Archa Thai

Chose this spot because neighboring places had a long wait on a Friday night and we were hungry. I forgot my phone so had no Unilocal access and just winged it. As soon as we walked in, the smell of feet/​body odor/​unknown funk over came me. My wife asked if I wanted to leave, but I said no, maybe it’s some Thai food I’ve never had and just don’t like the smell. Well, it was a good indicator for the meal to come. My son’s tofu veg fried rice was fine, but my pork red curry was a flavorless, runny mess with tough, fatty pork and my wife’s tofu dish was quite burned. So much so that we complained and they didn’t charge us. Basically a washout. I have never done this before but actually cautioned some people considering the posted menu outside the restaurant to go elsewhere. Fail.

One and a half stars. Nirali opted for the red curry with tofu, and I chose one of my standard Thai litmus tests, duck red curry. Timely delivery, but half the curry spilled into the bag during delivery. Rice relatively fresh. The curry tasted heavy on peanut, unlike traditional red curries I’ve had elsewhere. Pineapple completely missing from the entrée, which might account slightly for why the curry was so thick.
There was an off taste to the duck, and double the amount of skin than actual meat. The duck tasted roasted then boiled, giving the skin an unpleasant rubbery texture. If I want something made out of leftovers or poor product, I can do that out of my own kitchen. It didn’t make me physically ill, but I was a little repulsed to eat as much of it as I did. Not too keen about giving this place another shot anytime soon.

I decided to check this place out again because of Unilocal!
I must say it was yummo! The 2 times I went within the last week the food was great and the service was good too.
I had the drunken noodle with shrimp and it was delicious.
I must say they are a little pricey but I am definitely still a fan. Great location right off of Wilson and outside seating.

Out of all the Thai restaurants in the area, I consider these guys the underdogs. I deliver from this hidden gem often since they’re only a couple blocks away. I’ve found that their food is suprisingly good. The pad see ew is so MONEY. The beef salad and the dumplings are money too.

Crispy chicken lunch special item very very good… tender pieces of chicken crispified in a yummy glaze…

Met a friend here for dinner on a Sunday evening. First impressions — small (10 tables), clean, but kind of funky smelling. Menu wasn’t very large either. I wasn’t too hungry, so I only ordered the curry potato puffs and some soup. The puffs were large and very tasty. The soup was not that great, and I particularly did not care for the chicken in it – it was dry and tough and just not good.
My friend had the red chicken curry, which he said was good, but definitely not as good as others he’s had.
Service was friendly, but just didn’t make up for the shortcomings. Because the restaurant is so small, when I went into the ladies’ restroom, I almost collided with the vacuum cleaner that is stored there — not particularly appealing, really.
If I were craving Thai again in Arlington, I’d look for another restaurant.

Came here with a couple of coworkers for a midweek lunch. It was nice a quiet, and there were only a couple other tables seated. The food came rather quickly and was very delicious. Nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to Thai food, definitely fresh and tasty. They were able to split up our checks without an issue, and all the services were prompt (water, tea, cleanup, etc). I’d recommend this place, especially for the calmness.

Non-​descript, shabby-​looking even, from the outside, on the side of a a dingy pub. The inside is cozy – but surprisingly clean and cute. And while I’m not a Thai food expert, I thought it was pretty decent.
I ordered Chicken Kapow (love that name), and while the chicken was a tad dry, the sauce it came in was excellent. My sister, who’s big into Thai food, loved the Pad Thai. Portions are quite generous, and the price is great – both entrees were $ 10. The waitress was very friendly, helpful, and hyper-​attentive, and our food came out remarkably quickly.
Though I need to start eating more Thai food for comparison, I could see this becoming one of my go-​to neighborhood spots, esp. for takeout.

Delicious, authentic, efficient, affordable, and convenient! Try it!

Had no idea Archa Thai existed until one of my Thai friends mentioned that that’s where he likes to go eat. The boyfriend and I went one beautiful fall Friday evening and sat on the patio, and I have to say, it was a pretty damn good experience.
Since our Thai friend recommended this place, I had high hopes for the restaurant. Upon reviewing the menu, I was a little disappointed that the dishes Archa offered didn’t seem all that different from many other Thai restaurants in the area. The boyfriend and I decided on the Hoi Joh (chicken, crabmeat, mushroom stuffed in tofu skin steamed and fried, splash with thai sweet sauce) for appetizer and flounder fillets in Thai chili basil sauce as one of the entrees. But I really wanted something different for our other dish so I decided to ask the waitress if the chef could make us something that wasn’t on the menu. To my delight, the waitress came back and said the chef could make Hoi Tod (fried mussels with eggs on a bed of bean sprouts). Great! Hoi Tod is a common Thai street food and I was excited to see how the restaurant version would taste.
The Hoi Joh appetizer wasn’t bad, the tofu skin steamed and fried had a very light and flaky texture, and there was ample filling stuffed in the skins but I thought the filling could’ve used a little more seasoning, even if it was just salt. Next came the Hoi Tod, which was delicious! The mussels were perfectly cooked, plump and of good size, and the chef clearly didn’t use a ton of oil because the eggs weren’t greasy at all. I think I actually prefer the restaurant version of Hoi Tod, a little healthier but no less delicious. Sprinkle on a generous amount of chili peppers, chili powder and fish sauce and it’s divine. The flounder fillets in Thai chili basil sauce was also very good. They used a whole flounder and deboned it, much better than some places where they use small pieces of fillets in the dish. We asked for Thai spicy and although we assured the waitress we could take Thai spicy, I think she still told the chef to hold back a little.
I am looking forward to going back to Archa, and hopefully even with our Thai friend soon. And in no time we will prove to the waitress that we can indeed take our Thai food Thai spicy :)
Oh and prices are reasonable, with happy hour from Monday through Friday 4:30−7pm.

I’ll be honest, I was a little skeptical at first. It seemed like this was going to be another below-​average thai spot in the midst of so many others and surrounded by chains. That notion seemed to be confirmed when I tasted the thai iced tea, which was mediocre to poor, at best.
Being disappointed with one of my favorite drinks, I had low expectations for the food, but was pleasantly surprised. We got pad thai and duck curry to share-​ish and they were both great. The pad thai smelled like vomit (which was gross) but tasted like good! I downed that pretty quickly. The duck curry was also delicious.
Yes, I would go back here in the future, but mostly because its close and good, not because its «amazing and I love this place».

I’m very familiar with Thai food and certainly take into factor price when I eat out (which is about 5 times a week). I’ve eaten at Archa twice and will not go back. The first experience we ordered a large amount of food to go, about 90 bucks worth. The food was not very good, primarily because of poor ingredients. The soup had a bad shelfish tase and i did not continue to eat it. If you can tase shellfish over curry and cocunut you know it is bad.
I did give them a second chance because i understand take out can be hit or miss because the food sits for 20 minutes. However the second experience (lunch) I had Dumplings and Duck. Both were poor at best. the dumplings lacked flovor and were a weird texture. The crispy duck was soggy and i did not eat more than half.
Dont bother going. there is better thai in the area.

I like their food very much. I go eat there after work sometimes and order delivery also.
Recently, I tried their crispy flounder special. It was perfectly done and priced at only $ 12.95 for a large piece of flounder for one person. I don’t like my food very spicy. They made a mushroom sauce for me instead of spicy basil sauce.
The owner/​chef, Joe, also introduced Acai health drink to me. He gave me a bottle to try at home. I feel that I have better energy now.

It is a good place. One thing that I like about this place, is that the food seems less greasy than other alternatives in the area.
They used to have a basil rice that was amazing. but unfortunately no longer available.

The man friend and I recently moved to Rosslyn and were looking for some dinner on the outside of our home that allowed for outside seating.
So we decided on Archa Thai. Now I’d first like to say that you can sit outside but I wouldn’t call two wobbly tables outside seating. With that being said I really did enjoy my time on the side walk.
Here are my thoughts:
Food:
We decided to stray from the usual favorite of pad thai and had drunken noodles (delicous!!) and a crunchy duck (think deep fried duck strips in a lot of MSG filled sauce… mmmmm) that was also very nice (manfriend said he didn’t love the duck but somehow managed to eat a lot of it…).
The building: A hole in the wall with a super cute inside… i’m 100% for supporting the local restaurateur and avoiding chains and this place was cozy and endearing. Also it is in walking distance of my home which is very nice for me, probably of no consequence for you.
The service: Our waitress was quick and really really sweet! I wanted to give her a hug.
We will definitely return in the future. hehe i kind of want it for dinner tonight!
PS I don’t actually know if there was a significant amount (or any) of MSG in the food, but really, it makes it much more delicious.
Update: Man friend has put in his 2 cents in and says «Archa is good but nothing special» (he refuses to Unilocal himself but is all over my reviews… hmmm TMI, probably)

It’s ok. Nothing more, nothing less. Both times I’ve eaten here, the chicken had an off taste.
I’ve recently found Sawatdee nearby and will not be returning to Archa Thai.

Just tried this place hesitantly since it didn’t look too exciting from outside, but what the heck, I was so desperate for some good Thai. The place is tiny and old looking. I ordered Pad Kee Mao fried rice and my hubby Massaman curry. Thank the Lord I finally found a decent Thai place. I almost gave up. It was delish and I can say, I will definitely be back for some more… probably tomorrow. :) And yes, the service was very friendly and it was pretty quiet in there although the restaurant was half full at the time.
Bit of a update since tryng this place many more times, often food can get pretty salty… but it remains to be the best Thai in the area so far.

I enjoyed this place a lot. When I go it’s usually quiet and the food was good. I’d recomend the curry and the satay. The décor is kinda funky but I like it. It’s a great place to walk in for a quick lunch. And I agree with the comment about the drinks, they have lots of colorful ones to pick from.

This place is pretty small, and when we came on a Saturday night there was no one else here. I think it might be primarily a lunch spot. The food was pretty good — but vegetarians please remember to ask them to use soy sauce instead of fish oil.
The thing that stood out most to me was the selection of mixed drinks. I was in girlie drink heaven!

Replacement for Singh Thai– even better.
This place is quite small, and everything I’ve had has been really good. The service is very friendly and quick.
Small TV on over the three seat bar and the lack of space between tables are the only downsides for me.