Noppakao Thai Restaurant

If you eat at Noppakao in Kirkland you need to make sure you give at least 18% tip or you will be confronted by their Manager Cris if you give them less but acceptable tip. Very rude. I am not coming back. Also, seems like they have a new Management, new servers, and there were less meat on their dishes now. I thought that we ordered the wrong dishes but when I got home and checked my receipts from January 6 and March 3 of this year 2016, they were same number. The big Wonton soup bowl was smaller than thee months ago. Not, the same restaurant that we use to go to. It just ruined my afternoon with my husband, daughter and her fiancée.

If I could give this place negative stars I would. To start, not all the members at our table were given plates, napkins and silverware. Then, it was one terrible moment after the other. Throughout dinner, the server constantly and rudely interrupted conversation. The appetizer that we asked to come out first was brought to the table after the entrees. The soup was cold and the beef fried rice might as well have been vegetarian. Overall, the food was just ok. Normally, we’d just write this off as a mediocre experience and move on. The icing on the cake was the server coming back to the table, after we signed the check (yes, he grabbed it before we left the table) to point out that the bottom of the receipt gave instructions for tips 18% and above. He proceeded to point at it to let us know, as if we were unaware, that we tipped under 18%. When asked for the owner’s contact information, he refused. I hope, for their sake, they are checking Unilocal.
If you would like to be treated well, skip out on this restaurant for the many better options in the greater Seattle area.

I hand the 18. Phad Ped with Sautéed meat or tofu (I chose chicken) with zucchini, tomato, bell pepper, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and Thai basil, stir-​fried in red curry paste.
I’d never been here before so first impression was that the kitchen looked a little messy/​dirty.
But I was willing to give it a shot since I was with a group of co workers, one of which raved about this place.
The waiters were very nice and helpful in refilling our glasses of water and such. When I got my meal the red curry paste was not fully dissolved into the sauce so it was very spicy for me, even thought I ordered a 2 out of 5 stars. The bamboo shoots were 10 to 1 in comparison to the other veggies. for every one bell pepper there were 10 bamboo shoots. Don’t get me wrong I like bamboo shoots but this was a little bit much.
All things considered I don’t know if I would come here again.

This review towards my take out order.
I ordered
–Green Curry 5star with extra eggplant
–Chicken Phat Thai 5star
The server (pook) double checked my order (she repeated at least three times) when she took my order on the phone, so I was surprised when I got someone’s order. I should have opened boxes to double check my order at restaurant.
I still return to the restaurant for dine in because this place is close to my house.

Had an early dinner around 4 pm, and even though the restaurant was almost empty it took the waiter 20 minutes to take my order. The panang curry was ok, but 3 stars spicy felt like no stars to me. Jasmine tea was good and my water glass was filled every time I took a sip.

Everything I’ve tried at Noppakao is delicious — Phad Thai, Massaman Curry, Phad See Ew, Green Curry.
Portions are big enough to take leftovers home and the service is good. Speaking of service, they are very fast but can get confused sometimes.

Like the pad Thai but it isn’t as good as it used to be. We usually get take out. Wonder if it changed ownership. ⁴⁄₂₇ today I got take out, perhaps my expectations are different for take out, this is good.

Maybe I was expecting more being from Hawaii. Honestly the food was bland. We got take out upon a friends recommendation last night. I had the vegetarian coconut soup with tofu. The only vegetable in it was mushrooms and it was so bland even though asking for spicy that a toddler could eat it. The red curry with chicken had a funky aftertaste and surprisingly a ton of veggies. (Give the non vegetarian dishes all the veggies I guess). I couldn’t get the Finley taste out of my mouth.
I guess if your in to bland Americanized Thai food and haven’t had amazing authentic Thai food then this is expectable.
If you are looking for something with good veg options then this is not it. If you are looking for sticky rice to be cooked all the way and sticky this is not the place. Really people of you can’t get sticky rice right then you should look at what your establishment putting out to its customers.
Mahalo.

Tasty food with fast, kind lunch service. I ordered the pad see ew with chicken, which was under $ 10 and was quite good. It was also a nice portion. Nothing here blew my mind, but I would definitely come back for more.

This is my favorite place to get Thai food. The staff is very respectful and all of the food that I’ve ordered has been great. The portions are very generous. Pricing is moderate. Will be back for sure.

We’ve been going to this place for our Thai fix for a couple years. The batting average for excellent meals is about 20%…the kind where you say, «Wow who was the chef tonight?!» Most of the time, say 70% of the time its just average. Cheap fast, that’s it. But what about that 10% you say? That’s when they really mess up. Chicken bits in your vegetarian soup. Or a full serving of chicken instead of tofu in your dish. Recycling 2 or 3 day old white button mushrooms, so they look like they came out of a can. But worse, and this is part of the reason we’re stopping is because we’ve been getting mushrooms in our Tom Ka soup that have not been properly cleaned. Yes, that’s compost those mushrooms grow on. Mmmm…
We had a rapport with them, often times they became familiar with us and would throw in some spring rolls… which was really great. But the frequency of chicken getting in things and dirty mushrooms has gone up. We’ve complained in the past and they just allow us to replace the dish «next time.» No problem. But now they are being ridiculous and demanding that you get back in your car, drive to their restaurant and let them open your food and scrutinize it. We’ve already been let down, now we need to face a jury, and make the cook feel bad? As if we don’t know what clean food is. As if we want to have them fret and moan about losing $ 5 bucks that it cost to make it. As if. Sorry Nappakao, we’re getting a divorce.

Noppakao is a great local Thai place and am happy it’s right across the street from me!
PROS:
Friendly staff
Great Lunch Specials — you can get your protein dish which comes with rice and pad thai for under $ 10!
Most of the food is tasty and prices fair
Can choose from brown or jasmine rice
Call in ahead of time to pick up to go orders
RECOMMEND:
Diamond Cashew Chicken — great flavor!
Tom Kha Soup
CONS:
Pad Thai lacks overall flavor… not the best
There’s been a couple times now where they have «run out of something» during dinner hours
Place is small and can fill up fast

This spot is my go-​to for thai food when i am on the eastside. I love everything I’ve had so far woth my favorite dish being the phad thai with chicken. I love how I can call while driving and the food is ready to go in about 10 minutes.
Everyone is very nice and takes the time to say hello and actually care for a repaonse. The atmosphere is comfortable and clean and in a safe and nice part of town. Parking is also fairly easy and I have never had any issues.
Overall I highly recommend them if you love thai food both eating in and taking out!

I’ve been here twice so far, for dinner and lunch, so I feel I can give my super expert opinion, haha. Parking is fairly easy in the lot around the restaurant and also on the street too. The restaurant itself isn’t super super spacious but it’s still quite inviting. I’ve had the chicken pad Thai both times and both times it’s a very large portion that is absolutely delicious. Service is super quick, attentive, and the prices are pretty decent too. The pad Thai is very flavorful, tasty, and I’m pretty sure I have made 3 – 4 meals out of the one entrée once I had left! Once I feel more adventurous eating Thai food I’m sure I’ll try other entrees eventually but in the meantime I’ll keep getting Noppakao’s chicken pad Thai for sure. I’ll be back soon!

Where do I start on how awful this place is? I called in a to go order of a ONE star beef pad see ew (so I know their phone works) and I come pick it up and the person who is the cashier was SO rude, plus did I mention how damn over priced it was? Other places are around $ 10ish and everything here is $ 13ish and up for WORSE quality food.
I get my food go home and open it up and its a CHICKEN, TWO START pad see ew. Okay, not at all what I ordered. It was too spicy and mushy and the broccoli pieces were huge, under cooked, and could barely fit in my mouth. The portion sizes were tiny as well.
I tried calling back to make them aware of my mistake and their phone WENT STRAIGHT TO VOICEMAIL for an HOUR! I tried reaching out to this POS resteraunt for an hour and no one would answer? So i guess I got lucky when calling in to order???
NEVER coming back here. AWFUL. DO NOT COME HERE.

I met some friends here for a meeting over dinner, and it ended up being a good choice. The booths are spacious and comfortable, with lots of table space which I imagine is great for family style ordering (lots of plates on the table), but it’s also great when you’ve got a lot of papers and note-​taking going on. The booth was very private due to the high walls, which was an added bonus.
The service felt a little rushed, kind of like everyone who goes there always knows what they want when they arrive, and doesn’t need to sip a drink while they peruse the extensive menu. it wasn’t a big deal for the server to come back, and the food arrived quickly after she took our order. The food was very good, although portion size seemed a little hit or miss — my friend had enough of her vegetable dish to take extras home, while my portion was about half the size, which was odd. I had a red curry chicken which was quite good.
The check, not surprisingly, arrived very quickly — a bit too quickly, given we still needed time to talk — but we had no problem sitting in the booth and finishing our conversation, and never felt rushed, so points for that. I think in general it’s a good choice for a quick bite, because the service doesn’t lend itself to a lingering meal — but it’s definitely a solid choice in the Juanita area.

We had a very pleasant experience at this restaurant. The staff was very friendly and attentive. The chicken satay and fresh rolls were delicious. Our entrees were the Phad Se Ew (spelling?) and the Phad Kee Mao. I absolutely recommend the former as it was delicious and really stood out. The Phad Kee Mao, while tasty, did not stand out to my palate. That being said, it is still a popular noodle dish at this restaurant.
5 stars to this restaurant for its friendly and speedy service, as well as for its tasty food. We will be back soon to try the short ribs!

Really liking the Thai food up here! After spending four years in the TriValley/​Walnut Creek area in a virtual Thai desert (they had Thai but they were not good), so refreshing to start liking this cuisine again!
Quality is definitely up. Flavor is definitely up. Went for sit-​down dinner and surprisingly it wasn’t too expensive. About $ 11 a plate. Portions weren’t huge but were decent and the food was very, very good. They also were authentically spiced. I ordered a calamari salad at the highest spice level (5) and yes, my mouth was burning. It was too spicy for my husband, who likes spicy food, but doesn’t enjoy it when he can’t taste the food any more. Nonetheless, salad was very flavorful, my husband’s entrée was very flavorful, and the Pad Tai was authentic (if mild since this was for the kids). They also provided a brown rice option for the entrée and I don’t think they charged us extra for it!
They have lunch specials too, which I need to come back and try before I leave the area.

This place was really hopping on a Friday night. I swung by to pick up some Thai food on the way home from the doctor and my oh my was it packed. I ordered the pad see iew with tofu to go and they quoted about a 10 minute wait time. It’s a really good thing that it took 45 minutes for me to get there because by the time I did, the order was just coming out.
I have to say that for some reason, the food here tasted exceptionally fishy to me. The quality of the dish seemed fine overall but it tasted like they dumped too much fish sauce or oyster sauce in there which kind of turned me off. Usually I can’t wait for Thai leftovers in the fridge but I think this is one of the first times that I chose to throw them away.
It wasn’t a terrible place — they were friendly and some of the other dishes looked really good. I would like to give this place another chance since it’s pretty convenient to get there if I’m in Kirkland.

I’ve been here a few times and we’re trying to go through the menu (very slowly), but everything so far has been pretty tasty. And it’s so convenient for the folks who live around Juanita beach, to have such good Thai food within walking distance.
On our most recent visit we ordered the Larb Gai and the Ruby Red Curry with chicken. The Larb Gai comes in these super cute little cucumber cups, which hold the chicken and lime juice in place and really add to the presentation. PROTIP: do not put the whole thing in your mouth.
The Red Curry was really tasty, with plenty of sauce to go on the rice. The chicken was tender and the bamboo shoots added some great texture.
On a previous visit we had the pineapple fried rice and the massaman curry. The curry was okay (I thought the Red was better), but the pineapple fried rice was amazing! It’s not served in a pineapple like the picture in the menu (which was a bit disappointing), but it was delicious and definitely not to be missed.
One thing that puzzles me is the inconsistency of the spice rating. It’s on a scale of 1 – 5, but there’s no clear measure of what counts as a 3, or a 1 or a 5. The 3-​spice dish we got was considerably spicier than the 4-​spice one, and last time we had two 3-​spice dishes and one was spicier than the other. It’s almost like some sort of spice-​rating roulette every time you order, because any experience you’ve had with their spice meter will not give you any information for your next visit.
Service is friendly and prompt, and when we got the rest of the curry and rice to go they even threw in more rice to fill up the take out container, which I thought was super nice. We will be back again to continue making our way through the menu!