Typhoon!

Best Thai this side of the Mississippi River that is.
But to bad they closed down

The fragrant smells as I entered Typhoon on Christmas day was very welcome! I was meeting with a friend of mine that lives over the river in Vancouver, so this was a good midway point to meeting. Our original place to meet was closed, in fact most of everything was closed on Christmas.
She ordered a red wine, can’t remember what it was that she ordered, but she thought it was really good. Actually, I got a whiff of what she was drinking, and I remember it smelling really good. We ordered soup, I believe it was Tom Ka soup with shrimp, really good for a chilly evening. We also got a nibble platter that had plenty of appetizers. We decided to share the Crab Phad Thai as well. Everything was delicious. We ate at the bar, which can be fun. There was a couple that was visiting from Idaho, so we got to chat with them as well. The restaurant was decorated for the holidays. It was good food in a great atmosphere!

This place is large and the service is fine; however, the food is not as good as I expect for Portland. The menu is large with many Thai dishes that I’ve never had and a variety of fusion dishes.
There were some really stand out dishes. The coconut clam chowder was very different and very good. I really like the combination of coconut milk, lemongrass, and clams. The Miang Kum appetizer was fun. It consisted of spinach leaves as a wrapper for toppings of fresh sliced peppers, dried baby shrimp, ginger squares, toasted coconut flakes. The tamarind dipping sauce was sweet and spicy. I just wished they gave more dried shrimp. The mushroom druken noodles was also very good — the searing on a hot wok gives this noodle dish a great flavor.
The dishes that we didnt care for were the winter curry and stir-​fried beef. Both dishes were a bit to salty. My least favorite is the chicken larb (which happens to be my favorite Thai dish. The larb was just to salty and tart. Also, I asked for it to be super spicy (Yee Hah spice level), but it was quite mild.
So this is a good place for Thai fusion, with some good dishes and some mediocre ones.

So every year I have to find a place to take my employees and boss for our Holiday party. This year that included another 10 extra people. Typhoon was one of the only places that had our date available, could seat up to 25 people for the date and they were willing to accommodate the mix of vege, vegan and meat eaters.
The food was good. 4 stars. However, the service was 5+ stars. The staff went above and beyond multiple times. When there wasn’t enough vegan food to go around they made more at no extra cost. The staff also made sure to know what was vegan and what was not. Can we get curry for the vegans too? No because it has fish in the sauce. Ok I appreciate a place that knows the ingredients without having to look at a box or talk to the cook. When we broke cake by 3 hours early they kept it for us and served it for us, no extra cost. They made up little mini to go boxes so people could take some home.
Then they asked if there was anything else they could do… yes there is. School the rest of PDX on what good service looks like. Please and thank you.

In a crunch for authentic Thai, we selected this gem from the GPS. Not the most impressive dining room, reminding us a bit of a dressed up cafeteria, complete with thrifty looking seating. But enough about the décor… we were starving.
The Phad See Ew was doused in soy sauce and stir fried to the point of noodles being broken. A very salty dish that did not satiate the palate as intended. The Tom Kha soup lacked the much needed lemongrass and lime juice kick to it. Not spicy enough, albeit the light hand with fish sauce was most appreciated.
Overall, a mostly dismal meal that will ensure we won’t be back. First negative experience with Thai food. Anywhere.
Typhoon, you’ve got work to do.

This was, back in the day, my favorite place to go eat whenever I was in Portland. We haven’t gone in a LONG while (especially when another opened in Redmond, WA) but I still think about the experience when we went in the first time. Back when the seating area was so cramped, if there were people waiting to get seated it was like they were in your lap. I loved it then, and I love it now. The Drunken Noodles are fantastic.

Typhoon is a solid Thai food spot, although I feel the quality has dropped off a little in the past year and a half. That being said, you can still get a good meal here, and if you game, half priced bottles of wine on Monday nights. Although this place used to be super packed, the variety of restaurants around it have gotten better, leaving this location pretty easy to get into.
Tom Kah soup is excellent — nice mix of creamy coconut milk and lemon POW! with a healthy amount of chicken or chosen protein in it. If you dig spicy curry w/​o the mess, get the King’s curry — its dry but delicious, and comes with green beans to make you feel less guilty.

The Miang Kum is my very favorite!
Friendly staff and fun to sit by the window and people watch on 23^rd St…
They were open Sunday even tho Unilocal lists them as closed…
WE Recommend this moderately priced yummy restaurant… politics aside… Lol

So I have to say, my experience with Typhoon in the past (and there have been many) has ALWAYS been good. This location for me gets only 2 stars. Why, you ask? Well, I had organized a little happy hour get together with 6 friends and thought this location was central to all, plus, according to their website, the happy hour menu was reasonably priced and had tasty items.
One of my girlfriends got there early to grab a table and calls me because THEY DON’T OFFER HAPPY HOUR at this location??! Apparently it didn’t work for them in the past so they stopped doing it? Um… word of advice to the peeps at Typhoon… please indicate that on your website.
At any rate, mass text to my friends went out and we went elsewhere. Bummer too, because I really do like Typhoon. I will continue to dine there, but now I know that I can’t ever do happy hour there, which is a bummer.

I had been to the Typhoon in Seattle that was located below Pike Place and expected something similar. This place was not even close.
It’s small and with sort of cramped seating. Four of us squeegeed into a table by the window. Staff came out quickly and then the food and drink started coming and coming.
We ordered a ton of food, both apps and entrees. It was a little bit of a blur. I know I ordered some spicy shrimp, spring rolls, a yellow curry, eggplant, brown rice and green beans (I can pack it away, eh?)! Some kick to it and I thought it was all pretty good. I am also proud to say that I belonged to the clean plate club.
The others at the table ordered pad thai, another seafood dish and one entrée came out in some sort of coconut shell that resembled a teenage mutant ninja turtle.
It wasn’t the best thai I’ve had, but it hit the spot and was pretty inexpensive. So, I’d hit it again in a pinch.

Typhoon is the best Thia food I’ve ever had. Of course, I’m not generally a fan of Thia, but I really really like some of what Typhoon has going on.
These guys have a (6 car) small parking lot, and being in the Aphabet district parking is sparse. Be prepared to walk a little to get there. The restaurant is clean and has a very nice atmosphere to it.
They have a Gluten Free Menu, and as of yet we have had no cross contamination issues.
Coconut Curry so so yummy. Just enough spice to make me aware of it, not enough to burn anything.
I’ve had several of the noodle dishes and they are very yummy to my tummy.
My husband likes the Cashew Chicken from the GF menu, and we share the Chicken Satay. Very Yummy.
The service is impeccable. My server over heard me telling my husband that I’d need to ask her for sugar for my yummy tea when she was done with the other table (which she was taking orders from at the time.) and even brought sugar over before I even remembered to ask.

Death by asparagus is fantastic with rice and lime! Drunken noodles here are also a favorite
BTW, they are NOT closed. This is an unfortunate error (still listed incorrectly March 2011). Same owners as Typhoon downtown.

THIS TYPHOON LOCATION NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS?
Received the following message from someone identifying themselves as with Typhoon. Since I previously posted news of the closing, important to post the following as well:
Hi Michele, Just wanted to let you know that we are open at Typhoon! on 23^rd. We were closed for a mere 48hrs and are now back to being open. Thanks so much, Melissa

So my co-​worker asks me if I wanted to grab some dinner. Duh? When he suggested Thai food… my answer was Duh? My co-​worker asked around about some places and Typhoon Thai came highly recommended. So we headed out for a late dinner. Took awhile to get there simply because parking in the NW district of Portland proved difficult. But the area pops with activity and teems with multiple business, restaurants, and specialty stores, so be prepared for traffic and parking spot hunting.
Once we found parking, we walked to the restaurant and chose to eat on the small make shift patio. The larger tree covered patio had no room, so we made do where we sat. The patio borders their small parking lot, so car fumes and bad drivers may be a risk, but the food is worth it.
We started off with the duck filled fried Spring Rolls. The kitchen cooked these exactly the way a friend wrapped roll should be fried. The wrapping looked golden brown, and the texture balanced between crispiness, just a bit of grease, and salt. The stuffing of moist and rich tasting duck meat mingled with the crisp vegetables inside to create a nice symphony of flavors. The sweet sauce condiment added a bit of sweetness, however, I had hoped for something more spicy. Overall, a great appetizer to start.
For the main course, my co-​worker ordered a special fish dish, wrapped in a banana leaf, and steamed to tenderness. The fish dish came with a garlic, lime, cilantro sauce, which I rank Okay by my standards. The sauce proved a nice compliment for the fish. The fish tasted moist and tasted flaky, with a mild sprinkle of salt and spices. The banana leaf did not infuse as much fragrance or flavor as expected, but we found the dish delicious and unique.
My main course: Green Curry Chicken. The curry dish hit the spot, but I admit I ordered a safe standard and refrained from Typhoon’s specialty items. The curry had ample veggies and meat. The dish tasted a bit sweet for my liking, but still served to massage my taste buds to joyful bliss. The chicken slices soaked up the flavor of the coconut milk and curry very well, and I drenched my steam rice with the curried milk. Each bite prompted another.
We ate everything, and we left satisfied.
For dessert I ordered a coconut drink. A sweet summer beverage bursting with coconut flavor, filled with huge chunks of coconut meat, and lots and lots of sugar. Perfect capper.

A Haiku Review of Typhoon:
Nice local Thai chain.
Plenty of unique dishes.
Fills the niche nicely.

This is a tough one to review:
My Winter Curry with Pumpkin was really delicious, but why so expensive? Part of the beauty of Thai food is how inexpensive it usually is.
The restaurant has some really comfortable places to sit, but if you don’t get seated to the left, then you’re facing a pizza-​dinner atmosphere to the right. It was uncomfortable being in the middle of the restaurant with people bumping you.
That pumpkin curry sure was good though.

Typhoon is kind of fancy for being (a) a chain and (b) Thai food. I guess it’s kind of like the P.F. Chiang’s of Thai restaurants.
I used to like to go here for a nice dinner out, but that was before I realized I could get a delicious Thai meal for less than $ 10 just around the corner from any house in the Portland metro area. Also, before my tolerance for driving/​parking anywhere in the NW 21^st — 23^rd St sunk to the deepest of its depths.
However.
If you’re looking for a fairly decent Thai-​type dinner and a nice atmosphere, say on a first date or before a show or something, I’d suggest you visit during the summer when they open up the garage-​style windows and let the lovely tree-​shaded breeze wrap all around you. That part alone, if the food doesn’t do it, will bring back good memories down the lane.

After a dismal dining experience at Typhoon in Redmond, I was a bit hesitant to give the restaurant a second chance. But my boyfriend and I were in town for the weekend and a friend suggested we meet for lunch here. So, I crossed my fingers and hoped I’d have better luck in another city. And to my relief, I did.
I thought I’d be safe sticking to the ordinary, so I ordered chicken phad Thai. The dish was flavorful and not overly spicy. The quality was leaps and bounds better than what I experienced at the other location. Our server was friendly and attentive. My only complaint was that our table was pretty snug in the corner and my seat was positioned right next to the coat rack., which unfortunately was holding a rather smelly, cat hair covered jacket. Before I lost my appetite, we rearranged the table and I was able to move a bit further away from said smelly coat. Also, the windows looking out to 23^rd Ave help create a nice atmosphere, but I feel that the tv’s really take away from the space.

Why are Thai places always called Typhoon or Thai-​fun or Thaiphoon?
I’m really not a fan of chains. That said, this place is pretty solid.
After us 2 seriously indecisive girls browsed the menu for about 30 minutes, we decided to get the crying tiger app, red pumpkin curry with chicken, and spicy green beans.
For some reason I thought I read the crying tiger was good. It was average. We thought the sauce seemed like a mistake because it wasn’t really stirred & extra fish sauce-​y. Wouldn’t rec this.
The string beans & curry were both really nice though. The string beans spicy, salty, and sweet. The curry was coconut based, but it wasn’t heavy. It was filled with pumpkin, green bell peppers, baby corn, cauliflower, carrots, & white meat chicken.
I forgot my friend doesn’t like seafood, so there were probably a lot more delish options, but I didn’t get to try them. :(There were a lot of parties going on. Good thing we got in right before them or else we probably would’ve never gotten our food!
We also got a pot of mint tea that warmed up inside out.
Points for actually having a Thai waitress!

Okay, so I have to admit straight out that I don’t really care for Thai food. I mean, I don’t MIND it, but I would never go out of my way to have it. Why? Because of the simple fact that I’ve never had good Thai food that’s wowed me before.
Typhoon was no different. It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great. Forgettable. Just «meh».
Just as a note, I had the Drunken noodles that a fellow Unilocaler recommended (yes, I Unilocaled on my iPhone before I ordered) and the Penang curry over jasmine rice.
Go with expectations of having mediocre food, nothing more.