MenuPages

just ordered for the first time: the portions are so small. it's a total rip off. i've never seen prices this high for this little amount of food. .

I eat Thai food ALL the time, all over the place. I'm bi-coastal and live in both San Fran. and New York half of the years. First off, Tara Thai has excellent service. The staff was very courteous, and swift. The atmosphere is fine - cozy and cute. It was steamy and hot in the restaurant when I dined there with a friend last night, on a hot/humid May night - no A.C., but it was festive with the door open to 1st Ave. and all the night life of the East Village going on. The food needs serious work. My friend and I ordered the vegetarian spring rolls - which turned out to be all lettuce (iceberg) and the most parsimonious amount of sauce on top. This appetizer was literally tasteless. Might as well have been a glass of water. My friend and I only made it through half of this appetizer and then gave up on it. My friend ordered the Panang Tofu. I usually test Thai restaurants by their Panang Curry, which is a very tasty dish almost everywhere. Well, Tara Thai bombed on their Panang - it was extremely dull. It wasn't even sweet, which is a trademark of Panang Curry. The tofu should have been slightly seared - it wasn't. I ordered Pad Prik Shrimp (Green Beans and Shrimp). Here they succeeded. This was a very tasty dish! However, I must say I was disappointed by the small size of the portion on this dish. If I had only ordered this dish, I would probably be giving them a much better review. As with all the other reviews, the restaurant has room to increase their spiciness. If you go to Tara Thai, don't be afraid to ask for "Spicy" ... it's still only medium compared to other restaurants. Nice little place ... they need to work on their recipes!

Its a tiny and friendly and intimate environment. If you've been there more than once they're likely to remember you. You always feel very very welcome. The food is delicious although i will say it could be a little spicier. I usually get a beef curry and the beef is always tender and never chewy. It also has a peaceful environment. Probably because its so small. People aren't very loud usually. And another benefit to its size is wait time. Your food is always out on time. I've never waited longer than a reasonable time for my food. To the people complaining about not getting enough rice: perhaps when you get take out you may not think to ask for more. But in the restaurant itself, they've always been more than happy to give me another bowl of rice free of charge.

Truly excellent service. If you like spicy Thai, this isn't the place for you. The curries drenched in coconut milk and it is tough for the full flavor to be noticed. The pad thai is alright... Spring rolls are great, and I would highly recommend take out from there. Its reasonably priced, during the lunch special, but they also give very little rice.

I've been ordering from this place for quite some time and have generally been happy with the food and service. Today was a different story. I ordered delivery and was willing to wait the 45 minutes I was told it would take. But, after 2 calls from the delivery guy asking for my address, the food finally arrived after an hour wait. I was forced to tip the delivery guy waaaay more than neccessary because he didn't have any change with him. The Yum Nua (spicy beef salad) consisted of a half dozen small pieces of overcooked beef, a couple leaves of iceberg lettuce, and some shredded carrots and red onion - not a single other vegetable in sight, and certainly not the entree size that was advertised. The thai iced tea I ordered was completely ruined by all the melted ice - the paper cup was on the verge on falling apart. So, naturally, I called the restaurant to let them know how aggravated and disappointed I was. I hung up the phone determined to write a scathing review here on menupages, but then my phone rang. It was the manager of Tara Thai calling to apologize profusely and to try to rectify the situation. Within 20 minutes he had a delivery person at my door with a complimentary entree sized portion of Yum Nua, a new thai iced tea, and a refund for both items. All in all, because of the way the fiasco was handled by the management, and the history of good food and service, I will happily continue to order from Tara Thai.

we had the pad thai which should be a safe bet, but tara thai managed to disappoint us; it was bland and the noodles we overcooked. next up is the veggie curry... this was the worst; watery and tasteless, it seemed like they just watered down whatever they had around and threw in some boiled packaged vegetables. all in all, tara thai is more than just a let down

This place really has good thai food. The meat is high quality, the vegetables are fresh, and dishes are consistently delicious. Also, the owners/employees are very friendly and helpful. A great find and definitely at the top of the list of Thai places in the East Village.