King & I Restaurant

Used to come here frequently, a few years back. In the past two years or so, it seems they have changed the way the make many of the items, and they don’t taste the same. Used to be my go-​to place for Thai, and all others were measured by how they compared, but not any longer.

I really wanted to like this place, to support local, non-​fanfare business in downtown Oak Park. And the food was overall good, flavorful and fresh (I had the Pad See Ew with chicken). The décor, however, was painfully outdated, stale, and not particularly clean. Major remodeling needed!

The food is very good, though the prices had a recent jump. And that knocks a star off because the service and delivery dropped around the same time, a double combo. We do love the Tom Kha soup and my personal favorite dish is Pad Thai Curry.

Really yummy pineapple fried rice and fabulous crab rangoon! Whatever the dipping sauce is for them (plum?) is a perfect complement to the cream cheese. I ordered for delivery and it was so delicious that I ordered again the next week and the man who took my order remembered that I don’t like peas in my rice! Awesome! The delivery was really fast so everything was piping hot and my crab Rangoon hadn’t gotten soggy!

I can’t believe how long it had been since I ate here! The husband is a hard one to convince to eat Thai when there is a burger place right around the corner, so when I was out with my daughter and mom, we stopped here for dinner. The owner is super friendly and let us know that they make their own fish cakes unlike many other places that serve frozen ones. We got some spring rolls and the fish cakes, a pad thai with shrimp and a pad sie ew with beef and scarfed it all down! Delish. I’ve got to get the husband to come in for the basil chicken as I bet it would also be delicious.

The Pad Thai was a little different than most Pad Thai’s. It was very mild in flavor, but was very filling. The staff are very friendly.

Best Thai I’ve found around town so far. Food was excellent and they got 5 stars from me on flexibility because I’m always picky about my vegetables. They added and subtracted some veges in my cashew chicken without charging and it was tasty and just right. Nice cozy atmosphere. We will be coming back for more!

I come here regularly. I am giving them 3 stars because they have one of the worst customer service (applies to just 1 of the person working there) I ever experienced. The food although is authentic. They also have very good prices compared to other restaurants in the area.
My husband and I love their lunch special, especially the yellow curry chicken.
I will recommend the place from the food standpoint. However, Take your meal to go and eat peacefully in the comfort of your home.

Pretty average.
Looking for something different, I walked into this place as I can almost always eat pad thai on any night. So I ordered some with chicken along with an order of tod mun pla, small pancake-​like deep fried veggie cakes that I’ve enjoyed at other Thai places. The entrée was $ 7.95 and the tod mun appetizer was $ 6.95.
Well, the tod mun was probably the worst that I’ve ever had — five pieces that were thinner than most tod mun I’ve enjoyed and they were also kind of dry. The taste itself was ok, but overall not something I would order again. The pad thai was decent, not as large an order as I’ve seen at Mama Thai. It was also soy sauce based rather than fish sauce, which is the more authentic style. Also as noted in another review — no utensils! I was taking this home, so it didn’t really matter, but they didn’t know that.
With a couple other good Thai options in the area, I won’t be rushing back.

We lived in Oak Park for 5 years and this was our go to place. Excellent service, excellent food, excellent prices and good beer selection. When we went in early this year (⁵⁄₂₀₁₄) I was so disappointed that the place was under new management. Huge bummer. Prices were a bit higher and the food was not quite as good (yet still decent.)

Just discovered the King and I and was pleasantly surprised! The prices are very fair, and the pad thai is excellent — not too sweet. My wife had the red curry and really liked it. Our male server was extremely friendly too!

Great food. Service was good.
True tests of a restaurant’s service is when you have lots of time and a few people with you. That said, my 30 minutes alone there wasn’t much of a test. But that’s okay. I was in blue-​collar, dingy work clothes and I was the only one in the restaurant. But the wait staff treated me well. I told them I had only limited time, and they got me my food very quickly. I appreciated that.
When I try a new place, I tend to be cautious. At least for places I stumble on. I usually get the signature dish that is commonly found in other similar places.
The Thai Spring Rolls had crisp lettuce, cucumbers, shaved carrots and tofu. With a light wrap, and a warm, sweet satay sauce, I was pleased.
The basic Thai dish you’ll find anywhere is Pad Thai. I opted for chicken instead of pork. The noodles were perfect, the sauce not too thick or too thin. There was the right amount of meat, and the bean sprouts were fresh. The green onion slices were great to accent with color and flavor, but not overpowering.
This is a great place to come to. Had I experienced them when they were busy, or been there for longer, a fifth star is likely to have been earned.

I have been a customer since they were located on the corner of Madison and Ridgeland. Couldn’t be happier with the food and the service has always been top notch. I always order my food killer spicy and have never been disappointed. The owners, a husband and wife duo are quite kind and the servers rarely allow you to sit long with an empty water glass.
I have heard some differing opinions but I have never been let down. This is not because I have not tried other places but because, in my opinion, nothing has lived up to my expectations as well.

I had the Thai fried rice, egg roil, crab Rangoon won ton soup from the lunch menu.
The egg roll was good. There wasn’t a lot of the wont ton for the soup. The crab rangoon was alright but the rice was definitely overcooked and very soft.

I’m new to the area, and with this place getting rated consistently at 3 or 4 stars then I probably need to drastically lower my expectations for Thai food — or just give up on Thai food around here. The spring rolls weren’t even edible. I’m not sure what was wrong with the roll they used, but it was terrible. Neither my husband or I could tell whether the rolls contained cheese or tofu. Plus, it was stuffed with wilted, brown iceberg lettuce.
I ordered the massaman curry, which states on the menu that it includes sweet potatoes. Not only did the dish not include them, the sauce was clumpy and bland. The service was slow and the waiter didn’t seem to be surprised that we didn’t eat the spring rolls or want to take my leftovers. There was barely anyone else in the restaurant, and I’m not surprised. This place isn’t deserving of a second chance.

Solid Thai food. After saying for months (and possibly years) that we needed to try this place, tonight ended up being the night. We arrived at about 7:45pm. It was just us and one other table. For a hot minute, I feared they closed at 8 ( Unilocal said 9) because our initial reception was rather awkward as in, they didn’t seem particularly thrilled we were there. Our icebreaker was when our waitress asked who Jared Leto was (the Oscars were playing on the tv). I barely know who the guy is and all I really know is that I can’t stand 30 Seconds to Mars but whatever.
So as an appetizer, we ordered Thai spring rolls and I had to try a veggie egg roll. I’m very particular about my egg rolls. It’s not even that I look for authenticity because I’m no expert on Asian food, but I have a very picky palate for egg rolls. I knows what I likes.
So out came the spring rolls. They were good, but not as good as Joy’s Noodles. I much enjoyed the peanut sauce though, as peanut sauce is one of my absolute favorite foods, if you can call it a food. A condiment, perhaps?
Next came the veggie egg roll. It was good… The sauce it came with was just okay. I liked that it had a more diverse filling than many places I’ve been. It seemed to actually contain various species of vegetable which was cool, though it was a tad soggy.
Next came the entrees. We were both pretty boring and ordered pad thai, mine with vegetables and his with beef.
I’m pleased to say it was very good and, as much as I hate this word, moist. There is nothing that disappoints me more than a dry, sticky pad thai. What I really liked was that they served it with lime, which I prefer to lemon.
We were pretty full (and it was freezing outside) so no dessert but I noticed that they had a cotton candy flavored Thai ice cream. I bet that’s interesting. They had more flavor options than I’ve seen at a lot of places. I’d try to «tropical» flavor next time if I wasn’t completely stuffed.

We ended up dining at The King & I after the restaurant we really wanted to go to was closed early for NYE. It was very cold outside, so a quick walk across the street was about all we could handle.
We were greeted by a super friendly, smiley man who did most of the work as far as serving our table was concerned. There was a lady helping him who came and went here and there. This guy alone made me like the place, he was that nice.
We had crab rangoon as an appetizer (shameful choice, I know, but so good!) It was the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had lots. Crispy, sweet deliciousness. I’ll go back just for that.
Our entrees, unfortunately, were not as rave worthy. We had Thai fried rice with chicken and Mongolian beef. Both were oddly bland and… moist. Not moist in a good way, but moist in a not-​supposed-​to-​be-​so-​mushy way. We would like to give them the benefit of the doubt and say these are just not their strong points, but… THAI FRIED RICE?! It’s just kind of a staple. Both dishes were improved when we asked for hot sauce and added a ton.
I did have a Thai iced coffee that I enjoyed immensely, my first time ordering one. Festive for NYE! This accidental visit leaves me with mixed feelings. Loved the service and the crab rangoon, but just can’t get over the bland entrees. Worth another try for sure.

Super fast delivery on an early Sunday evening. Good was piping hot and delicious. I especially enjoyed the yellow curry. The flavors were superb. We also enjoyed the thai fried rice and pad thai with shrimp. Everything was packaged nicely and executed well. Only bad thing were the pot stickers. I wonder if they are frozen, as they were not tasty.
Cannot wait to try more items!

King & I Restaurant was a whim choice for lunch that turned into something of a great experience. However, the components of the experience were slightly not expected.
Nestled on a side street parallel to the green line in Oak Park, you’ll find a lot of nice eateries around here. King & I sits in a small enclave that you can easily miss. You step inside and it’s like you’re transported to a far away place. A far away place that was… at the time… surprisingly empty. Not a single soul in sight other than our waiter.
But even this is not bad. He was cheery dude, polite and accommodating. We get the menus and see this glorious lunch special. Basically, it’s a sampling and sprucing offer of an appetizer, entrée, and soup. You can’t go wrong.
I can remind I had the pad thai, some spring rolls, and a soup. What’s noteworthy here is not just the good food, but the portion size. You get a great deal of food that is appropriate for the price you pay. It falls somewhere in between «I’m still hungry» and «I’m so stuffed I need a to-​go box», those extremes were totally avoided.
If you’re in the area looking for a quick lunch fix, this is a wonder spot to make the most out of a lunch special. I walked out completely satiated and satisfied.

An affordable place for takeout that’ll be ready far before 20 minutes. Three of us shared the pad thai with tofu, pineapple fried rice with tofu and pad see oaw with more than enough left over.
The dishes all had plenty of ingredients, the fried rice sorely lacked pineapples compared to the tofu. Cashews are a nice addition in the fried rice, adding a nutty contrast to the pineapple’s juice. Snow peas and also onions made this my favorite dish, just wish it had more pineapples.
The pad Thai was extremely mild — no spice at all, and we weren’t asked for the level of it either, but still, my second favorite. The pad see oaw just had onions and broccoli and plain overall compared with the other two.
One odd thing: We also ordered fried wontons but were told it had pork in the filling. With a vegetarian and a Lent observer in the group, we appreciated the heads up, but my friend (the veg) swore they had the wontons before, and it did not have pork.