thai cuisine ii

yummy. all too often i neglect the fact that i really love thai food and i don't eat this cuisine enough; well today reaffirmed how much i love thai. i have to admit from the outside thai cuisineiilooks almost downright scary but we can never judge by looks alone (well that is the outside.) inside it was a quaint little place nicely decorated, and the service was great! i ordered the thom kha soup which is hands down my favorite thai dish and was delighted when it came with rice (some other places charge you extra) although i excepted it to be a little hotter than what was described, i have to admit it was downright awesome. my friend who accompanied me ordered the pad thai which is a pretty standard suggestion of mine for someone who has never tried thai food. the pad thai was spot on as well as the fried tofu and the little eggrolls, well they were delicious. i really liked this restaurant and was very impressed with how wonderful the food was. thai cuisineiiis definitely worth trying!

great lunch menu!!!. thai cuisineiihas a great lunch menu that comes with soup, spring roll, main dish, followed by dessert. a great value. they are very accommodating to vegans too. so whatever you order can be made vegan. i ordered the pad kee mow (spicy noodles), which i ordered mild and there was still a bit of spiciness to it, so if you are a super light weight for spicy food, ask for mild on the side. my partner got the pad thai. the meal is delicious and filling.

the service is always good and friendly wait staff.

loser at thai boxing. if you have no idea of what thai food tastes like, then you won't be disappointed. the service was nice and the ambience was pleasant and my food came out in no time for dinner on a saturday. but what i had tasted nothing like any thai food i have eaten, some sweet and sour concoction with chicken. and they were missing half the element, the sour. only about half the items on their menu did i recognize too. so, i am not sure if they were impersonating as a thai restaurant or if the cook or owner is from a remote part of thailand like by burma or way in the south coast. the only other thai restaurant i've eaten at here in abq is orchid thai. and i will say that their food tasted pretty authentic. i will only try thai cuisineiiagain if someone offers to invite me there. otherwise, i will be trying some others in abq.
my impression of asian food in abq is that the food is made to accommodate the western palet much like the chinese restaurants did years ago. and yes they did. that is why there is soy sauce in the fried rice. true fried rice is made without soy sauce. and there is no general tsao's chicken in china. so, authenticity is subjugated to creativeness where they put their own interpretation of what is appealing to someone with an unknowledgable palet. but my problem with tcii was that it didn't even taste like thai food no less good asian food.

great lunch menu but good anytime of day. i love eating lunch at thai cuisineii- great value and you get 4 courses. i also find the quality to be the best thai in albuquerque. the only thing i can think of to make it better is if the staff would show a little more personality and take their time - last time i was there i had the check on my table before my son was done eating and we were counting on having kao new moon for dessert.

great lunch specials. the best deal in thai food for lunch is at thai cuisine ii. only $4.95, great selection, and all come with soup and egg roll! what's more, they serve the specials all the way up until 3:00 pm. weekdays only, unfortunately. they are open saturday lunch, but evenings only on sunday.

don't let the fact that the building used to be a der wienerschnitzel deter you. when you walk in, take a sharp right -- if you go straight through the doors in front of you, you'll end up in the kitchen! the dining room is nice, once you get into it, and there is also a bar (no alcohol, i don't think) for individual seating.

the food is good but not great. my objection to their massaman curry is that the potatoes are barely more than quartered. each chunk is at least 2 by 2 inches, making it rather difficult to eat with chopsticks.

the owner is a card, one of the funniest waiters i've ever had the pleasure to be served by. he truly made the meal a delight.

they have a lot of competition, with orchid thai virtually across the street, bangkok and thai house (formerly thai ginger) a mile away, and mom thai 2 miles away. i would rate thai cuisineii#4 out of the five restaurants.

they also have another location out on the west side that i ate at once. the food was good. i ate there on saturday, so i don't know whether they have lunch specials or not.

another set of eyes. i was also dining the night that trinity777 mentioned and i thought it only fair that i offer my insight on that same night. my experience was a much different one and it baffles me that there could be an alternative perspective. what was mentioned was that there were only three other tables and one server but what wasn't mentioned was the reason that things were so "off"...
it began when three men entered the restaurant obviously intoxicated and began harassing the lone server. they would not take a seat after the server displayed a great deal of patience with them asking that they put on their shirts and have a seat. the men continued their harassment when they insisted that the server bring them beer and hamburgers (knowing that hamburgers were not on the menu as they continued to look at each other and laugh showing it was on obvious joke). after it became clear that he would get nowhere with these particular customers he retreated to the kitchen (presumably to notify the kitchen staff and call the police as they showed up later). while the server was in the kitchen (only briefly) the three men went behind the counter and filled their arms with beer bottles and bolted for the door. shortly after the police arrived and the server spent time with them explaining the event that just had taken place. the server was obviously shaken but still attended to his tables and even apologized for the wait, amidst all that had taken place. it's hard for me to believe that the other dinners in the restaurant were unaware of what had happened.
in my opinion the server should be applauded for handling the situation in such a discrete and cautious manner. give the poor guy a break. a tip should be the least that was left that particular night. a "thank you" for insuring our safely would have been more in order.
for those who have yet to discover this gem, do not let "an off night" discourage you. tciiexcels in authenic cuisine. true to thai tradition this little temple will please you in food, service, and atmosphere!!! i personally visit tcii weekly and will definitely continue to do so, they have yet to "disappoint" me.

hopefully it was an off night . . .. i took four members of my family to tciiafter reading the rave reviews on urbanspoon, and i left extremely disappointed. the food was really good (although i still think siam cafe is the best thai in town), but the service was appalling! there were only three other tables dining alongside us, and yet the entire service took almost two hours. not because we ordered complicated dishes or even had dessert, but because the service was so unbelievably inattentive. since i work in service i can't but leave a decent tip even when i'm unhappy, but i really should have given the tip to my cousin, as she took it upon herself to seek out the waiter whenever we were in need of basic things like soy sauce for our sushi, extra plates, water, the bill . . . seriously?? i won't ever go back.

authentic and delish!!!. i moved back from southeast asia last year (after ten years) and am a lover of all things thai. thai cuisineiiwas no exception. my friend had recommended we try this place, conveniently located near our house, and i am so thankful!!! this place was amazing - in food, service, and food!!! try the homemade thai tea and coconut ice cream. it was our first time but we will be back...this week!!!

exceptional new thai restaurant!!!. we selected to eat at thai cuisineiibecause we like thai cuisine i so much. well when we arrived and entered the restaurant we were surprised and pleased. the outside of the building did not give justice to what awaited us inside. this beautifully decorated venue had a soft and welcoming interior. very romantic!!! we will look forward to spending valentine's night here. now lets talk food. while expecting the same menu as thai cuisine i, we were pleased to discover more choices. the plates we selected were eye pleasing and delicately prepared. we couldn't ask for more. the service staff was professional, personable and attentive. we give the whole experience an a+. mark this on your calender as a must do this week. you'll love it we did!!!!

a (nob hill) dream come true. i have a real passion for thai food. but while ive found a couple pretty decent thai restaurants in abq (thai tip being the best) there is really nothing close to my home that is worth mentioning (yes, that means you orchid thai). so when i saw that a new thai restaurant was opening a stones throw from my front door i was really......hopeful. we waited until they'd been open a couple weeks so they could work out the kinks and then decided it was time to give them a try.
the restaurant is housed in an old "a frame" wienerschnitzel location but they've done a real nice job making it their own. the interior is quite charming. i dare say, romantic even, with its kind lighting and simple buddhist decor sparsely spread throughout.
service was excellent throughout the meal, with both (who i assume to be) the owner making sure the dishes were up to snuff, and our waiter taking care of everything without a word from us. we were very pleased on that front.
we each tried one of the lunch specials, which are all served with lemongrass soup, rice and tapioca. most of them were $6.95, though my curry was $7.95. in addition to the soup we were also given a couple of small fried spring rolls with a delicious sweet & sour dipping sauce. tasty little morsels!!
our meals appeared shortly thereafter. the first thing i noticed that brought a smile to my face was that my red curry didnt show a hint of oiliness. it was also brimming with nice chunks of white chicken (places like orchid thai and bangkok cafe charge $3 extra for this "privilege") along with the usual bamboo shoots, sliced red pepper and zucchini. i asked for it spicy, and it was, without being lethal. it had a real savory flavor to it and all the veggies were crisp, as they should be.
my wife got the ginger chicken and she didnt speak to me for about 10 minutes. all her attention was devoted to her plate. thats another thing; the portions will certainly leave you wanting for nothing. my wife had to get a to-go box for the rest of hers and i might have too, had i been able to put down my fork for a minute. un/fortunately i was enjoying it all to much and devoured everything they put in front of me. next time i'll relax a little and take my time. the tapioca came at the end and it was a real treat, i'd never had any like it before. a fitting ending to a wonderful meal.
anyhow, thai cuisineiiis certainly a welcome and much needed addition to the neighborhood. i wouldnt be surprised if i dined there at least once a week from here on out. (especially since theyre open till 10 pm!)
a+. if youre not impressed by the "other" guys across the street i recommend you check this place out. you'll be happy you did.

update 1/25
ive been back a few times now and have tried a variety of dishes. the massaman curry and the pad se ew were particularly delicious. my wife also really liked the kao niew moon (mango with sweet sticky rice in coconut milk!) i have not had anything close to a bad meal here. it truly is fantastic!