popular. But with the small, cozy restaurant comes a very friendly selection of staff. The owners are front and center- either waiting tables or cooking, but there are enough people so wait times are minimal. The food was phenomenal. I started with Thai curry puffs, which were steaming and exquisite! Flavor was spot on, and the cucumber dipping sauce was delightful. I then had Chicken Pad Thai. It was a very generous serving, and I ended very full and satisfied. The sauce coated the noodles well, and had the right balance I look for in a Pad Thai of sweet and savory. I also had a Thai iced tea, which came in a mason jar, and was delicious as well. I definitely will coming back! read more

Zabb PuTawn - Pad Thai (Chicken) - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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Zabb PuTawn in the UES is a fantastic find! The food is incredibly tasty, and the cozy, small space makes it feel intimate and welcoming. It's hands down the best Thai restaurant in the area! We ordered the Tom Yum Noodle Soup (a must-try/ we always order this), Pad Thai, Pad See Eew, Mango Salad with Shrimp, and Crispy Spring Roll. Everything was delicious and full of flavor. Highly recommend this gem for a great meal! read more

Ordered take out tonight and WOW! The food was so freaking delicious. Spicy Basil Fried rice, medium spice woah hit the spot. Such fresh ingredients and my favorite neighborhood spot. Last week I dined at Zabb with friends and the service is exceptional. So friendly and such a cute ambiance. Spring rolls are crispy and tasty. I love good Thai food and this place is the spot. Definitely recommend for both take-out and in-person dining. Also, you can BYOB! read more

This place is goood. Came here on a Sunday for lunch at 1:30 and the restaurant was about half full. It's a smallish mom and pop joint with seating for about 25 people. Homey ambience with some Thai art for decor--wall hangings, framed art and a mural of lanterns on the right wall. We ordered: 1) Yum Woosen $11: glass noodle salad with ground pork, shrimp, celery, tomato and onion. A fresh and healthy option without losing out on the flavor factor. They don't skimp on spice level with the chili so ask for mild if you can't handle eating a teaspoonful of sriracha. 2) Pad Kee Mao with chicken $13: well-cooked dish with that savory and slightly sweet flavor of Thai cooking. Meets the standard of what I'd expect from for a good version of this dish. 3) Num Tok noodle soup $13: this was really the star, that herbal bone broth was delicious--I'd go back for this bowl alone. Paired with thin noodles and tender chunks of meat. Certainly a *Mmmm* with asterisks ;) I noticed they have a page of Northern Thai specialties which we didn't get to try this time but will definitely return another time to experience. read more

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We always get drunken noodles and green curry and they are always 6/5 Tried different things today: Guay Tio num sai - clear herbal soup with noodles. It was ok, won't get this again. 2/5 Gang om - soup with chicken, baby eggplant, pumpkin mushrooms and herbs - delicious, 4/5 Sweet coconut sticky rice dessert - warm and delicious 5/5 I ordered everything to pick up and had o asked for chili oil or hot sauce on the side - but they forgot. Bummer read more

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Good neighborhood Thai restaurant with a good variety of northern Thai noodle soups and rice dishes. Friendly service. read more

Zabb PuTawn - Garlic chicken - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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Ordered take out. This place popped up on my radar while just walking around in the neighborhood. I love thai food and order it quite often - UES has a lot of spots. However, I have to say this place is best. Not only does it taste good but it also is more reasonably priced. Their Northern Style stew was surprisingly a winner. read more

So happy to try another Thai restaurant in the UES. We shared the moo ping which is grilled pork skewers- these were juicy and that sauce is spicccy. I ordered my usual of pad see ew which was flavorful and not too sweet. My husband ordered the pad kee mao and they do ask you for the spice level; this came with a good amount of vegetables and was also flavorful. The ambiance is chill and the staff were nice, but we did have to wait for a table even though we had a reservation. read more

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I am from Thailand originally and have been in NYC for almost 10 years, let me me tell you something, PuTawn serves really authentic Thai food that is different from other Thai places in NYC I and my friend ordered Somtum Pu Plara ( papaya salad with crab meets, Sai Ua ( Northern Thai pork sausage), Larb Moo Kua (Northern Thai ground pork salad), grilled chicken livers and pork ribs Tom Zabb soup . OMG, everything was so good and it reminds me the food in Thailand. I will definitely back back for more. read more

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Khanom Jeen !!! I love that dish and it is a rare delicacy in NYC. When I saw this restaurants have Khanom Jeen and crab fried rice , it was a must go place for me. So I went dinner yesterday. Both dishes spot on and their star item spicy chicken feet soup is bonus score for me . So delicious and so authentic ( Authentic Thai taste is very important for me because most of Thai restaurants here are Americanized . I don't mean in bad way but Americanized or Asian fusion menu are so boring and lack something for a fellow SEA's taste) . Our server is very kind and attentive. Small but it makes the place cozy and you can easily catch the attention of busy servers. I will definitely come back again and again !! read more

Zabb Putawn is rebranded with a new menu and reopened for indoor dining this month. They used to be a decent thai restaurant but now they are definitely one of our favorites. Their menu is now focused on northern thai dishes, similar to larb ubol.. one of our favorite places before they closed. We ordered: Moo ping - a generous portion of 3 marinated pork skewers with a delicious dipping sauce Som tum kai khem - a variation of papaya salad with a salted egg. This was really good. Pad thai - above average Pork jowl - we liked this but we liked the moo ping better Krapow basil - ground chicken over rice. This was really good. I would have like my little egg to be runnier but still good. If you can handle spice, go for thai spicy. We will definitely be back to try other things on the menu. I would put this above a lot of the thai places in hells kitchen read more

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Yen Ta Fo is a dish I discovered five years ago around Hell's Kitchen when I was dating someone who lived around there. I fell in love with the dish instead of the guy. My go to place closed down around the same time the guy and I stopped seeing each other... Once again, I was more upset about the place closing than the guy leaving.. (oops). Ever since the place closed, I had such a hard time finding a place that makes this dish and delivers to my apartment. There was another place I found, but they went out of business due to pandemic and another place will not deliver to my apartment. One day, I was craving this dish so badly to the point I was going to walk in the snow with a broken toe to go get it. Then I saw that Postmates delivered from here. The first time I ordered the dish, it was okay. It did its job, but it was not fantastic. The second time I ordered it, it was so delicious. I am not sure what happened, but they made it super spicy like I wanted and it was just so delicious. I swear on my full functioning left foot that I will throw a fit if something happens to this place. There are so many places that ignore customer's notes and requests when they put in their order via delivery services, but this place follows directions and makes food the way you want it. Normally the dish comes with pad thai like thin noodles, but I am used to and love the wide noodles you usually use for pad see ew. So I requested they change it to that and make it extra spicy. LET ME TELL YOU! They definitely brought on the spice. Super satisfied and cannot wait to go in person one day! read more

Authentic small neighborhood gem. You will not be disappointed. Thai classics like pad Thai but opt for the many unique regional dishes.

The perfect khao soi and such warm service (even for a pick-up order!). Had no idea this place was right around the corner, and now can't wait to order again. read more

Average food, relatively high price, and tricky tip system. It's a small restaurant, offering mostly Thai street food and classic dishes. nothing too fancy. But the price is similar to those of well decorated/designed restaurant. E.g. Tom Yum Goong is $14, whole fish is $38. The taste is alright - average/slightly above average. They are tricky with the recommended tips. It's not listed as recommended xx%. Instead, the three recommended levels are marked as good, very good, and excellent. They correspond to 20%, 22%, and 25% if you do the calculation yourself. This is high (usually see 18% at the low end) and feels even more wrong that they are not upfront with the percentage. read more

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We had a great dinner at PuTawn! It is a breath of fresh air to have authentic Thai foods at reasonable prices. The papaya salad and Moo Ping ( Thai pork skewers) were amazingly delicious. Excellent & friendly service. I feel safe with all Covid precautions they implemented at the restaurant. read more

Zabb PuTawn - Moo Ping - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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Disclaimer: I may not have had the typical experience because it was during NYC restaurant week Zabb PuTawn is a small but mighty restaurant with very friendly staff and a lively atmosphere. We went during restaurant week, which had a steal of a deal with a 3 entree sampler + 1 beer for ~$25 / person :) The singha beer was a welcome complement to the wide array of samplers we tried and made the experience much more lively (im a lightweight ;P). I was pleasantly surprised to find that the meal also included a cute lil bottle of sticky rice, which was much needed for some of the more spicy dishes! The soup was my favorite; the other dishes weren't too crazy and was what I'd expect for a thai restaurant. However, I'd like to give this a 5 star experience because of the awesome restaurant week deal, lively atmosphere, and friendly staff. 8.5/10 read more

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Great hospitality and flavorful, unique cuisine from Northern Thailand as well as more commonly encountered fare. We did wait a bit for orders to be taken, but I'll chalk it up to the server patiently waiting to make sure we were all ready to order. The crispy pork belly over rice with the sweet sausage checked all the boxes - crispy pork, decadent fat, in a sweet and tangy sauce which was inhaled. There is no shortage of spice or sour either- the larb koo kua would be a great hangover dish- satisfyingly rich with a kick of numbing spice to shake you out of the funk. The warmly decorated interior made for a very cozy experience. Would definitely come again! read more

Zabb PuTawn - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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I got the pad thai during lunch hours and it was super yummy and filling. You have a choice of two sides and a drink, I got the papaya salad and fried tofu, along with the hibiscus tea. All of the items were of good quality and I would definitely visit again. The papaya salad was my favorite! So fresh and tangy. read more

Zabb PuTawn - Outside - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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Amazing little place! I came here with my cousin for dinner the other night and we were both so so happy we found PuTawn. We were walking down 2nd hoping to find a good spot and after nothing really caught our eye I used Yelp to do a quick search for Thai food close by. PuTawn was the closest and had amazing reviews. We probably got there around 5:30 or 6:00 so it was still pretty dead. The staff was very friendly and the food came out quickly. I got the pad thai and my cousin ordered the pad see ew, both with chicken and both amazing but we both agreed the pad thai was the better of the two. Honestly, one of the best pad thais I've had. Very light, the crushed peanuts on the side and not all over the dish and chicken cooked so perfectly. Both dishes were pretty affordable at $13 each. I'd come back in a heart beat. Hot little tip! They had a discount if you pay in cash. Not a huge one, I think 5% but if you can, why not?! read more

Zabb PuTawn - Pad See Ew with Chicken - Thai Near Me - New York, New York

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Ordered take out twice.. the food is delicious, well flavored and very authentic. Their portion sizes are right too.. not too big or small. Pad pee mao is my all time favorite. Only issue is I ordered it with tofu, the pieces were chunky n a bit bland but that didn't dampen the flavor. Gaprow over rice and vegetable was also delicious.. more like comfort food though I would recommend the restaurant to add a bit more of sauce in it. Must try their crispy spring rolls as well. I feel I'm being a bit generous in my rating but that's because though I'm a nitpicking, their food has authentic flavor and I know I got to try more. read more