Tara Thai

I am not a fan of the decoration of Tara Thai, maybe because I didn’t grow up by water. Food here is fine. I like the various Pad Thai. Waitress are very friendly. Another side note, I like the way they fold napkins. Parking can be convenient or frustrating depending on whether you know the trick.

I am a regular for take out at Tara Thai, but after getting out of the blizzard of 2016 wanted to see, if with a reduced staff, the food and service was up to par. It did not disappoint.
We ordered spring rolls which were crisp and tasty. But the dipping sauce was a bit runny and elusive. The Ka Prow with chicken dinner portion was very generous and we thought perhaps we got so much because it was within an hour of closing. A more than ample serving of chicken, but wish they would bolster the red peppers — or add more onion for balance. Nevertheless the sauce is out of this world addictive and just the right «hot» for two stars. The drunken noodle dish was good too but the tomato chunks were a little less appetizing than normal. Add to that a very attentive and pleasant server, we were thrilled to dine her after a long stretch of cabin fever! Having leftovers a nice bonus.

We went there for dinner before movie night. Service pretty good and fast. Food … I don’t think I would go back … I had tom yum soup — not spicy and it was very sweet to my taste; duck — meet was dry; panang curry — I had chicken, sauce was pretty good but chicken tested very dry, like it was cooked separately and the sauce was just added. Desert — mango sickly rice — was the best part of my dinner — very delicious !!!

I used to love this place. As a staple in the Rio Center, Tara Thai used to be the go to Thai place for years. After eating here on a Saturday, I found the food to be mediocre at best.
We had Tom Yum soup which was waaay to sweet and was missing the sour element. The papaya salad didn’t have much flavor and lacked the spice. The honey glazed duck may have actually been pork. I’ve never tasted duck this dry before. Seriously I thought it was pork. The Panama curry was good but again, the chicken was dry.
I don’t think I would return.

One of my favorite Thai restaurants in the DMV area. I can’t go without their chicken satay, tom ka gai soup and basil chicken. Today, I tried the fried flounder w garlic chili sauce-​definitely come with an empty stomach. Service is always speedy and staff is always pleasant.

Would recommend. Kind, quick and enjoyable service. Food was worth the price, and atmosphere was visually appealing.

Sadly, the food wasn’t all that great, but it was a good location to hear the summer bands while eating. The staff were friendly, but at times, a little confused. Since there was a wait, we just had some Thai iced coffees at the bar, but it was a little strange to move to the back patio. Also, there were some lights in the patio that basically fried your face, so we had to ask to move, but when we moved, we had to change waiters. Again, not a big deal, but we made the waiter sad, and we didn’t mean to do that. Overall, pad thai was just soso, and the Thai iced coffee was good. I would only go if the other places were booked.

Very flavorful food! I get Pad see eew every time, it always leaves me happy. I’ve always ordered over the phone, and haven’t yet eaten in the restaurant but they seem to give good portions. Love love love!!!

Great drinks/​fun drinks
Great patio seating especially if there is a band playing
Great décor
Bad food. Name it– not good. I have no clue who is cooking or making these meals but the chicken satay was raw and I swear our duck was pork– duck should not be dry… at all.

Their quality went down the chicken tastes rubbery as if it is not even real meat just disgusting

I haven’t been here in a year and came across the reviews for this place and I was disappointed.
This place is pretty great and don’t eliminate this place because of a few bad reviews. I don’t think some of them are reasonable so give it a shot, try someplace new.

This location is not very good. I have eaten at Tara Thai in Rockville for years and it has always been excellent. However, my experience at this location was less than mediocre. The fish cakes were the highlight of the meal. The papaya salad was decent. My vegetarian drunken noodles were undercooked and in a bath of soy sauce. My husbands thai fried rice was bland. The service was absolutely horrible. One waiter was left to wait on the rather full restaurant while our waitress and another waitress stood around talking to one another and did nothing to help out. I think we will stick to the original Rockville location in the future. What a bummer.

Tara Thai, located in the Washingtonian Center, has Happy Hour from 3−6pm Monday through Friday. The restaurant is decorated with wave shaped walls and scuba diver hanging from the ceiling. You feel like you’re under the sea.
Today, my mom and I came to Tara Thai for Happy Hour. I liked how the happy hour is available in both the bar and dining area. Current promotions include: buy one entrée, get one movie ticket, appetizer platter (consisting of three different types of appetizers, like Tara Thai on Facebook and get $ 10 off $ 50 when paying cash, and gift card promotions (e.g., buy $ 25 get $ 30, buy $ 50 get $ 60, buy $ 100 get $ 120). During happy hour, they offer drink specials — $ 3 beers, $ 4 sake, and $ 5 mixed drinks as well as appetizers for $ 4.
For drinks, we had an Andaman Pearl and Strawberry Daiquiri. The Andaman Pearl was blue in color, served over ice, and garnished with an orange wedge and cherry. It consisted of Malibu Rum, Peach Schnapps, Cream De Banana, Blue Curaçao, and Pineapple Juice. I couldn’t tell I was drinking an alcoholic beverage until the finishing the beverage. The Strawberry Daiquiri was watermelon colored, served frozen in a hurricane glass, and garnished with an orange wedge and cherry. The Strawberry Daiquiri consisted of
For snacks, we shared an Appetizer Platter with three crab rolls, eight golden triangles, and two spring rolls. The crab rolls were deep fried, thick coins of crab meat and seafood wrapped in tofu skin served with sweet plum sauce. The golden triangles were deep fried tofu triangles served with sweet and sour sauce. The spring rolls were deep fried, vegetarian friendly (cabbage, carrots), and served with sweet and sour sauce.
Other favorites include:
Non-​Alcoholic Beverages: Thai Iced Tea, Virgin Colada, Virgin Daiquiri
Appetizers: Satay Chicken Skewers, Shrimp Cakes
Entrees: Ginger Perfect Chicken/​Beef, Garlic Shrimp, Honey Roasted Duck, Crispy Whole Flounder in Black Bean, Mushroom and Ginger Sauce
Noodles/​Rice: Pad Thai, Pad Woon Sen, Pad See Ew, Pineapple Fried Rice
Desserts: Mango and Sticky Rice

Service is very friendly — the décor a little strange and the food a-​ok!
My green chicken curry was the right level of spice. The chicken a little dry and tough and the rice a little old.
Seems like the type of place where you need to know what to order — I’m not local so I wasn’t in the know. The dish I had was ok — but not crave worthy!

First of all, as soon as you walk in the smell of fish is overwhelming. The décor is a bit dated and kitsch.
The food was sub par, we started with the tofu appetizer, which was blank and the sauce was mostly oil. The main dishes, Eggplant and noodles special were not that great.
The eggplant was floating in oil and lacked any flavor. The noodles were tasty but didn’t contain any spice as asked for.
Skip it, we would not go back.

Went here on a Sunday afternoon for lunch. The place had just a few folks in the restaurant. Got seated at a table and given 2 menus, one of which was a Mon-​Fri lunch menu — not sure why we got that since we were there on a weekend.
To start off our lunch, we got spring rolls — about eight half-​pieces with sauce in the middle. One thing I learned about eating these spring rolls is to wait a bit before eating immediately as I burnt my tongue a few times in the process — it was hot with steam. Once it was cooled down, it tasted delicious. I also ordered some Thai Tea and I really tasted the tea (normally I don’t taste the actual tea when I have had this at other Thai places).
When we were ready to order our meals, I looked at the bigger of the 2 menus and I ordered Pad Cashew with Chicken ($ 8.95). It comes with onions, cashew nuts and scallions in savory light brown gravy, but I got it without the onions and scallions. For $ 4 more, you can get the Pad Cashew with Shrimp ($ 12.95) — lunch prices. It was okay. My friend had Vegetable Fried Rice which I think tasted better than my dish.
I will go back one day and check this place out (not when it is busy as it usually is whenever I have passed by it)

Stopped in for lunch with a bunch of coworkers and enjoyed my food! I ordered the shrimp fried rice because it was quick. Although it did not come with a lot of shrimp, about 6, it was still very good! I will definitely order again. It was ready to go when we arrived to pick up our food! They were nice and very friendly.

Décor aside, not a bad dining experience. We ordered the heavenly wings as an app & honestly not so heavenly. I wouldn’t reorder again in this lifetime. My entrée however, was pretty darn tasty! My go to dish is Kapow (Thai Basil Chicken) & it was perfect as is. The right amount of spice & flavor.
The s/​o ordered Drunken Noodles (huge dinner portion) & his dish was A-​ok too! He didn’t like the Thai tea & it didn’t appeal to his Southern Sweet Tea Purist taste buds lol!
The service was pretty darn good too, would definitely repeat a visit.

What in the world… A Thai Restaurant decorated in a goofy underwater world theme? Huh? Well it does not scream come and eat my yummy Thai food at all! If I wasn’t craving it I’m not sure I would have had a late lunch here at all?!?
Ok I’m done with the fire sale decorating… The satay was excellent! The spring rolls were ok. The Kapow pork was dynamite! Mmmmm! I enjoyed the pad thai with shrimp. The shrimp were super tender! Maybe could use a wee bit more flavor, but overall good. The portions are very large.
The beer was cold and hit the spot after a long day of travel. The service was excellent and the bartender was really funny.

The actual website is:
A few months ago, I thought this place was average. Nothing about the food, service or the décor excited me (except #49 on the menu, Poo-​Goong Ob Woonsen). On a whim, the girlfriend and I decided to come back while we were in the area, and it was a much better experience.
We ordered #49 again, and it was still good. The dish can be eaten by itself, or over rice. And also #30, Siamese Beef, which is above average, albeit a bit dry unless you drench the beef in its sauce.
For appetizer, we tried #2, Kanom Jeeb, which is basically seafood shumai with sweet vinegar sauce. Again it was decent, but not memorable.
Overall I definitely would recommend their dishes that have a distinct description for sauce. Their fried rice was dry. The chicken satay was overcooked and dry, and Siamese Beef was also dry, though it had a little bit of sauce on the bottom to compensate for it. When you mix all of these dishes with rice, you should definitely get a dish with some sort of sauce/​gravy.