Thai Curry Simple

SLU is definitely growing fast; and the food supply (esp for lunch time) is definitely not meeting the demand of hungry high tech and biotech peeps. Thai Curry Simple is definitely one of the better choice around this neighborhood.
The food comes out fast — I think I waited maybe 2 – 3 minutes for my dish of pad thai, which is faster than jimmy johns.
Price is reasonable — pad thai + thai ice tea for $ 11; getting a decent meal from a food truck around this area will cost almost $ 10.
The food taste good — yes, it’s not gourmet thai food but it’s only $ 7 for a curry and $ 8 for a pad thai.
Service was good, people were friendly and the place is kept very clean.
So if you want a quick asian fix during lunch time around SLU, this is the place :)

I work not too far from here and was excited to learn of a nearby Thai place. I met a friend for lunch here recently and, unfortunately, have to say my overall impression was a pretty large «meh.»
The good:
– Super friendly and efficient service. The good folks working the dining area kept my water glass filled even after our plates were long empty and we were just sitting and gabbing.
– Low prices.
– Brown rice offered as an option over white rice at no additional cost.
The bad:
– The food was just not that good. This is an order-​at-​the-​counter and take a seat kind of place, Your food is brought out in about 30 seconds, so clearly is long-​cooked and sitting in a warming pan. I had the green curry, one of my favorite meals on earth, and it just did not taste fresh. It was not spoiled, by any means, but did have «just this side of past its prime» vibe going on. And, though it had some heat about it, it just did not have much by way of flavor. (Each dish is billed as «mild,» «medium,» or «hot,» and because everything is pre-​made, you don’t to customize — though they offer a good selection of chili sauces so you can spice your own.)
The place was hopping at lunchtime and, because the food is served so quickly, tables turn over quickly. But, it was surprisingly not too loud for all the hoopla.
Overall, though, definitely a disappointment. Probably better for my waistline and pocketbook, but I would have loved to have found a source for a lunchtime fix of good Thai food.: sigh:

I agree with many others on this thread that the simple, dingy little ID location is just better. Not by much, but that place is great. Maybe it’s a result of growing pains, but the SLU location was just 1 star short of the consistent 5 stars commanded by the location in the ID.
The spicy chili seasoning that they let you control at the table IS THE BEST. I wanna rub that stuff on everything. Thank the wizard for that.
The food comes out FAST. Mark (i think is his name) shook my hand when i approached him and rewarded my patronage with a complimentary RO TI. That was a great touch of hospitality that i certainly wouldn’t expect from any restaurant owner.
Fast, reasonably priced and friendly service means I’ll be back frequently.

I LOVE their International District location. I used to work right next door, would go at least once a week. Curry was $ 5 cash only and it seemed like they would finish making it before you even paid! It was run by the owners, and one of their mom’s. Food was tasty, fresh, cheap — what else could you ask for?
Now how come all the restaurants that move to South Lake Union are just not as good as the original? The Thai Curry Simple here in SLU is nothing like the ID one. It’s still run by the same owner with a large staff of teenagers who really couldn’t care less. The curry is now ~$ 7.50. I’ve been a few times and it’s just not the same. Last week I got the green chicken curry and it had maybe 4 tiny pieces of chicken, and the portion size is definitely smaller than in the ID. The flavor was just off, too. Quite disappointing, especially given my past experiences at their ID location.
The SLU location also doesn’t have the specials that ID has. One time their facebook page had a picture of Khao Man Gai (poached chicken and rice). Looked amazing. Walked into the SLU location and they said that’s only available in the ID. I don’t remember the exact reason other than that there’s more demand for authentic thai food there.

Quick, inexpensive, and healthy — unique for the neighborhood in that combination — normally in SLU you can get two out of three at best.
That being said, the atmosphere is pretty cheap, the three lines are a bit confusing, and service is pretty dull… not helpful, not even mentally there.
I’ll go back for the tasty tofu special (which rotates each day) from time to time, but … I may just typically stick with Jimmy John’s (gasp!)

The food itself is pretty mediocre. Think bland curry and slightly soggy noodles. However I crave Thai food and it’s the only Thai restaurant within walking distance of work, so… I keep coming back. The other bummer is the menu is quite limited. You can either get one of about five different curry dishes, or pad thai. That’s it. (I should note they do have one or two rotating specials). On the plus side, it’s cheap, fast, and the service is friendly. If you have a hankering for pad thai, it will do the trick, but don’t expect to be blown away.

The Thai food that this restaurant offers is not really authentic Thai (and this is coming from me, a Thai reviewer – e.g. me– who’s lived and grown up in Bangkok, Thailand for 10+ years). I went there once with several friends who wanted to grab something quick and to try the place out. I opted for the special of the day (I think it was some thing like tofu curry on rice or something), reasoning that since it was the Special of the Day, I wouldn’t have to wait so long.
I was completely wrong. After we paid, all 4 of us got a table and waited 15+ minutes to get our food. Since we paid separately, the food came out one bowl at a time. This is bad and it was awkward for the person who got the food first to not eat her food while it was hot. At the end, we all just let each other eat as their food came and ended up eating at different time intervals (since the wait was so long). I was the third (out of 4 of us) who ordered/​paid for the food, yet after 25+ min of waiting, 3 other people with me already got their food, finished them, and my «special of the day» food still didn’t come. After the last person almost finished, I got up, went to the waittress (who’s apparently not Thai; I don’t think the people running the business are Thai either) and told her politely that my food hadn’t come and that, unfortunately, I had to leave and get back to work. I was definitely not being rude and simply just wanted my money back (I have a soft spot for younger people and tend to be more lenient on them since they are younger, so I was sure I was nice and composed when expressing my disappointment). The young lady, after talking to me, looked a bit freaked out, went back to the kitchen and came back out to tell me that they already were making it and to wait a little bit more. After about 5 min of more waiting, she rushed back to my table, got me my food packed nicely in a bag and gave me a free coconut-​based dessert.
The food was edible but I’m just ashamed to review their Thai food even as ok, since what I ate was not a step close to Thai food as they claimed. After a disappointing experience at this place, none of my colleagues or I ever went back there for lunch again. Now, if I ever crave Thai food for lunch and if it’s going to be a long wait, I would rather get a by far more authentic dish from Khao Sa Mai truck, which is also run by Thai people, just around the same block.
Also, this restaurant is cash-​only and there’s no ATMs nearby that place. so make sure, if you decided to check this place out, you have some cash with you, so you won’t end up having to turn back to ask some random stragners lining up behind you to borrow their money.

TL;DR — Decent and edible.
——
It’s across the street from my office. The Thai is edible but the fact that the lady who took my order didn’t speak Thai made me a bit weary.
What then sealed the deal was that my pad thai was swimming in peanuts. Might’ve been about a half-​inch thick layer of peanuts. I actually thought I ordered the wrong thing until I stabbed my fork in and swished things around a bit.
I’m Thai and I know my Thai food. At the very least, the pad thai is not authentic, but I’ll update my review if I try more dishes on the menu…

I used to go to the location in the ID and started coming to the SLU location when they opened up shop. They have a small menu, which makes decision making easy. Their expediting process makes me feel like I’m being herded like an animal: you walk up order, pay, get a number, they delegate where you need to sit, then water and food magically arrive at your table. The entire process takes about 30 – 40 minutes from arrival to completion of your meal; literally a quick sit down lunch.
Though they’re quick and the dish is a good portion size, I don’t feel like their curries are any to rave about. They’re good for a quick meal, but not anything exceptional. It can get busy around lunch time, so go early, even 15 – 20 minutes before noon helps. They also take cards now, so you can ignore the cash only signs.

Came here around 11:20 on a Friday — fast, friendly service, reasonable prices, fresh ingredients and decent Thai noodles — the tofu pad thai was decent and pad see ew looked appetizing. Will return.

I’d tried the International District location a few times and really liked it. This was my first trip to the SLU one, and once again, it was quite enjoyable. There was a long line, but the wait was short and my friend and I were served quickly. We both enjoyed our food. It’s a good, solid Thai restaurant.
One thing that amused me. An older woman was pouring water and fussing over the customers. I said, «Khap khun kha» to her, which means «thank you» in Thai. She was so startled and then she started rattling off a bunch of stuff in Thai! I told I her I only knew how to say hello and thank you. I was charmed by her and thought she was adorable, adding to the feel of the place.

Tried another curry, it was just okaaay. An older woman working there looked a bit grumpy and was pouring me water aggressively. That was a bit strange.
The roti was pretty good! It isn’t worth taking a trip over, but it’s a nice little treat.
The staff there are pretty friendly, and the service is a lot faster than it used to be.

This is the third time I got lunch from this place and it is very disappointing. I paid almost $ 9 for Chicken Pad Thai and I counted how many piece of chicken I have in the bowl — 3… Seriously???
In general, the place is not very organized (although they appear wanting to offer good service.) The food quality varies a lot and the presentation looks pretty bad almost every time. (well, it decreases the appetite.) At this point, I’m not sure if I even want to get back again… Although it is a good food choice around this neighborhood…

Been here twice now I will start with the one highlight. The roti is freaking bomb, this is by far the highlight of the place. Also a note this is also the one thing that isn’t premade.
I’ve also tried the pad see iw and pad thai and both were small and dry. They didn’t have much flavor and you could tell they were premade and just reheated when you ordered them. Also they only accept cash which is a bit annoying for an actual restaurant.
It is kind of sad when the food truck Kaosami is a much bigger and tastier and comes from a truck.

I’ll make this easy: Go to Thai Curry Simple for authentic Thai food, or go to the nearby truck or most other Thai restaurants for watered down Americanized Thai food.
I get excited after I come back from a trip to a foreign country when I go to a restaurant in Seattle and find *exactly* what I ate on my trip. This is truly rare. Example: the roti was exactly what I had outside the night market in Chiang Mai with sugar and condensed milk. Their curries are exactly what I had in Bangkok (just add an egg for $ 1) on the street (probably because the curries are imported from Thailand).
I’ll take the real deal, I think they have the opening day glitches worked out as it was fine last week around 12:45 pm.
Another reviewer said she was disappointed with the panang curry, because when she goes to an «actual» Thai restaurant she gets vegetables. Guess what? Traditional Thai panang curry doesn’t have vegetables, she likes the Americanized version which isn’t necessarily bad. Its just not that authentic like Thai Curry Simple.
We are incredibly lucky to have food like this in Seattle!

I used to go to the ID location regularly, and missed its cheap, straight-​forward curries after moving to SLU. This location is a welcome addition to the food scene here, and lives up to my expectations.
I’m not sure why some folks expected stellar service in the first week this location was open. But they definitely got the message, and are working to improve the quality of service.
Thai Curry Simple is definitely not the best Thai food in Seatte — even the Kaosamai truck that often parks next door is a worthy competitor — but it’s a pretty good balance of cheap, tasty, and low-​fuss for a quick lunch run.
The atmosphere is cozy and pleasant, and the owner is a genuinely nice guy.

Disappointing Addition to SLU. Mediocre Service Leaves a Bad Taste.
My co-​workers and I were excited to try Thai Curry Simple after seeing the line outside the door and hearing the buzz that the green curry was ‘spicy’.
To my dismay, the previous Unilocal reviews are spot on. The service is disorganized and slow. We waited in line and ordered the Panang curry, the Tofu curry special and the Pad See Ew. Keep in mind, I was the last to order however I was the first to receive my food. The staff ran around helter skelter, bringing dishes to random tables. It took almost 20 minutes for 3 of our dishes to make it to our table. Then, after 30 minutes, we told the the staff we wanted our money back for the 4^th dish, the ‘tofu curry’, which coincidentally happened to be the special for the day. They quickly brought the curry in a to-​go container with a ‘free’ tapioca pudding to compensate.
The food itself was ok — but certainly not worth the wait. I’m very disappointed as we’ve been waiting for Thai Curry Simple to open.

While others might give bad marks for just opening, I’ll stick to what really matters — options, price, taste, and value.
Options: 7 choices, 4 curries, 3 noodles. 3 of the curries are by heat: Massumun low, Panang medium, Green hot. Only 1 noodle dish was available when I went which was disappointing since it was 11am just as they opened. «Sold Out» is not really acceptable in my opinion, as they would require you to have it available at one time. My preference is to rate Thai places based on their Pad See Iew, but it wasn’t avaliable so I went with Panang chicken.
Price: CASH ONLY!!! I posted a menu board, but my Panang Chicken was $ 7.50 after tax. Actually it cost me $ 14 since my buddy didn’t have cash! Considering the area, it is reasonably priced, but I’ll offer more under value.
Taste: I thought the curry and spices were pretty good. I could definitely taste the difference than other places I’ve been. The white rice was cooked fine (they have brown) although I’m not sure what type they used. The chicken handled the curry flavors well.
Value: The ratios are way off. Too much rice, and not a lot of chicken (3 oz maybe?). adequate amount of curry sauce for my tastes. the lack of vegetables or other sides with the meal left me hungry and wanting more.
Consensus: While it was tasty, I doubt I will go here again unless someone pays or I’m forced to. I find better value at the Kaosomai truck for Thai, or hit up the taco truck one block over. $ 7.50 is just too much to walk away hungry — if it was $ 5 I’d eat their 2 – 3 times a week.

For being the only stable Thai place in SLU (minus the Kaosomai Truck), Thai Curry Simple (3) is pretty ok.
They officially opened yesterday (3÷5÷12) so I’ll accept that they’d be a little slow their first week. BUT seeing as how they have 2 other locations and those are doing fine, that maybe they’d have the kinks worked out by the first day.
While waiting for my order I could see the manager (or guy in charge) teaching their very young looking staff how to serve the food, how to take orders, etc. I feel like this should have been done before they officially opened OR they could hire older/​wiser wait staff.
I got the panag curry w/​chicken and a chocolate/​milk roti. It only took about 10 minutes for the order to come out.
I think they need to have a designated waiting area for people who have To Go orders vs. people dining in. I could see how it would get crowded and confusing in there on a busy lunch hour.
The portion size of both items was just fine. I couldn’t finish all of my rice and now i feel like a pig for eating my main course AND desert item.
The roti was awesome! I like to think of them as dessert taquitos. You could easily split one with a friend.
As for the Panang curry. I was alittle let down. When I go to an actual Thai restaurant I’m use to a bowl full of curry (soup like) with chicken and vegetables floating around. The rice is on the side. What I got was a bowl of rice with only chicken on top. No veggies :(
The chicken it self was really good. it was about as spicy as I would normally ask for (the staff didn’t ask how many stars) but i feel like a pig for only eating protein and carbs (there’s ALOT of rice). They do have brown and white rice options. I also miss the soupy curry that i dunk my rice into. There wasn’t any in my lunch.
SO over all, i was happy with my meal, but I’m not happy about the almost $ 10 price tag. I still want to try their phad thai soon. I just won’t get my hopes up too high.

I arrived at 11:30 on a Monday for lunch with a friend. We both ordered chicken pad thai (about as simple as it gets), after waiting 45 minutes for our food, it still hadn’t arrived, we finally left and went elsewhere.
What a joke, I won’t be back.