T.H.A.I. in Shirlington

I came here for a little snack before going to see a movie in Shirlington.
I came here with the intention of getting Tom-​yum Soup. I was a little disappointed when they didn’t offer that on the menu, so my quick second was the coconut soup. I was very pleased with my choice! It was like tom-​yum soup but with coconut milk as the broth. The chicken was a little plain and dry but the soup was great overall. I also ordered the Thai dumplings. They came pan fried with a sweet and salty soy dipping sauce. I was expecting them to be a little crispy, but they were somewhat doughy. The stuffing inside the dumplings though were very good and flavorful and the soy dipping sauce complimented the dumplings.
I didn’t get the full dinner experience here since I just came for a quick snack. Next time I will try out their main dishes. Overall I was satisfied.

The brother recommended that we eat here, so we did for dinner. We ordered the Thai tea, which you pour your own sugar and milk. We also ordered the calmari and spring rolls for our appetizer and both were really flavorful. The calamari could use a little bit more salt and the spring rolls were kinda thin but good.
For our entrée, we got the chicken drunken noodles and the pad see eww, which looked and tasted great. Would definitely dine in again but parking really sucks.

Very Nic restaurant, good service, but the food was quite plain. Don’t get me wrong, it was tasty and good, but not bursting with Thai flavours like you’d hope. I’ll give it another try in a few months…

I’ve been going here since 1998 and the food and staff have never disappointed.
After attempted to try something new I heard of Hula Girl. After we walked out of hula girl for basically being ignored by the entire staff we walked out and went straight to THAI Shirlington! Always perfect, always courteous!

One of my favorite places in Shirlington to order and pick up. I love it and they are fast with making the food. Sometimes it can be a little dry with their chicken pad thai, so make sure you ask for extra sauce.

A regular favorite in our house!

I really wanted to like this place as I live about 5 minutes away and am constantly ordering Thai food. Over the years I’ve ordered from places that had amazing pad thai and some that were mediocre. Never in my life have I ever had downright BAD pad Thai… until this place. There was no flavor whatsoever. Some of the noodles at the bottom were still white in color!.. untouched by any sauce or spice. This is not even close to good/​authentic Thai food. I’m surprised this place got such good reviews.

Thai Shirlington has always a nearby favorite over the years! I’ve taken my family and bf here, and celebrated my birthday here. The dishes are simple and delicious. The prices are reasonable. The modern, Asian décor and fresh orchids are nice touches.

Weak. I had the phad thai last weekend and it was easily one of the worst phad thais I have ever had. However, I ordered carryout and the bartender provided great service, apologizing for the long wait.

I recently discovered the wonder that is Tom Kha Gai soup while I was out of town. When I got home I was on a mission to find a local place that made it just as good. THAI in Shirlington is that place.
We ordered the soup, veggie pad thai, and general tso’s chicken. Soup was just as good as I remembered. Pad thai was okay, but had a lot of veggies I wasn’t expecting (bell pepper, zucchini, summer squash), and a lot of those veggies were over cooked. My husband loved his chicken.
It’s local and they deliver — we will be ordering again!

Cozy place. Food is hot straight out of the kitchen and tastes great! Portions great and price is reasonable. All in Shirlington!
Pleasantly surprised. Wonton soups, basil chicken ordered to spice preference (doesn’t have to be 3 chilis) and drunken chicken noodles all yummy.

Review is for dessert only:
Came here because my gf was craving for a dessert. We decided to get a flambé. It was pretty good! The dish was caramelized bananas with coconut shavings, served with a side of ice cream, topped with grand marnier that was set on fire.
Plenty of parking at shirlington.

My family is visiting from out of town and we were looking for a casual spot to have dinner prior to my «big birthday dinner» (which I’ll refrain from naming but ends in a big 0 and it’s obviously not 20 since I already can get my drink on legally) tomorrow night. My rents like Thai, as does my baby bro, and we happened to be in Shirlington already, so T.H.A.I. It is. I ordered the Nua Siam (marinated steak in sesame ginger soy sauce with onions and scallions and ginger). It came with rice which I opted not to use– trying to stack my carb count for tomorrow’s dinner. I thought my steak was nicely cooked, small but filling portion, and flavored perfectly– although the actual amount of onions in the dish was overwhelming. The ginger in the dish– but not on the steak– proved to be overwhelming at times too. The rest of my party ordered pad Thai. One out of four enjoyed it, one said meh, the other 2 said nothing– which speaks volumes when it comes to those particular people. One of those two later said she didn’t like it at all. I’m not a pad Thai fan, honestly, but sampled a bite from the dish which was enjoyed and I thought it was pretty meh. I had a glass of Malbec which did pair nicely with the red meat. Baby bro seemed to enjoy his beer. My SO enjoys T.H.A.I so I’d come back for him but otherwise don’t feel a need to hurry back any time soon.

Pad Thai is lacking flavor.
Pad see eww was mushy And slimy.

The flavors here are overly strong — too salty, sugary, limey. I couldn’t finish my papaya salad because of the lime and sugar overload. My lemon grass pork tasted overly salty, and the dipping sauce was very sweet. I’m thankful for the sticky rice to balance everything out, but I definitely could’ve used another bowl of rice for that purpose. I did enjoy our summer roll appetizer, though — the rolls tasted very fresh.

Nothing like I expected… could have been easily persuaded that I wasn’t eating at a Thai restaurant!
–Thai tea… you might as well brew it yourself too! We were served the Thai tea with the sugar syrup and cream on the side. The tea wasn’t strong at all and by the time I mixed my syrup and cream with the tea… I don’t even know what I was drinking… it sure wasn’t Thai tea. Did not enjoy this at all!
–Duck Wontons, the duck was dried and the sauce served with it didn’t compliment the flavor of the duck. If you’ve ever had a crab rangoon from the Chinese carryout, this is just like it except with dried pieces of duck inside.
–Crispy Spring Rolls, these were okay; however, they were the length of 2 springs rolls with the filling of one.
–Pad See Ew, this was just okay. I honestly think I could have made this at home. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t great… and I can’t tell if it was a Pad See Ew.
–Chicken and Broccoli with rice (lunch special), this is literally what it is. Again, the flavor was bland and minimal and if you have soy sauce, cornstarch and some sugar at home… you can cook this too.
–Beef Noodle Soup (lunch special), for $ 6.99, this is probably one of the best deals on the menu. The bowl is completely filled, a very generous portion. I honestly think they could have given a little LESS noodles and I would still be happy.
In the end, I wouldn’t go back to dine here again if I want Thai food nor would I ever recommend this place to a friend. The other 2 in my party agreed… thank you but no thank you.

I’ve been here many times, and I’m never disappointed. I love everything on their menu but I always tend to gravitate to the Penang curry, with its rich peanut flavor, and I don’t usually like curries. Pad Thai is excellent as well. Portions are large, and service is usually good, though the waitresses are generally better than the waiters for some reason.
I’m knocking off a star because their Thai iced tea is very weak. And what is Thai food without a Thai iced tea?

Service over the past few years has been great. This used to be my go to Thai spot in Shirlington for **years**.
However, service, portion size and customer service has changed significantly. I am not sure whether they are under new management or what.
One of the head server’s is polite on the surface, but its more like nice-​nasty. Like he’s being polite, but in a back-​handed, sarcastic, stubborn sort of way. Therefore, not pleasant.
I ordered the Chicken Satay as an app, delish, and Thai Iced Tea. I meant to order a Thai Iced Coffee, but oh well, my mistake. Mom order hot tea. Ok so far.
I ordered Chicken Pad Thai, my mom ordered Vegetable Pad Thai, with extra veggies steamed on the side, (which she’s been ordering for YEARS!!) The head server guy refused her a side of steamed veggies. Why not? He said that the veggies had to be mixed in with the stir fry, not on the side. This made absolutely no sense. My mom mentioned that she’s been ordering it that way, for years, and I supported her on that. He said, no, they’ve never done it that way. (At this point, I am thinking, «Oh no he didn’t just contradict my mother on Mother’s Day???») We told them we were happy to pay for them, geez! After going back and forth in confusion, he refused to provide a real answer as to why the veggies could not be steamed and served on the side. He made up a huge story that the chef has to measure and mix it all together. Not separate. Which made absolutely no sense. It was as though he was being stubborn on purpose, like it had to be his way, no other way. I even asked him why not? Or if he could please ask the chef to just make a side of steamed veggies. He just kept smiling and saying, «No, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.» Sorry about what? Sorry that he was not making logical sense? I told him that it was Mother’s Day and a side of steamed veggies should not be this complicated and he was totally ruining the dining experience.
It finally boiled down to price. He was refusing the side because he assumed we did not want to pay for the side dish. I said over and over, if its about price we are more than happy to pay. He just kept saying he could not do it. Finally, he came back and said he could do it, but it would cost $ 4.50.
Horrible dining experience. Head server was not very welcoming, very tacky. Will not return.

About a 2 – 2.5: T.H.A.I. Shirlington is one of my friend’s favorite Thai restaurant in the area. I was really excited to finally try them out. They are located in Shirlington, and it seemed like a pretty popular spot with the locals. They offer lunch specials daily between 11:30−4PM, and offer items such as soups, salads, appetizers (dumplings, shu mai), noodles, entrees (curry, panang, etc.), vegetarian options, as well as desserts. I was suggested to order their special Duck Spring Rolls, but this was not listed, and I believe it is a special that they have once in a while. We started off with the crispy spring rolls instead, but they came out kind of limp and soggy — not the usual crispiness that I expected it to be — their sweet and sour sauce was also more on the watery side, not the thicker syrupy-​consistency. For our entrees, we ordered their Pad T.H.A.I. with shrimp, which came with bean curd, peanuts, bean sprouts, scallions, eggs, and noodles. I was not a fan as the shrimp, as it was just not fresh, which also caused the dish to have a weird aftertaste. The Chicken Panang was also on the less-​than-​thick side, which could be okay, but the flavor was not there — I thought that there was a lack of depth in the spices, which made the curry more on the bland side. We also tried their Drunken Noodles, which the noodles were extremely overcooked, causing them to be very wet and slimy. Service was friendly, and I am glad I was able to check this place out — however, I will not return, as I have my personal Thai eateries in the area!
+soggy spring rolls T_​_​_​T
+overcooked noodles T_​_​_​T
+not fresh shrimp T_​_​_​T
+bland curries T_​_​_​T
+friendly staff: D
+located in Shirlington
+limited free parking along Campbell

I really enjoyed T.H.A.I. in Shirlington. We got seated right away on a weeknight (and it was quite crowded too). I like that they have plenty of space (both indoors and on their patio). It’s great for small and large parties alike. Our waitress was extremely friendly and smiley and attentive throughout (awesome!) and our food was delicious. We ordered the crispy spring rolls as an appetizer. For our entrees we ordered the chicken Pad Thai and the Pad See Ew. The meal was truly tasty. We also enjoyed the drinks — their pineapple-​mango Mojito and their Long Island Iced Tea (actually not as strong as those usually are).
I have no complaints at all. And since this is located conveniently in Shirlington (tons of other restaurants and shops in the area), I will certainly be back.