A Touch of Fire

I used to really dig Touch of Fire when they were over on Manor, so I decided to try them for lunch today via delivery. As hopefully constructive criticism, it was a less than stellar experience. I ordered Pad See Ew which is typically not a spicy dish. Despite me telling them to add no spice (to a dish that doesn’t require it) they hopped on the spice to a kind of ridiculous degree. I also got spring rolls, which themselves were quite good but the peanut sauce was just off. Everything felt like it was missing a key ingredient. As a former resident of Thailand and a Thai food lover, I was disappointed in what I thought was originally decent quality. Not sure what changed but the food today was simply not good and I won’t be getting it again.

This truck started serving breakfast tacos, so I checked them out today. Mixed results… they do not have bacon, which is a BIG let down (they have ham instead). The tacos are nice size and the potatoes are really good. They were made to order which was nice. The red salsa was great, really spicy! Was disappointed that the tortilla was corn, u prefer flour.

This food truck has moved to Barton Springs right across from Palmer events center.
It is just OK, got a green curry with chicken and a thai iced tea. The green curry was spicy level fine, but it just was not very remarkable I think. Large chunks of mushy veggies and chicken that wasn’t very good. The thai iced tea was probably the best thing — for $ 12 altogether, I probably would not go here again.

They’ve moved locations to the 700 block of Barton springs by short bus subs. I ordered the pad see ew and egg rolls and it was extremely disappointing. The pad see ew was basically just soggy vegetables and noodles with no flavor, skimpy meat, and way too many jalapeños (which is silly since I got a low level of spice). The egg rolls were really soggy and greasy with no flavor too. Super disappointed by this considering that it’s not the cheapest Thai food. If you want better cheaper Thai food go down the block on s 1^st to little Thai food – way more authentic.

This is the worst Thai food I have ever had. There was nothing that tasted even remotely Thai about it.
It was as though my 5 year old child attempted to make me pad thai using pasta, cayenne pepper and franks hot sauce. No egg and no peanuts. My husband got the drunken noodles and is still recovering from the immense amount of spice added to it (I requested the lowest spice level).
I’m on fire for spending money ($ 35) on a Thai meal I could have had a blind, Irishman make.
I cannot recommend the pad thai or the drunken noodles. Perhaps the other food is good? I won’t be investigating.
Edit:
To be fair, it was $ 35 because I got it through Bite Squad. It was more like $ 25 before delivery fee and tip.

Yummy!!! Touch of Fire is my «to-​go» go-​to. The food is delicious. I always get the Pad Thai and egg rolls. Sometimes the operating hours aren’t what is posted. I haven’t figured out the pattern yet, but it seems to be the times I am craving it the most :)

The owner was so sweet and the food was excellent. Will definitely go again! Excellent green curry and pad thai. Great bubble tea too!

I recently had an order of green curry, pad thai, spring rolls, and Thai tea delivered with Bitesquad. I thought the food was delicious. Curry at medium spice was just spicy enough, and the ingredients were soft in texture, with a tang to the curry flavor. Every pad thai is different, and this one has a thinner noodle and is a bit sweeter than I’m used to. Not as much peanut flavor as I’ve had before. Springs rolls were on par– peanut sauce good. Overall, great price and great value.

My gf and I absolutely love this place and the family that owns it. Really great thai food — seriously haven’t had one thing on the menu we didn’t enjoy. My only complaint would be they close early…9:30 PM most nights.

I’ve waited a long time to write this review, because I really wanted it to be a good one. The owner of the trailer is the sweetest, and I really wish that the food was always as good as it has been on a few occasions. Unfortunately, the food is so inconsistent that I am hesitant to eat here again and I definitely don’t feel comfortable recommending it anymore. I love their green curry when it is good, but I never know until I’ve spent my money and gotten home if I’m getting a good batch or not. It is pretty watery in general, but the flavor is sometimes so good that I can overlook the consistency. Today however there was a completely new issue: it was so sickeningly sweet I couldn’t even eat it. While the green curry is sweeter here than most places, it has never been overwhelming. I called the trailer and suggested that they may want to taste the green curry before serving it again due to the sweetness. The cashier was very sweet and said she would let them know right away. However, there was no mention of a refund or comp’d meal for next time. All in all it was an especially disappointing experience.

Love the Pad kee Mao with Tofu and Red curry and the spicy Chicken thai Fried rice here. My regular lunch place.

This is a review for the manor location. I would call this the worst Thai food ever but it’s not even real thai food. I got the pad see eiw which tasted like it had been made days ago (noodles were mush and chicken was dry and nasty). The spring rolls were so dry I actually had to make myself l cough up a bite because it got caught in my throat. My guess is everything is pre made because the kid at the window was complaining about being cold so I’m guessing there was no cook top of any kind in there. Aside from general BAD quality, the food is not even made with the right ingredients or techniques. The only ingredient in the pad see eiw sauce was obviously soy sauce and was clearly not seared or wok stir fried. The peanut sauce was also lame.
Everyone complained about the previous resident in this trailer spot (thai Thani) because the portions were small but at least it was good. This new place bullshit. That’s what we get for being gross and glutinous: huge portions of disgusting food. Good job America.

Still loving this stand. Red curry is great and spicy, yellow is solid as a less spicy option. I have no issue stomaching the spicy dishes, but a friend who has been out of commission on spicy food lately was left with a small stomach ache from the red curry. Nothing that stopped us from having a beer afterwards, though.

It’s OK. I had the pad thai. I might go back if I didn’t have any other option available. The pad thai was bland, but sriracha helps. The most disturbing part of the pad thai was that after I finished, I could see the pock-​marks in the to go container where it had melted from the hot pad thai. I appreciate that my meal was nice and hot, but I’d suggest that the business consider lining their containers with foil to prevent people from eating the bonus plastic.

LOL…
Below is my review of A Touch of Fire… which is still right across from my office, which never moved or closed or anything but which apparently beat the Unilocal system by shutting down their last page that much more clearly reflected their quality of food and service and claiming to have changed or moved or reopened.
Nuh-​uh…
*Angry Feelings*
My Thai Tacos:
I had the beef. There were some stir fry veg in there, some cilantro and their house sauce stuff. More than that, there was oil. By the time I drove LITERALLY (and I mean Literally in the literal sense, not Literally in the sarcastic sense) ½ block… 100 yards across Congress back to my office, the tortillas were so saturated with sauce and oil that they just tore into soggy bits. Everything dripped down my arm as I gnawed like a vulture at the chewy beef.
Flavor was decent. But not decent enough to condone that mess. Tsk tsk.
My Egg Rolls:
The size of Megan Fox’s thumbs. Have you ever seen Megan Fox’s thumbs? Probably not because they’re so freakishly small that it’s often in her movie contracts that her thumbs not be on camera. That’s how small these little rolls of nothing-​but-​cabbage are. So, my original thought that 2 rolls for $ 3.00 (as opposed to single rolls at $ 2.00 apiece) was a good deal was smashed when I couldn’t stop thinking that «Hey, I have now demonstrated that I could eat Megan Fox’s thumbs in just one bite.» If you don’t believe me, go watch «So This is 40» — the scene with Leslie Mann in the car gives you a clear view of her circus digits.
The Price:
Holy Legitimate Rape, Batman. Two street tacos and two Vienna Sausage sized eggrolls ran me TWELVE EMEFFIN’ DOLLARS. Twelve! Okay, really $ 10.00 plus change and I tipped because it clearly sucks to work in a hot steamy food truck trailer and at the time I still believed in Santa Claus and Fairies and the Queen of England and had hope that my food would taste so good that I wouldn’t care about the price. All dreams were shattered.
Although their location is extremely convenient to me and I sincerely had hoped they could be one of my regular noshing grounds, I’ll never be back.

To qualify myself before hand, I’ve traveled through east Asia, eat Thai and Indian food with bhut jolokia, and am usually the exception to the «white guy rule» at Asian restaurants.
I got liquid shits from eating here. I don’t know if it was just a freak occurrence (it can happen) or unsanitary or bad ingredients but I’m not eating here again.
Additionally, they use curry paste to make their curry? They use jalapeño instead of Thai peppers? The chicken wasn’t good and neither was their beef.
Pretty Thai for a white guy is far better and actually more Asian authentic for a Thai food truck.
They were nice, I’ll give them that.

Way overpriced Rahmen noodles!!!
Food smells worthy enough and tasted decent but when I looked at the noodles just like rahmen and they felt like it too when I chewed them. Why not just buy a cup of Rahmen for fifty cent and save the $ 7? Oh yes they did give you some chicken but at best only a half breast and about a day away from tasting old.
Also they load (I mean load) the dish with way too much soy and don’t even ask you the spice.

Kind of hungry, but too close to dinnertime, we wanted to grab a snack on the go. As we came upon a couple trucks, we decided to stop here. I got the bbq pork skewer with the sticky rice and shared it with a friend. It was pretty delicious! Another friend ordered the Thai tea and she liked the drink. It’s great to have this kind of snack option instead of having to find a drugstore for chips or candy.

Pretty sure the couple working this truck know me by order now (pad kee mow with tofu) but it’s SO good I can’t help coming here about once a week. Awesome veggies and a nice level of spicy. Need to try other things on the menu but love my favorite so much it’s hard to say no to.
Pro advice: always tipping means extra generous on the portions and veggies.

I went to A Touch of Fire when it was stationed behind the UT Co-​Op in the little food trailer park they have back there. I believe it is still located there so maybe they have moved again (411 West 23^rd St., Austin TX) from their reported SoCo location.
I ordered the pad thai with the highest spicy level and actually found it a little spicy, which is rare in a world of meaningless spiciness ratings systems. It was about $ 7 total and a ton of noodles made-​to-​order and served steaming hot. The chicken was a little bland as if they had just been added in after stir-​frying everything else. Nevertheless, it was a filling meal that easily competes with other places on the Drag when it comes to cost/​portion.

In the competitive world of food trucks this place ranks in my top 10. I’ve been dying to try them as I live within a few minute walking distance. The pad Thai is pretty generic, and doesn’t even touch my favorite… BUT it’s well worth the money! The thing that knocked my socks off were the Thai tacos… O M G… Spicy but not over bearing, flavorful, exciting, new, and affordable at 2 for $ 5.00… My wait was not long, maybe 5 minutes and the cooks were fantastic and friendly. A must stop! Check it out! May become a staple to our soco foodie world!