Tuk Tuk Thai

The article contains other items in addition to Tuk Tuk’s move, but I’m linking just for that one item. :wink:

I only ate there once > 10 yrs ago, but I recall enjoying my visit. Looking forward to them enlivening that section of Sawtelle…

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Had a nice light lunch there today.


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Ordered today and shocked how awful it was.

Had Prik King – chicken with green beans. Ordered it extra spicy. Maybe they got confused and thought extra spice meant no spice at all. Not only was the dish not the least spicy, but it also had discernible Thai flavoring either - just some vaguely sweet chicken mixed with bland green beans. No depth. No flavor. Nothing. Probably the worst Thai food I have ever had. Definitely seemed to be catering to Westside audience who wants an Americanized version of Thai food.

This dish really made me wonder if they have an actual cook from scratch kitchen at the restaurant. This really tasted like Sodexo frozen food that they had defrosted and then swirled in a pan for a minute or two to heat up.

Although it’s Vietnamese food, not Thai, this is a complete 180 reversal of so many random restaurants that I have popped into in Westminster/Garden Grove over the years and how amazing the food has been and you never had to question whether the food was actually coming from Sodexo. Oh well, it’s the Westside. I guess the money goes to rent, not food or actual chefs.

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Ouch! That sure doesn’t match with my experience. Right now there is just one member of the family doing the serving ame cooking -at least while I was there. My food was pretty flavorful although to your point also super spicy even though I did ask for it that way. I will definitely be back for dinner to see what they can do with the entrées

I don’t think that’s true and borderline slanderous to a Thai family that’s trying to make it work on the west side

Yelp reviews indicate that they only opened the Sawtelle location about 2 wks ago (and the reviews are really mixed). Maybe some growing pains w/ the new location (I hope that’s all it is). I’ll probably wait a couple of wks b/f trying it.

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Just looked at the Yelp reviews and I saw someone on Yelp referred to gummy mystery meat - I think that what was what giving me the Sodexo vibe. Also no taste of fish sauce, bird chilies, Thai basil or anything else I associate with Thai food. The other vibe was that of Trader Joe’s frozen Thai food. In fairness, they may be going after a Westside crowd who is not comfortable with authentic Thai food and prefers a kind of Panda Express experience.

Certainly your experience sounds horrific. I don’t know if the labor shortage or supply chain issues might be causing problems? B/c the people behind the restaurant should know how to prep Thai food and prep it well.

Regarding the Westside and stronger Thai flavors… I dunno. I def think that was true several yrs ago, but that Sawtelle has a lot of restaurants that aren’t exactly bland and seem to have good business, Night + Market in Venice seemed to be doing really well pre-pandemic, and I do think that there’s enough of a population in the general vicinity that appreciates strong flavors. I mean, it’s only a few mins away from Sichuan Impression! :slight_smile:

One hopes that they get their act together b/c I’d like something tastier than Siam Chan as my go-to weeknight Thai…

Is the Westside really that devoid of good authentic thai food?

Can’t speak to authentic, but I’d kill for a Chiang Mai here. So you can take that as calibration for the kind of Thai food I like. :slight_smile:

Siam Chan is… fine. As is Thai Dishes (Wilshire location in Santa Monica). It’s been many yrs since I’ve been to Emporium Thai, but the QPR and possible mild food poisoning has made me hesitant to return. I really like N+M, but the flavors are too crazy for it to be on my regular rotation. Ekkamai Thai is better than fine, but it doesn’t send me. Reminds me of a better version of Saladang in Pasadena (less sweet and less viscous sauces).

There’s a small Thai restaurant on 4th (I think) just south of Wilshire in Santa Monica that I have yet to try.

I’m also being super picky about my driving radius here b/c I’m totally cranky and tired after work and just am not willing to deal w/ traffic.

There’s Night + Market Sahm.

Simpang (like Sichuan Impression) also close by and counter to the suggestion about the Westside’s palate.

Agree 100%.
I did takeout a week ago and it was SHOCKINGLY DREADFUL.
There was a “heavenly” beef curry dish that I thought they must be using some kind of canine dental chew: tougher than Orthodox Jewish Law.

Horrible Spring rolls too - fell apart just by staring at them.

I did not write (until now) because it was so new. But shit, silence is not being polite here…just silly. They need to fix things fast.

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Edited it out. How do you explain the sweet chicken in the prik king? If they are making their own red curry this wouldn’t be the case.

A lot of Thai places are using can curry pastes.

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I can’t, i haven’t tried it or the curry. I did say i wanted come back for dinner and try more of the menu. It’s disappointing to hear multiple reports of had food. I did like what i had but that was very limited and to me it didn’t taste like institutional food.

I have no connection to the restaurant, but I did send them a message on FB/IG to inform them that there have been multiple reports of really bad food on FTC.

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Well, Thai food can be hit or miss especially with the branched out from a well known restaurant. It really up to how good the cooks are. Same menu, same recipe, sometimes way different tastes.

Went for lunch a couple weeks ago, thought it was good. Had the beef salad, og tom yum hot pot, and pad kee mao with tofu and veggie. Got two things medium and one mild. Was pretty spicy. We will definitely be back.

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My first try here. Ordered for pick up during the wk. They are doing a collaboration w/ Turntable (which I had never heard of previously), and it even looks like the collaboration occupies its own small space 2 doors down?

Sichuan fried chicken and khao soi.

Fried chicken tasted exactly like you’d expect it to. They wisely don’t put a “sealed” cover on it, so hopefully that prevented too much steaming; part of the pieces were indeed crispy (not but only a few parts). The small order is “only” 3 pieces, but 2 of the pieces were pretty large. While it tastes good, it feels a bit “gimmicky”; I think prefer a regular tasting fried chicken.

Khao soi was ordered at “mild” but was decently spicy. It also had a fair amount of chili ?oil floating on the top. Is that normal? The few khao sois I’ve had didn’t “separate” into component parts like that, and the appearance was a bit unappealing. Taste was quite good, though. I do wish they had packaged the crispy noodle separately; they were very soft by the time I got home.

Based on this one visit, I’m willing to try to the place again to see if there are the quality-consistency issues mentioned above…

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