thai valley grill

3.5 for thai valley grill. when it comes to thai restaurants in edmonton, my opinions are pretty set. i know what i like, and i know what i like to order.
but i'm always open minded enough to try a new place as well.

this restaurant is located in a strip mall plaza, and it doesn't look like anything special from the outside. i doubt that i would have ever decided to go there on my own. but the inside is decently nice. it's a small room that contains a number of tables, a bar seperates the dining room from the kitchen... and there is plenty of bizzare art on the walls.

the place was fairly empty on a tuesday night, so we walked right in and sat down. we flipped through the menu mostly for no reason, because we already knew what we'd be ordering without even looking. i started with a thai iced tea. everyone should try this drink! it's a lot like thai iced coffee, except with tea (in other words, better). very addictive.
we decided to start with the salad rolls (9.95$) large prawns rolled with rice noodles, lettuce, mint, carrot and cucumber, served with lime chili sauce. they were also served with peanut sauce. they were good, but i wouldn't say that they were much different from any other place. i like the ones at phobulous better. what i did like about these ones, was that they were a bit smaller then typical salad rolls, but they gave you more. it seemed to give you more choice about how much you felt like eating.

up until this point the service had been fine, although a found the server to be a little weird. our entrees took forever. there was hardly anyone else in the restaurant, so there was really no reason for it. it was a little annoying.
finally it arrived. gaeng khiaw wan kai (15.95$) "tender boneless chicken with seasonal vegetables in a sweet green curry with coconut milk", kao mun coconut (2.50$) andpadthai (12.95$). translation: green curry, coconut rice andpadthai. same thing we order and share every time.

i'm a firm believer of trying new things, but when it comes to thai, i've already tried a lot and i just know what i like! everything was good. i almost got the feeling that the food might even be more authentic here then in other local places. the green curry was good, but a little boring. i don't think any place can compare to the green curry at the king & i. thepadthai was tasty, but i'm used to more of a tomato base... which may or may not be "authentic." either way, i prefer it that way... even if it's wrong.
i liked the food, but i feel that i know where to find better.

my picks for best edmonton thai food:
1. the king & i
2. padthai
3. bua thai

this is another restaurant i had ordered food from recently, albeit for pickup as i was the house of a friend who lives in the southside of the city.  i ordered the crab rangoon andpadthai (beef) while my friend order the tom kha soup (with chicken) and pud kee maow (beef).  all of the dishes we ordered turned out to be very good, particularly the tom kha andpadthai.  moreover, the portion sizes were large which justified the prices charged for the dishes.  all in all, i would have to recommend this place- yes, it is not cheap, but you do at least get value for what you pay unlike other places i could name (*cough* burger's priest *cough*).

a great place for authentic thai food. you'd never know this place was here if not for referrals or word of mouth. the moment you walk in the decor and setting makes it feel like you are in south east asia (minus the elephants and tropical weather). every detail says thailand. as for the food, we gotpadthai and coconut curry with some appetizers. food came out quick, fresh and tasty. i personally would have preferred a little more spice/kick to it but the flavours were bursting out of every bite. the kids walked in all grumpy and not wanting thai food...but left with full bellies and wanting more. i kept eating and when i got up i realized i over did it. great place.

overall, one of the better thai places in edmonton and an excellent strip mall, ethnic food restaurant.

the service was great and the wait staff was quite accommodating of our 2 year old kid. they actually seemed happy to engage with him, which is always a plus.

the food was great as well. we had tom kha soup to start and we all liked it. we ordered a mild fried rice dish for our kid, who ate it with glee. for ourselves, we ordered green curry andpadkhee mao (spelled differently at the restaurant). both dishes were great as well. very happy to have found a nice, tasty, and relaxed local thai restaurant!

absolutely fantastic. it was our (group of 4) first time here and everything we had was delicious. salad rolls, chicken skewers and crab rangoon for starters, then we had chickenpadthai, lemongrass chicken, spicy basil chicken, and drunken something noodles, plus sticky rice and coconut rice.  what a feast! they give you plates and then you serve yourself from the bowls and plates brought to the table, so it's very easy to share. we finished off with the deep fried banana with coconut ice cream. we came home with enough food for dinner tomorrow as well.  go try it, we all loved it!

best thai in edmonton. hands down the best thai food in edmonton. food is authentic, staff is awesome, very accommodating for celiacs- almost anything on their menu can be made gluten free. highly recommend the shrimp and chickenpadthai!

love it. bedtpadthai and chicken noodle soup

awful meal. coconut rice was flavourless, bbq beef was all fat and thepadthai was drenched in oil! i wouldn't never recommend this restaurant. and on top of it all it was very expensive.

went there for lunch with my friends. the server (her name was ben) was very friendly, and her service was very attentive. the lunch menu was set at a reasonable price, and their portions were quite big! we ordered thepadthai, it was one of of the best i've had in edmonton! the texture of the noodle was al-dente, which is very difficult to achieve with flat rice noodles! the did was overall very good, service was excellent, price was reasonable. highly recommend for lunch if you are looking for something exotic!

hmmpadthai. my family have been visiting this place regularly for the last year and can't get enough. thepadthai is the best i have found so far in edmonton. the green curry dishes and bbq beef are also great.

tom yam goon was super salty and thick. they brougt us a new one, but i'm pretty sure they just put hot water in it. had a green curry which was good, but again, very salty.padthai was very thick and saucy, and again, super salty. was disappointed because this place had good reviews. on the plus sid, the lemon infused water tasted extra sweet and delicious!

i used to like eating here, but the food has definitely gone downhill. the tom ka khai was really thick and had no sourness to it, thepadthai was too oily and the bbq beef with vegetables was more like stir-fried beef and vegetables. one consistent thing about all of the dishes that we ordered was that they were all too salty. we kept drinking so much water afterwards...

best thai food in town. this place has been around forever, previously being near the muttart in the river valley, and we still go to it because it is by far the best authentic thai food in town.

in fact, it can sometimes take a little longer because you would swear that they are flying it in from thailand....it's that authentic. (and actually, we have never waited that long, and we have kids, we don't often have that long).

the service has always been great. the guy is one of the coolest servers you'll ever meet, and he's great with kids.

try the thai calamari, the salad rolls, the salmon, thepadthai, the green curry, and any of the soups or salads. the thai iced tea is my favorite, and the wife likes the lichee juice.

the spices are so good that you find you eat half of what you'd like, but you're twice as full. we always go home with leftovers, and yet never seem to eat too much. never put a mouthfull of the spices in the little silver bowl in your mouth as i did, and let me tell you, it hurts.

the prices are reasonable, and you'll usually be able to walk in, but i'd phone for a reservation on a friday or weekend.

i have to say, don't come here with kids expecting hamburgers and fries. they will not like it.

for me, the king eats alone, i eat at the thai valley grill.