My Thai Cafe

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

We moved to Bloomington from the East Coast last summer where we had some amazing Thai restaurants in another small college town. We read the outstanding review of My Thai Cafe in the most recent issue of Bloom magazine & we were very excited to try it. We decided to go for take out but the website didnt have a menu. Hmm. We have a new baby so we had to make a special trip out of the house & ask for a take out menu. No such luck. Well, when you get a good write up, wouldnt it be a good idea to order extra menus? One would think so. So, we decided to go out on a Friday night. Splurge. We had family in town & going out is a rare occasion for us. It was busy, good sign & this was to be expected on a Friday night. Of course!!! It seemed family friendly, the atmosphere was very nice. Elegant. Good menu, albeit a little pricy, but fair. Service however was a bit slow. Seemed disorganized as well. One server broke a glass on the table next to us...they just seemed a little flustered. Other tables seemed obviously irritated but it was a Friday. When going out, it should be expected that you have to wait a little bit. We waited a good while though, so when we DID get our food, it was pretty good. Attractive & good flavor. We were pretty happy. The sauces could have been a little better. All in all, a good visit. By the way, no take out menus at that time. Shocker. We decided to go back a few weeks later for take out again...NO menus. Are you kidding me? My husband came back out to the car, where our infant was sleeping & told me. So, dragged the baby into the restaurant & we looked at the menu & placed our order. I asked again "When will your menus be available"? "Tomorrow, the owner is updating it". Is this a ploy just to force the customers to dine in? So we placed the order & said we would be back shortly. We were asked to pay when the order was placed because "they will be too busy (in 15 minutes)" when we pick it up. Seriously? Thats not good customer service. What do they do when someone does call in an order, make them pre pay? We arent sure if we will go back or not. We have sort of a bad taste in our mouths & in this case, its not because of the food, which was good. Sometimes its NOT all about the food. Sadly, a little disappointed. So, My Thai Cafe, can you please put the menu on the website that you already have....or keep a good stock of take out menus? You may get more customers. If not, you might lose some.

A

A Private User

When I initially heard that a new Thai restaurant was to be introduced to the Bloomington, IN area I was pretty excited. This area is extremely pricey for Thai food considering the location IMO. Other small college towns charge about 2/3 for a full plate of tasty pad thai (Golden Wok in Urbana, IL). Not only was this food pricey for the location, it was pricey for what it was. I ordered what I considered to be simple dishes - Beef Pad See Ewe and an order of fried Thai egg rolls. The total was just under $16 for the two items in a carry out order. The Thai egg rolls were tiny and bland, approximately 0.5" in diameter and at best 3" long with the taper of stingy fillings. Either the cooks were really skilled at mimicking an extremely bland brand of frozen spring rolls that you can buy at any Asian grocery OR these were bought from their Asian wholesale food supplier. In any case, they were bland. Definitely not worth 5.95. If you want great tasting thai spring rolls, pay the extra 50 cents to get them at Esan Thai. The Pad See Ewe? How about Pad See EWWWW. With every bite I had I could only think about where I could find a website to post a review about how terribly disappointing it was. I purposefully ordered the beef version not because it is my favorite meat, but it usually imparts the best taste to the rest of the noodles. Even so, there was no taste to the meat, the noodles, the eggs were burned, and despite the dark color of the dish, no flavor. The noodles did not taste fresh - they were dry and thin. The setting: when I walked in I was really hopeful. Their were Thai students eating in a big group in the corner and figured if they enjoyed it over home cooking, it had to be decent (not trying to bring race in, but as far as ethnic foods go, I think its true and I hope when other people see me at Asian restaurants they are similarly reassured). The decor was interesting in certain facets but definitely had the essence of an early 90s wine lounge. So, this is my personal opinion. No guarantees that your taste is in alignment with mine. Feel free to start your own tour de Thai in Bloomington. But with gas prices the way they are at the moment, save yourself the trip to My Thai Cafe and use the money for something else.

A

A Private User

The restaurant is new and clean. Jits Thai just opened this summer. Prices are somewhat high, but not unreasonable. (~$6 for appetizers, $9-$12 for an entree, $2.50 for thai iced tea with $1.50 refills). It smells like a thai place when you walk in - lots of birdseye chilis and a touch of fish sauce in the air - this is always a good sign, IMO. Many selections on the menu. Im itching to try their basil beef and pad thai next. Order breakdown... Thai iced tea - very strong, sweet but not too sweet. Sticky rice - was very sticky and chewy. I ate chunks with my fingers after awhile. No crunchy old bits, no uncooked bits, just chewy through and through. Fried dried beef - you cant mess this up. salty, decent cut of beef, a little on the dry side. (not dried out, really, just not greasy.) Hot dipping sauce (for the beef) - OMFG! super fresh, quite spicy (though still tolerable to me), obviously made in-house. theres a green overtone in the taste, but I dont believe its cilantro? It could just be the taste of fresh, I swear. deliciously painful, like a good thai hot sauce should be. (Note: my partner later insisted it was merely bottled Rooster chili sauce. Hrm. Still good.) Fried tofu - again, difficult to mess this up. Crispy, hot and freshly cooked. not greasy at all. Tofu dipping sauce - sweet (like fructose), just a touch of fresh chili, very much vinegar based. My only complaint is that I swear the menu said it was supposed to have peanuts in it, and mine had no peanuts. *sad* Still, the base was very tasty.

DI

Diana Ryan

My sister and I are long-time foodies so we looked forward to trying the Thai restaurant I had heard good things about in Bloomington. The ambiance was pleasant and not overdone. The service was excellent and the restroom was sparkling clean. We ordered medium hot red curry and pad kee mow, both beef. Both of us thought the dishes were exceptionally tasty. My sister especially like the presentation. The dishes were so attractive, she said, and the vegetables were fresh and not overcooked. She has eated Thai food in DC, St Louis, Chicago, San Francisco, and Houston and this dinner was better than most. I especially liked the red curry for its flavor. We appreciated the generous portions and took home lunch for the next day! Worth the drive across town, for sure!