KetMoRee Thai Restaurant & Bar

If it was a choice, I would leave 0 stars. Ket staffs the most unprofessional, sexist, bigoted bouncers I have ever experienced. I have been to clubs in the major nightlife cities in the area like Vegas and San Francisco, but I have never experienced the kind of outright disrespect that I was treated with at KetMoRee.
Whatever his position, bouncer or manager, the employee, Nate, seemed to be intoxicated himself as he couldn’t even give me a coherent response following the events of my negative experience at this establishment. He yelled in my face and never let me finish a sentence as I tried to ask him why I was escorted out for defending a woman who was wrongly accused of pushing a man because of unwanted sexual attention. Nate and his staff perpetuate sexist ideologies. This kind of business should not be allowed in Davis.
Aside from the drinks being overpriced and the dance floor constantly being overcrowded and disgusting, the place is an unsafe environment for women and all people who seek a fun, safe nightlife experience.
If you want to have a FUN, safe experience, do NOT go to KetMoRee. 0 stars.

Just got home after a night out with my friends. I’ve been coming here for months and I just got banned here from the owner’s son «Nate». He claimed that I was not allowed back in after one time I was here two months ago because I was too «drunk». Well newsflash everyone in your establishment after midnight has had a few drinks but I was in no way belligerent.
Anyways about tonight, a strange white male was coercing my friend to make out with him and my friend told me as well as the rest of the group that it was unwanted so one of my friends told him to back off and stay away. Following this, I told a nearby bouncer about the creepy white male and then the bouncer proceeded to kick our whole entire party out. We tried to explain the situation to the «manager» aka Nate and he proceeded to tell me about how I was too drunk that one time two months ago and dismissed everything I said and banned me and my BF from the establishment. I will be filing a complaint with the BBB and hope to hear back from the owner about his son’s disrespectful behavior towards his once-​loyal patrons.
P.s my friend also had her phone stolen from here and while she was trying to explain the situation, Nate also kicked her out as well.

I’d like to preface this review by noting that I’ve never actually been here in person; I’ve only gotten delivery. They’ve always been on time. Though occasionally they’ve forgotten to send rice, they’ll drive out again to deliver it to you if you point out their error. (They send a large rice too.)
The mango salad is good but sometimes too much on the sweet side. For the Pra Ram Song, they need to do something to bring the dish together or improve it beyond just being okay-​tier peanut sauce spooned over spinach and fried tofu… it’s just lackluster.
I’ve also had a lot of their noodle and curry dishes and a consistent criticism I have is either that the food isn’t seasoned enough, or that there aren’t enough flavors allowed to come into play, so it’s a little boring. When you order over the phone you can ask for some spices, so I generally do ask for them and use them to supplement the flavor (especially in the pad kee mao.) That being said, I’ve never had any problems with how the noodles, vegetables, or proteins were cooked; those are always perfect. Everything I’ve gotten has always been fresh.
I don’t consider the appetizers or soup here worth the price you pay for them. I made that decision a while ago and don’t actually remember any specific criticisms about those items, other than portion size and lack of a delicious flavor that would justify the cost for me.
I’m either not a huge fan of the variety of rice they use here, or the way in which they cook it. It’s too soft and I’m not partial to the texture, though that’s just me complaining. The garlic sticky rice idea is pretty great though, but I love garlic.
I like their mango sticky rice, though I wish it was a little bigger (or the price was a little lower…) The Thai tea is also great, though that’s not exactly hard to pull off.
I was hovering between two and three stars, but ultimately went with two because the flavors are just too mediocre for me. I’d go with a 2.5 if I could. It’s not one of the best Thai restaurants in Davis, but it’s also not among the worst.

There are lots of really good Thai restaurants in Davis. The competition is fierce. Davis folk are picky. This place is as good as it gets. Lunch special had some superb fried tofu and tasty soup. I had the basil fried rice with a seafood medley — excellent. Give it a try!

I’m really torn. I ordered the monthly special for dinner, which was green curry salmon fried rice ($ 14.95). It was enormous in size and really tasty in flavor — complex and spicy and topped with two over medium eggs with yolks that just oozed perfectly when I sliced into them. But then I kept stumbling into these pieces of basically raw slices of lemongrass — it was like eating bones or pieces of branch. Not my idea of a good time. I had to keep picking them out and hoping that I wasn’t eating salmon bones. (The salmon was actually hard to see, it was all cooked together in the fried rice so you only got small pieces of it instead of a whole salmon filet — which was okay, but the lemongrass could be confused with fish bones if you were not sure what to expect.) All in all, I still bumped up the rating because the flavor was really good aside from this — and considering the size and heartiness of the dish.
My husband ordered the short ribs and pad thai and liked it a lot. So maybe I’ll try that next time!

KetMoRee is the Thai place you go to when you want a slightly classier feel to your meal (dim lights, hip vibe). On this day our original choice for lunch was closed, and it was a toss-​up between Taste of Thai and KetMo. The A-​frame on the curb outside saying «$ 8.95 Lunch Specials» was the tiebreaker. This time.
Their menu for lunch specials is a short list (a few stirfry choices, pad thai or pad se ew or pad kee mow, two fried rice options, and three curries). Each entrée you choose comes with tom yum soup and fried tofu on the side, and either white or brown rice and your pick for protein. The soup was a bit on the spicy side for me, and it only had one type of vegetable in my serving, my best guess is chayote or something like that? For the main dish I got the green curry with tofu, and brown rice. All came at once on a large square plate (see photo). The fried tofu came with the sweet chili sauce, and the coconut milk green curry had tofu that was more soft than firm texture, the veggies (green beans, carrots, bamboo, bell pepper, eggplant, basil) did have a hint of sweetness, wasn’t too spicy for me, balanced out by the rice in every spoonful. The rest of the table got the pad kee mow (drunken noodles) and pra-​ram (peanut sauce and spinach) dishes.
As other reviewers have said, the Thai iced tea is bottomless here, and the place does turn into a nightclub after hours. I’ve been once for that a few years ago, but that story will have to wait for another time… or maybe best kept to myself.

Got delivery. Excellent telephone service. Excellent delivery person. All of the food was good except my Tom kha soup had way too much lemon grass in it. Spinach with peanut sauce and a lamb and chicken satay both excellent

I have always thought it a little strange that within the small confines of «Downtown Davis,» there exist so many Thai places. I’m not complaining, per se– I do love good Thai food. I am just a little miffed at the choice of location of these establishments.
That being said, I think that KetMoRee might be my favorite Thai restaurant in Davis, and not just because of the food. But if we’re talking about food, it’s pretty good! I am a big fan of curry and drunken noodles (Pad Kee Mao), and KetMoRee does a mean version of both for a fairly decent price. The Tom Yum soup is also delicious and amazing for a cold, rainy day when you have had to fight your way through traffic to find a parking spot a gazillion miles away.
Also, I will say that I was somewhat fooled by the drunken noodles. The server asked if I was ok with «medium spiciness» and I said sure. When the noodles arrived, I started eating them and was like, «Eh, this isn’t spicy at all.» And then I took another bite that was seriously just ALL hot pepper seeds, because then my mouth was on fire and I downed my entire glass of water in about 5 seconds. What I wish I had known then was that all of the «spice» is on the side of the plate, and you have to mix it in to suit your tastes. And while in retrospect, I appreciated the thought behind it, because really, who doesn’t like having control over the spice level of their meal, I wish that I had known this crucial fact before I burned my face off.
And unfortunately, it was because I so hurriedly drank all my water that I discovered that our server essentially NEVER came to refill our water glasses. I spent the entire rest of the meal contemplating ordering a Thai iced tea to dull the burn.
Ambiance wise, KetMoRee is fairly hip– a classy and spacious enough place to have a nice birthday dinner for a large party.
Something else that I truly appreciate about KetMoRee is that their menu is very forgiving when it comes to people with dietary restrictions. To celebrate the birthday of one of my friends, who is vegan, KetMoRee was a top notch place. I had a moment of panic when they brought out an ice cream with a candle on it for the birthday girl, and the entire time that I was singing «Happy Birthday,» in my head, I was thinking, «Oh my goodness. Can she eat that? Is that vegan?» Surprise – it was coconut ice cream, meaning it was dairy-​free and vegan approved. Crisis averted. Also, the ice cream was super adorable because they made a little face on it out of cashews.
tl;dr: Good Thai food, good ambience, and a decent price? Success. Vegan (and other dietary restrictions) friendly? Even better.

TL;DR: Cheap drinks. Strong drinks.
Awesome Happy Hour. Very reasonably priced drinks. As someone who has only frequented the night club there, it was a pleasant surprise to see such a difference in the daytime.
I ordered the $ 5 TKO (mango rum, 151, and peach schnapps) which was pretty strong. Reminded me of a pink AMF. I also got the $ 4 Tokyo Tea, which was not my favorite but still good. I tried some of my friend’s Horse’s Neck (like a Moscow Mule made with bourbon) and that was great as well.
Although we didn’t get any food, there were a lot of folks who came in to eat, and it all looked fantastic. I’d definitely come back to Davis to try what they have to offer in the kitchen.

My girlfriends and I came here a while ago for dinner. The food was so freaking spicy. We only got medium hot, and it still made us tear up. We’re not lightweights either — two Latinas and two girls from Sichuan. It fucking burned. They offered us complimentary rice so we could stomach it down (so that’s nice I guess).
But the next day we all got stomach aches…

I’m not sure why this place only has three stars. I actually really loved my visit here. Great food, ambiance, and very friendly service!
I came here on a very chill night, there werent too many customers so our waiter was actively checking up on my table, which was nice.
My friend and I both got their Pad Kee Mao, which is thai stir fried flat noodles. Ketmoree certainly is very bold with spices, it was probably the best pad kee mao I’ve ever had. And I always order Pad Kee Mao when I eat at thai restaurant. So that says a lot.
They also have bottomless thai tea, which most thai places dont have, so that’s a plus right there!
Though I have to admit, their price is slightly pricier than regular thai places, but their restaurant ambiance makes up for it.
For bay area eaters, if this is your first time, this place is similar to Osha Thai.
Cheers!

I am not sure how they make their food. Their soup is extremely salty. Salty but anything. We order a seasonal pumpkin curry which is recommended by the waiter. It is toooooo sweet. It tastes like the coconut is past expiration day for years. Last dish is mix seafood trio I can hardly say it takes ok with rice. Their so called «most popular» drink tastes wired, too.
Anyway the service is good though it takes one hour to get our food

Another great meal here! We returned for the lunch specials and were not disappointed. The lunch specials come on a large square plate and each entrée includes a little mixed green salad (usually served with a creamy dressing but they substituted a balsamic dressing for us), a side of nice and crispy tofu squares, and a generous portion of an entrée selected from the lunch menu.
I had the Pad Kee Mow which was fantastic and filled with fresh vegetables and luscious thick noodles and my partner had one of the curries on their amazing garlic rice. Both dishes were very nicely prepared and presented and the service was prompt and friendly.

I am greatly disturbed by this establishments policies. We were turned away at club night for a review a friend had left on Unilocal.The previous review brought to attention one of their workers using a racist slur. How are you going to ban someone «Unless they take down the Unilocal review.» Is this not blackmail? Disgusting. What a disgusting establishment. If you are of Chinese descent I recommend NEVER GOING HERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED LIKE DIRT. I did not know Ketmoree was so lax on the use of racial slurs. Be careful if you look slightly Chinese and choose to eat here in the day time who knows what they will do, I think they may spit in your food or refuse you service altogether.
EDIT
WTF someone got stabbed and died here!!!

My tummy was more than pleased with this establishment!
Super nice waiter, check!
Affordable, check!
Bottomless Thai Iced Tea, $ 4 WIN!!! It has the perfect amount of sweetness, tea intensity & milk.
Shrimp Pad Thai,$ 11 really good! I usually don’t like tofu but this one was yummy (:
I’m only sad that I live too far from Davis to come back anytime soon :(

Ket Mo Ree, we need to talk.
Sunday around 1:30pm, I call in to make a pick up order, indecipherable mumbling employee answers and puts me on hold, 5 minutes go by, I hang up. In retrospect I wish I had taken this cue and taken my $ elsewhere.
I ride over to the restaurant and walk in, I wait at the front desk for 5 minutes without seeing a single employee, it is NOT busy, maybe 8 – 10 people there eating.
I go behind the desk, grab a menu, and sit at the bar. Another 5 – 10 minutes pass before I see or speak with an employee.
I order chicken pad thai. 15 minutes later I have my food and I leave. I get home and open my to go box, zero peanuts in the dish, it is also ~90% tofu and 10% chicken, basically a pile of bland noodles and terrible cubes of breaded tofu. Did they run out of chicken and think I wouldn’t notice? Did they run out of peanuts?
All told, ~$ 11 and 45 minutes invested in a terrible result. Horrendous service and bad food. There are plenty of good Thai options in Davis, Ket Mo Ree is apparently not one of them.

Layout
The restaurant has a normal seating level, and then a stage for the bar area. Since we have been here multiple times, but never sat in the bar, we chose to sit near the bar which was on a stage. We got a great view of the lower level of the restaurant.
Vibe
We came here to celebrate my gap birthday. It was a nice fun casual event. We all ate til we needed help rolling us out. The environment is loud, but we didn’t have problem with hearing each other.
Drink
Thai Tea — yes this was bottomless and yes it was creamy and sweet! It was a great drink for the thirsty ones.
Mango Mojito — The presentation was great. I requested the mint leaves to be muddled more and it came out the way i wanted it to be. I did request to add jalepenos and yes it came out spicy good! this was a 9 dollar drink, was it worth it? ehh i guess so since i did feel a little buzz haha
Food
Garlic Brown or white rice
What really keeps me coming back is the garlic brown rice or white rice. i think they are the only thai restaurant who serves this. It has a very nice flavor and crunchy fried garlic inside the rice. Yes it is a bit greasy, but so worth it if you love garlic! Garlic fever here!
Thai Eggplant Stir Fry
Yes i usually request extra thai hot, since i am a spicy fan. Most of their stir fry thai dishes look and taste the same. They give generous portions of vegetables is what i like. Sometimes they can be a bit oily.
Yellow Curry
This is one of the traditional dishes, which is most ordered. Very rich and creamy and lightly sweet with a hint if thai spice inside. This dish has avocados, which is a plus. Goes well with white rice! Lots of sauce so be warned!
Spicy Sizzling Lamb
Yes this was similar to the stir fry dish above, except it was served on a sizzling platter. Great presentation! The difference is maybe they used some more herbs in this dish because of the lamb.
Service
Once we sat down, we ordered the drinks and a appetizer. The server did forget the appetizer and was apologizing for her mistake. We forgive her, because she gave us some nam pal preet aka thai cili sauce to take home. She did feel bad the whole time about her mistake. Overall she was nice and patient and helpful.
Overall
It was a nice experience. We always like the environment and food here. Just don take out the garlic rice and i will be back lol. Yes i have to rave how good the garlic brown rice is!

It was definitely a different experience coming here for lunch for the first time, because I’m used to only coming after hours for the bar.
But I was very impressed! Our server was awesome, we got bottomless Thai tea for $ 4, and my yellow curry chicken rice plate was about $ 8.
The Thai tea was made perfect. The yellow curry on the other hand was really good, but a bit overwhelming. They use a rich creamy coconut base, so I personally could only eat so much of it. But once I added some spices from the spice rack and ate it over my rice, I was left pretty satisfied. I can definitely see why people love it, but next time I think I’m gonna try a different curry dish.

Hadn’t been here for a loooooong time and before that I’d been there mainly after hours. Felt a little funny eating on the floor which becomes a dance floor (what I remember it as anyways) but the food was fairly tasty.
Groupon (
) helped but they are becoming less and less of a deal. (They used to be half off.)

The worse thai food you can ever imagine. I got tofu pad Thai here, already having expectations that’s it’s not good, but still wanted to give it a try, and resulted with what people say about this place, that it’s disgusting.
My tofu burnt, and even the pad Thai had a burnt tar after taste that left me cringing. How can a restaurant serve burnt food? That’s absolutely unacceptable. Not only burnt but it was really dry. My noodles were hard, there was no flavor, and it was just really dry for pad Thai.
I wouldn’t eat here if it was for free, the quality is disgusting and tastes burnt. I never thought I would ever experience terrible pad Thai, I guess that’s what I get for giving second chances to places like these.