The Terrace

My husband and I dined in the afternoon on a Saturday– No lunch specials on the weekend, which is common among most places. We were the only ones there; it was a quiet and relaxing atmosphere. I got the basil drunken noodles with lots of spice, and my husband got the beef basil with rice. The ingredients are definitely good quality and fresh. I’d have liked it to taste more «basily» (there was a lot of oyster sauce ?) but my husband was the biggest fan of both of our dishes. A lot of reviewers say the portions are small, but in all honestly, I think they are just right. We left satisfied.

This place is the gem of Hamden. Having been to many different Thai places between CT and NJ, this is easily the best. The food is prepared in a way that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but pleasing to the palate as well. A great word to describe this food is divine. It is the essence of fine dining; in a cozy, candle lit place. The service is done by a family, which gives this restaurant a very comfortable, familial feel. Menu items such as the spaghetti ice cream dessert give this place an interesting twist that is sure to please.
The chef has experience in many different types of food, having read this on their website. These skills surely shine through when eating the food.
All in all, a phenomenal place that always leaves me happy and satisfied.

If you are looking for a greasy plate of drunken noodle with the same fat noodles you experience at the dime a dozen Thai restaurants, then this is not your restaurant.
BUT, if you enjoy Thai food and love the taste of homemade noodles and fresh ingredients cooked tenderly with love then this is your place. The Thai native chef studied in France so the food has an elegant touch to it.
Highly recommend the pad-​see-​ewe, pad-​Kee-​mao, pineapple fried rice, and for dessert lasagna ice cream (ice cream shaped into lasagna noodles and the sauce is strawberry Merlot reduction). Looks can be deceiving on the outside but inside expect great food and great service.

This is the best Thai food I have had in a while — and I live in the city, but none of them truly compare to this place.
We ordered a papaya salad, tamarind fish, shrimp with mix vegetables, drunken noodles and the terrace curry (the curry is super spicy)! All the dishes were tasty and portions were the right size. Service was friendly and helpful.
Now, the surprise was the dessert. The brownie was hands-​down the best brownie we have ever had. It was gooey and chocolately and delicious!
You should definitely give this place a try!

This is the restaurant that we eagerly go to every time we travel to Hamden. theres a lot of food in new haven, but this is our favorite!
The care in making each dish is evident when the first appetizer comes to the table. The curry mussels are in a delicious coconut sauce, the papaya salad is crisp and spicy, the larb salad is great also.
The scallop and duck entrees were wonderful.
This restaurant is small, cozy and nicely appointed. Can’t wait to go back.

Sorry. We can’t support a restaurant who’s owner videotaped women using the restroom. I can’t believe this place is still in business after this was revealed.

I think this place is very nice for dining in with its cloth-​covered tables and lovely interior. Lots of parking in the back. Also the presentation and selections on the menu are a couple steps up from the usual Thai places. I ordered a curry and the mussels take out. The mussels for $ 9ish consisted of only 6 mussels on half shell. I was at first disappointed but then I found those 6 mussels were pretty darn clean, meaty, and delicious! I wish the sauce that was described with it was more an all over sauce; instead, it was in a small container I had to dip the mussels in. Still, it was pretty good. Not sure for $ 1+ each, but at least you will be getting quality, non-​gritty green lipped big mussels!
The shrimp curry was also very good and had much more complex flavor than most take out places. I kept thinking I should have eaten in to make this experience more whole. The shrimp were generously large but there was less curry sauce and veggies accompanying it than most take outs. Again, would’ve been better on that white tablecloth probably!
So in sum: lovely place, but to feel like you didn’t get gypped, don’t take it to go unless you already know it won’t be «tons of food». It’s a great place to eat in and savor the complex flavored you may not get in faster take out. But if you want bigger portions and the standard quality of Thai take out, go elsewhere where it will be much cheaper. I think the total for my take out with a Thai iced tea was $ 30. So it was great quality and worth it for dining in, but not necessarily for takeout. I would definitely go again for a nice meal. Maybe these are just the normal prices for Thai here. Used to New York prices where maybe being forced to pay cash shaves a few dollars off the menu prices.

This is the most flavorful, flawlessly prepared Thai food I have ever had. The quality ingredients and superb flavor profiles lend to a truly enjoyable dining experience.
Every dish we ordered, from the Fresh Rolls and Tom Yum soup to the Drunken Noodles and Roast Duck Curry (to name a few) were fabulous. Don’t pass on this restaurant!

Best Thai in Connecticut… Have to order lamb in advance because they might not have it but it is amazing!

The Terrace is an unexpected shocker. The building is not very attractive — but it’s what’s inside that counts. The food is exquisite! Fresh, creative, subtle spices that linger. A real treat when you want/​are in the mood for excellent Thai. Best in New Haven in my book. Pricey… but worth it.

Best Thai food in New Haven. Quiet place, good for conversation. Clean design (not crowded with «traditional» plastic items). Nice light. Great food.

This is the real deal, my go to for Thai food in the area. While other Thai places will adapt to American taste buds, this place will not. They will certainly warn you if you are not an experienced Thai food connoisseur (in the sense that your dish may be extremely, overwhelmingly, hot and spicy.) The price is a couple bucks above the norm but well worth it in quality. I have eaten here many times and will continue to recommend this place to anyone looking for good Thai. I honestly can’t believe the place next door is rated better, so I had to chime in (first review.)

Terrific food at a great price. My girlfriend and I come here as often as we can. The fresh rolls are amazing and the spring rolls are always cooked perfectly– we can’t get enough of the sauce. It’s hard to try new things at this restaurant because the chicken pad Thai is the best we’ve ever had. We crave The Terrace weekly and it never disappoints!

5 Stars for the fact that you have to go a long way to find anything else like it.
Great food. Not like all the other thai places.
Try the Terrace Curry but make sure it’s not too spicy because the spices they import from afar will literally melt you from the inside out… In a good way!

Wife and I ate here again and it’s just as good as ever. Nothing in the New Haven area comes close.
Well-​prepared and flavorful, they use good ingredients. While everyone else prepares pseudo (dummed-​down Americanized) Thai they do things like green-​lipped mussels with basil and a spicy sauce. You can get dishes as hot as you want them too, without having to ask for a condiment tray to jazz it up.

Hey look, this joint has had its share of problems which I will not go into here. However, I’ll be damned if this is not the best Thai food in the state and some of the best I have ever tasted. The salmon choo chee, pad ra prik, and Tom yum soup are all excellent. Perhaps I wouldn’t necessarily eat at the restaurant (it’s kind of weird inside) but I assure you this places serves the finest Thai cuisine in CT.

Excellent quality BUT offset by poor portion size for the price. There are better options, especially if value matters to you.

This place is really good compared to the mass of places on Chapel St and has a much more interesting/​extensive menu. The portions are reasonable and don’t leave you feeling sick, which to me is actually a good thing.
For dinner, we had:
–Papaya salad: fresh, tangy and nicely spicy
–Terrace curry: our waiter didn’t want us to order this because it’s very spicy … but we finally convinced him and it was really good. It was very garlicky and spicy with pepper/​chili. It was very simple (water chestnuts + chicken) but definitely a solid dish.
–Steamed spicy lemon fish: definitely get this! The fish is firm, but flaky with a great balance of garlic, citrus and chili. It’s not terrible spicy, but it has a kick to it.
–Pad thai: much better than your average pad thai. It was not greasy or fried. Instead, it was light and flavorful. The noodles were definitely fresh and not overcooked (they were just slightly chewy). There was a good mix of crunchy vegetables and not too much meat.
Over all, I’d definitely recommend Terrace Thai. It’s more expensive than other Thai places in the area, but the ingredients are also much better.

Being that my parents are from a country right next door to Thailand, I can appreciate an extensive menu that expands from the usual noodle dishes to sticky rice and things your mom would actually make you for dinner. But, saying that, it seemed like the food was a little overpriced, especially for how little you get. $ 7 for a small scoop of papaya salad? Pad thai usually runs for $ 11 – 14, but there wasn’t very much of it on my friends’ plates. My friends enjoyed their pad thai and curry, and I liked my fresh rolls and thai iced tea, so I have to give them points for good, authentic food, but I have to knock a few stars because you can get just as good food, even better, in bigger portions, for the same price or less at other places in the area. Also, I came in with a big crowd, and it’s probably because the place is so small, but they really couldn’t handle us. They let us pay separately, but it took forever because they spent a bit of time calculating it all for each person.
The Terrace had all these wonderful articles about them on the wall, so I wonder if they’ve just let themselves go over time. Maybe they decided because of those reviews that they could charge more for less food. Maybe they were annoyed because we were there with a large group. No matter the reason, I left thinking this place was good, but not good enough for me to really rave about it and want to come back again right away.

This place is pretty unassuming from the outside, but once you step inside you really feel transported to a different place. We tried a few of the appetizers which were all great, but the thing I really remember is their pineapple fried rice. It was the best I’ve ever had and although I’d like to try other things on their menu, I haven’t been able to resist ordering it again.