Pad Thai Cafe

Pad Thai Cafe is the best Thai food we've found in Albuquerque, and we've eaten a lot of Thai.

I got the Pad Thai with tofu, mild, and it was savory and delicious. Everything was cooked well, including the broccoli that had the slightest crunch left to it. The menu's description was: "Stir-fried rice noodle in chef's Pad Thai sauce with tofu, bean sprouts, green onion, eggs. Served with ground peanuts, and fresh lime
on the side." There was nothing to critique about the dish, and it was well worth the $13.95.

My hubby got the Thai Green Curry Fried Rice, which was stir-fried with green curry paste, coconut milk, green peas, basil, and kaffir
leaves. He ordered it mild and it still had a kick to it, which was a welcome surprise. Again, well worth $13.95.

The service was friendly and our drinks were kept full; we never ran out. We had our go-to spot before, but this is going to be our new one. I highly recommend it.

I reviewed this gem 3 years ago. I continue to eat here and it remains one of the best restaurants (not just Thai restaurants) in town.

It is a cozy little spot, so a big group is not advised. But it's perfect for a small lunch group. The servers are sweet and friendly and get to know you quickly. The only problem is they know I love the Drunken Noodles and when they see me, they assume I want them! I have to slow them down sometimes because the rest of the menu is great, too!

Any of the noodle dishes are incredible. I like the Thai Basil, but that's a taste preference. The soup is really good as well. The vegetables are very fresh and tasty!

And they handle spice well, which is always an issue with Thai. Their mild is mild. Medium is fairly labeled. It has burn, but it doesn't kill the tongue! And hot, well, they mean hot. Thai chefs do not mess around!

And such sweet service! Tip well!

I have always enjoyed my visits here, no complaints about the food, great service, and reasonable prices. I really like the fact I can walk here from my place.
My new favorite dish is papaya salad Lao style extra hot. I enjoy the extra spicy. The apmoshere is very welcoming. Great portions. I would recommend it for a lunch or early dinner. It's not in the best location, but I have no problem walking around the neighborhood.

Was very excited to try this place after reading all the stellar reviews, especially for the pad thai and the drunken noodles, two of my favorite thai restaurant items.

I called in my order over the phone and was happy to hear that it would be ready in 20 minutes early on a Saturday evening. It was ready when I picked it up and it was easy to pay and head back home.

I ordered drunken noodles, pad thai, and green curry. I was excited that all the curries come with keffir leaves. I wasn't impressed with any of the dishes. So many reviews talking about how "authentic" the food is, which makes me wonder if the owners are from a different part of Thailand. Both the noodle dishes were unrecognizable to me as being like their namesake.

The pad thai I ordered medium spice, but it was hotter than the other two, which I ordered as "hot" level spice. The noodles had a dark sauce and mostly just tasted like the spicy oil that was added. Not terrible, but lacked the tang that I associate with pad thai normally. For some reason it came with broccoli and carrot? The drunken noodles also did not have the flavor that I normally associate with this dish. Usually this comes with tomatoes, but it didn't. Instead it came with baby corn (like the canned kind), celery, and the veggies listed on the online menu. At first I thought maybe I'd gotten the wrong order but I came back to yelp and saw that yes, this unusual set of veggies is normal for this place. Obviously some people dig it but again, this "drunken noodle" dish is not similar to the standard you will find in most Thai restaurants.

The green curry was fine but the coconut flavor was not pronounced and the broth was thin. It tasted watered down. Again there was an abundance of vegetables beyond what was listed in the menu, which is nice I guess. The keffir lime leaves were in there as full leaves, but they imparted little flavor or aroma to the broth.

Overall the whole thing was pretty meh. Maybe I was more let down because of all the rave reviews. But given that I ordered the two things people love most on yelp and was deeply underwhelmed by both, I doubt I'll be back. I concede that the portions are enormous (each dish was basically enough for two meals) but I'd rather get a smaller portion from somewhere like Orchid Thai and substitute quality for quantity.

The woman who I assume is the owner is very nice and welcoming upon arrival to this small restaurant. The food is really good- from tom kha to curry. It feels authentic and reminds me of the dining experience when visiting Thailand more than other restaurants around. I've enjoyed the quaint ambiance and food several times. Portions are big and prices are reasonable. Do be careful when ordering spice level, as I've found their medium to be quite spicy.

The Pad Thai cafe is just to the left of the front entrance of the Talin Market in Albuquerque. The bathroom had lit candles and looked spotless. I met my friend from Oklahoma here on Thursday, April 21, 2022, for supper. Our waitress recommended the green curry, which I ordered in addition to the fried shrimp rolls. My friend ordered a side of the dirty rice.

Four shrimp rolls come with large shrimp stuffed with pork sausage and wrapped in crispy spring rolls skins. The accompanying sweet chili sauce had more sweet than spice, but this turned out to be a light, delicate appetizer. My green curry I order super hot and it came out that way. Not intolerable but definitely delivered on the spicy. It came with beef bathed in coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, salt, sugar, basil leaves, and bamboo shoots. This dish, coupled with the shrimp appetizer and dirty rice I shared with my friend really filled me up. They are generous with portions here and super friendly.

I paid $5.95 for the appetizer and $9.95 for the green curry. Not a bad price for a great thai dinner. I'll be back since the spice level was exactly as advertised and the food good and fresh.

Came for the lunch specials but not they don't serve them anymore. We tried the chicken pad Thai, chicken cashew curry and beef pad Thai. Thai ice tea was way too sweet and barely could taste the tea. Portions though are very generous and we had leftovers.

Holy-Moly!

Good but HOT and not wholly accurate.

Let me explain. We love a good Thai place that's open on Sunday and had good reviews. We choose this place today. We ordered:

4)Vegetable Egg Rolls $4.95
Six egg rolls served with sweet and sour chili sauce

32)Drunken Noodles Kuai-tiao phat khi mao ()
Stir fried wide rice noodles with fish sauce, chili, garlic, basil, baby corn, carrot, and broccoli

35)Stir Fried Tofu w/mixed vegetables $9.95
Tofu, baby bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and snow peas.

We took our food to-go. They asked us "spice level" for the Drunken Noodles, scale from 1-5, we ordered a 1- it was HOT (and I'm Hispanic). It was good through! The egg-rolls, there were only 4, so that was strange-- not the best sweet & sour-- but ok. The Stir-Fried-Tofu was actually very liquid, the veggies came in liquid with white rice... that's not really stir-fry, but you know what? It was GOOD.

Overall, they should update descriptions, clarify heat levels, and they will get 5-stars all the time.

10/10 will go again.

When up in this area of town, we will come here because the food is always good. There are a bunch of unsavory people that wander the streets in this area, so we have to be extra vigilant. We only come during the day for lunch. The pad Thai and Tom ka are always good. Be sure to ask for mild. My pad Thai today was much spicier than I would like. The server must have misheard me, as i did say mild! The vegetable egg rolls with sweet snd sour sauce was good too. The Thai tea is delicious. It is next to the Stalin Market, which also is an adventure in international foods.

Good Thai food in Albuquerque!!! confirm by Thai people I ordered a pad Thai, tumkhagai, papaya salad