Marlai Thai Restaurant

The food was ok, chicken they use is excellent. The peanut sauce was just ok. I’d return though if my options were limited.

Overpriced for so/​so Thai food. The reason why Thai food is one of my favorite choice of foods is because of the spicy and flavorful taste. However, Marlai has a very dull and bland taste. The most annoying part is there level of spicy is so off. If you like your food spicy at a level of 3, the rule of thumb is to always go one or two levels higher here. Marlai’s main focus is the presentation over the quality of the food. The restaurant is really pretty and they try really hard about the presentation of their food. This is so annoying! They should be putting their effort towards the flavor and quality of the food!
Their noodle dishes such as pad thai or pad see ew ranges in about 10 – 12 for a noodle dish. There portions are reasonable and are very filling. A bit high for the noodle dishes. However, the pad thai is very dry and not moist. I would not recommend the pad thai because you will be very disappointed.
If you do choose to go here I do recommend the pad see ew. Their fat noodle dishes are really good but do not try the pac kee mao!!! Its not good at all! However, back to what I was saying the pad see ew is not too bad. Lots of flavor and if you like spicy don’t even bother asking them to add it in. Just get a side of chili sauce and add it in to your dish as you wish. Their judgment on spicy is very off!
They do have lunch specials that are a pretty good deal for lunch. They have a lot of options that include are combination dishes. For example, red curry and a noodle dish. Just ask the workers for a lunch menu because it separate from the regular menu. They also do to go and are pretty quick. If you are short on time, order ahead and they will have it ready for you.
There are plenty of better Thai places around this area I would definitely recommend on trying different places before coming here.

We like Marlai and go there often. They’re great for our family because we usually have elders in tow, we have a person who is allergic to chili peppers of all kinds, and we have another who likes it hot. All can get something they like. The place is clean, the service is good, and the food is tasty. I almost always get the Panang Beef, 3 – 5 stars, brown rice and a fried tofu appetizer to share. Their Panang sauce is a good version of this standard, and there’s plenty of it.

Love this place and come here often. The Bangkok Noodles, Panang Curry, Fresh rolls with peanut sauce and Tom Ka soup are especially good. They don’t deliver, but takeout is fast and usually ready within ten minutes after a phone call. Always clean, courteous and delicious. Highly recommend!

Marlai is wonderful. The restaurant is very clean, the food is consistent, and the prices are reasonable. This is definitely a stand out thai restaurant! Being just outside university village, they don’t get quite as packed so you don’t have to wait for a table. We often order for pick up!

Blamed a flavorless bland yellow curry rice on the lack of soy sauce (we ordered gluten free). The waitress explained the yellow curry was a coloring not a spice and so it didn’t add flavor, just color. The menu described it as an Indian inspired fried rice, but Indian yellow curry is quite flavorful. They brought out a dish of fish oil for us to add flavoring. Then tried bringing raw chilies out, we sent it back and they insisted on making a new one with «different chicken». The phad thai we ordered with chicken and it was lacking chicken and had mostly yucky tofu. Disappointing. Also we didn’t even get refills on our water.

I live close to Marlai and I have eaten here a number of times. The food is ok, but unfortunately not as good as the numerous options on the Ave, all of which are cheaper. This most recent time I ordered the beef Phad See Ew. The portion was generous and there were plenty of noodles and beef, and sauce-​saturated broccoli. However, the dish was bizarrely sweet. A solid meal, but again you can get similar or even better quality/​quantity on the ave for a better price.

This is my go-​to to-​go Thai restaurant. probably because it’s less than 2 blocks away from me. But really, I love their Thai Fried Rice. I usually get it with chicken, but I’ve had it with beef a few times, and it’s just as good. It’s a huge portion and lasts me about 4 meals. The fried rice is not soggy with just the right amount of fish sauce and spice (2 stars for me). I’ve also tried their Pad Kee Mao and Pad See Ew, which are pretty similar to any other Thai restaurant, so you really can’t go wrong. Their garlic pork is delicious as well but you definitely need to get a side of rice with it because it may be too salty by itself.

Clearly Marlai — Fine Thai Cuisine has a successful formula to remain in the restaurant business for over two decades. And somehow this has escaped my radar screen until today for lunch 3÷23÷15!
I arrived a few minutes ahead of my two former colleagues. I was pleasantly greeted and immediately seated. I really liked the enormous windows which lets in a lot of natural light. The décor is what I’d call upscale Thai, but the pinkish paint hues and scuffed up chairs kind of made it a bit dated. I’m assuming there must be live music on some occasions since I was seated proximate to a baby grand piano.
Service from start to finish was efficient and unobtrusive. Plates brought to/​fro, water glasses kindly refilled automatically. Judging from the folks in the dining room, it’s perfect for ladies who lunch, groups, and families perhaps with appointments at the nearby medical/​dental building or Children’s Medical Center. It has the advantage of not being too frenetic in contrast to University Village
All three of our entrees started with a complimentary house salad. However, it contained very, very, very pale iceberg bits with scant julienned carrot and a drizzled dressing I couldn’t quite figure out. I left behind my iceberg core dregs.
It would have been better to use mixed baby greens or even just a tiny bowl of flavorful congee or broth to prime the palate. Something ginger-​infused would have been welcomed on such a rainy, grey kind of spring day.
The three entrees ($ 10 each) ordered were served piping hot direct from the kitchen line and eye-​pleasing with its presentation, a token bright orchid sitting on a bed of julienned carrots.
Coriander Chicken with Spring Rolls — tender chicken sautéed with coriander sauce with crispy vegetable spring rolls and steamed jasmine rice
Bangkok Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) — fresh wide noodles stir fried with chicken and assorted vegetables in a red curry sauce
Garlic Pork — pork tenderloin sautéed with cracked peppercorns and fresh minced garlic in a light soy sauce, served with fresh cucumber slices and steamed jasmine rice
What’s interesting is that this is the first Thai restaurant that the wait person did not ask how many stars of heat wished for each entrée. No condiments on the table to adjust accordingly, just brightly colored daisies in petite vases.
The Garlic Pork entrée was nicely presented and tasty, but a bit too sweet which is not what I’d expect from pepper and garlic. The cucumber slices were a bit off (mushy inner core, tough outer portion), plus a bit thick without a knife. A thinner setting on the mandolin would solve that using fresh, crisp cucumbers. Sadly, I left those behind on my plate, like my earlier pale iceberg core dregs.
I’ve never visited Thailand, but my tastes align closer to generous entrees served at Little Uncle, Pop Pop, Pestle Rock, and Mai Thaiku. Rustic styled street food, hole in the wall kind of Thai cuisine.
Marlai’s is decent in a pinch if you’re in Sand Point — Hawthorne Hills — UVillage — View Ridge — Laurelhurst radius.

So, before I begin this review, I do want to say that they did get 40% of our orders correct and they were really really apologetic (including knocking a few bucks off our bills) with getting 60% of our order wrong. That’s why it’s not a one star review.
Yeah, they got 60% of our order wrong. Including putting meat in a non-​meat dish. The kitchen apologized for that by giving us two free appetizers… that had meat in them. Also there were sauce and at least one human hair on our plates. Not the ones food were served in, at least.
The food itself was okay. Not the best Thai food in Seattle (that is a high bar to clear, admittedly), but it was definitely okay. Everything else though was eh, and even though the waiter and the chef both apologized it was still awkward and annoying and generally not a pleasant experience.

I am the business owner of Forrest Dawson Insurance — State Farm which is just down the street. Every time my team meets their goals and earns lunch they always pick Marlai. Really good food with great consistency. Our favorite menu items are the Pad Se Ew with Tofu and Red Curry with somen noodles. I think they have other things on their menu, but my team always orders these dishes. I don’t think they are spicy for a Thai place, so I always go with 5 star which is not what I would do if I was at a less Americanized Thai eatery. We always get our order to go, but it always seems clean and friendly on my walk through to the register.

Traveling on business today I went looking for somewhere to grab a quivk bite to eat. I ordered the chicken satay and fresh rolls and was pleasantly surprised. The chicken was moist and delicious. The spring rolls were beautiful and tasty too. I will definitely be bsck next trip.

I’m giving this restaurant only 3 stars now, but may revise my rating later. We ordered take out very near to close last night and while the food was good, there was one issue which bugged me. When I called to order, they did not ask me how spicy I would like my dish. When I got it home, I found that it was a 0… no spice had been added at all. Normally I like a 3 out of 4, so I added some crushed red pepper and chili powder. Additionally, at most restaurants I find they put a wedge of lime in the box with Pad Thai, but there was no wedge this time. I had one at home and added it myself. With my slight modifications, the dish was EXCELLENT, but I feel like, if I’m paying for a restaurant to make it for me, they should be the ones doing the seasoning, not me. Here’s hoping this was a fluke and next time they don’t forget these small but essential things!

Big servings, great food, good prices. I usually grab take out and it’s always ready to go quickly. The few times I have eaten in the restaurant I have been provided with friendly service. I am a big fan of the Pad Thai and the Pad See Ew. It’s definitely the best Thai food in the area.

Great food and service. Pad Thai, yellow curry, Mongolian beef and pad see ew is really great.

I took some Chinese friends to Mariai Thai and my friends were looking at the menu. The waitress came over and realized that the Chinese friends could not understand the menu. I wish I could remember her name, but she said that she know exactly what they would like and how much. She was exactly right, the food was perfect for my friends {and for my daughter and myself}, and the amount was perfect. We left full, and we did not have any left overs. I was very impressed with the food and the service!!!
There were 6 of us and including the tip it was under $ 100.00.

The few times I’ve been here I’ve always been satisfied with quality food, good customer service, and an open, clean environment.
At Thai restaurants I always order the Phad-​See-​Yew and their beef choice is excellent. Not too greasy and no unnecessary added ingredients. The noodle is al dente and the flavor is on point!
Their lunch menu is a good deal because most if not all of their items are under 10 dollars leaving you with some extra to take home. I tried the red curry and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of protein they have on a lunch special!
A must-​go if you’re ever in the Laurelhurst area :)

Excellent food. Adequate service. Fine atmosphere. Convenient location for Laurelhurst.
I come from Berkeley, CA, where the Thai food is very very good and I can list a dozen of my favorite Thai restaurants there. By comparison Marlai was excellent, and would be one of my regular stops if I lived nearby.
I ordered for the table since my parents don’t know the difference between Thai food and Chinese food. The Tom Kha soup was perfect and light — a good size appetizer for three people. The Pad Thai was delicious but I was surprised that shrimp was not included by default. The green curry was very flavorful and had a nice subtle spiciness to it that you don’t always see in green curry. The garlic basil eggplant looked mushy at first but was actually nice and tender and the sauce was perfect and flavorful.
The three of us were too full for dessert at that point, so we’ll have to come back another time and sample the dessert menu.
My parents were skeptical about trying Thai food, almost opposed to the idea before the meal, but by the end they were ready to bring their friends back to enjoy a great meal at Marlai.

A good place for lunch. Just down the street for uvillage and much less crowded. They have a good lunch menu. $ 9 for an entrée and very fast.
The red curry chicken was delicious. Had a little kick and the rice noodles were really nice with it. It wasn’t too salty and the mild kick was easily enhanced with a little chili sauce. Yum.
The satay and pad Thai plate was decent. The satay was well cooked and had a nice peanut sauce. However the pad Thai was a little underspiced and didn’t have the usual egg and other goodies so was a little bland. Is probably stick something else next time.
Nice clean and they have bar in the back and the staff was fast. Perfect for a quick lunch.

Came here on a Saturday for lunch. It was around 2pm and the place was pretty empty. The only reason we actually came here was because Jak’s and Varlamo’s were closed. They were still offering their lunch specials so that’s what I went with.
I had the Tom Yum soup which came with a side of white rice and a salad. The salad was a bit skimpy as was the soup portion. The flavor was also lacking as I tend to like my stuff spicier and bolder. The broth was practically clear. There was a decent amount of shrimp, however.
The service was good and the décor typical of an Asian place. They let me plug in my phone to charge which is the only reason this review got up to 3 stars.