Typhoon!

For those that miss Typhoon — and for those that never heard of it — Sip Thai Bistro is now the place to go for classy and tasty Thai on the Eastside. The Sip Thai manager/​owner and cook come from the former Typhoon restaurant which was right around the corner in the Bella Bottega Theater area (it closed about two years ago).
The «Sip» in Sip Thai refers to their extensive tea menu. I’m a tea lover and enjoyed a couple of small kettles of the Stress Less tea. A «full bodied» herbal tea — very nice. But it would be selling Sip Thai short to call it a tea place. It’s a great Thai restaurant with a bright, modern look and fresh, tasty food.
We started with some shared appetizer’s — all top notch authentic Thai. My entrée was the Pine Cone fish, a generous filet of halibut lightly battered, flash-​fried and served w/​zippy chili-​lime sauce. It was fried perfectly, not greasy, just crisp and tasty! We tore it apart before I thought to take a photo. We also had the Pineapple Curry and a great noodle dish (sorry don’t recall the name, but I took a photo!). Both were excellent.
Perhaps because we were oohing and aahing over the dinner, or simply because the staff is so friendly, we were surprised with a complimentary fried banana for dessert. Like the Pine Cone Fish, it was fried perfectly.
We lost track of the time and couldn’t believe that we had been there for over two hours. That’s always a good sign. I left stuffed to the gills, but still thinking I could probably manage one more bite of the Pine Cone fish. The restaurant is located in the strip mall that’s kind of across and around the corner from the Bella Bottega movie theater. It’s easy to overlook, but take the time to find this tasty gem!

Typhoon closed up on Sunday, February 5, 2012. Until recently they were my gold standard for Thai food. Recently their service had deteriorated. I heard there was new management, not sure. I also heard that they were month to month on their lease (from JJs next door). RIP Typhoon, they had the best yellow curry on the North side. Now my new gold standard is Emerald Thai II in Federal Way. Going to have to rewrite a ton of Thai food place reviews…
If that note was from the owner in Portland does that mean all locations are closed? Bummer indeed.

Typhoon is closed, so bummed.
Went there today for lunch and there was a sign in the window that some contractors tearing the place apart had posted saying «Out of Business». Below that was a letter from the owner saying that effective Feb 4^th, all locations in WA and OR were closing.
The note sounded very sad. She mentioned the loss of her husband and not being able to carry on.
I’ll miss this place terribly. The Tom Kah Gai soup was unmatched, a 20 on a 10 scale. The fisherman’s rice with Halibut was out of this world.
Goodbye old friend

I’ve never actually eaten at the restaurant itself, so this is just a take out review.
Their phad see ew is one of the best i have ever had. The spicy green beans are very delicious. The chicken satay is kind of gross.
They are pretty pricey, but if its late and you are cravin thai, it’ll hit the spot.

Zach, do you remember the name of that Thai place we went to earlier? It was right next to the Bella Botega. That’s right Zach, it was Typhoon. There is an occasion for all emotions of the tongue, and today felt like a good day for spice. Spice is very cleansing. It can add color, it can kill bacteria, or even preserve. Come to think of it Zach, my food had some red spices in it, and spices can be made from seeds. Red Seeds, I wonder…
Not this moment Zach. I digress. We’ll note this for later in the investigation. Back to Typhoon.
I ordered a classic. Phad See Ewe never goes out of style for me. Typhoon served it up just right, with a delicate balance of vegetables, noodles and chicken. As far as Phad See Ewe goes, this for me is pretty great. But you don’t care much for the Phad See Ewe, Zach. You ordered some chicken satay and spicy green beans. I’ll give you this, Zach. The spicy green beans delivered exactly what they promised. I’ll remember this for our next visit. But the chicken satay left something to be desired. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that we’ve had better, right Zach?
Like most good Thai places though, it doesn’t come cheap. We’ll have to look into happy hour next time, won’t we Zach? We’ll come back for sure, especially to look into the red spices. Hopefully the head chef is nothing like Nick.

Good food but a bit pricey for Thai.
They’re trying to offer a more upscale atmosphere, but you pay for it with the prices and the service is hit or miss.
The menu has a nice selection of upscale hot teas. So if you are a green, jasmine, or oolong tea connoisseur, you’ll enjoy their hot tea menu. They used to have a huge separate tea menu but last time we went (last weekend) the selection seemed smaller. But still full of interesting tea selections. Good for cold winter days.
I’ve eaten there so many times, I’ve probably had ½ the menu. And I can’t think of any bad dishes. I’d recommend trying the Pine Cone fish. It’s a really unique way to serve fish… full of crispy-​yummy-​ness. They have a mix of traditional Thai dishes and some of their own unique dishes.
It shares the same parking lot as the Bella Bottega movie theater so it’s a convenient pre-​movie dinner.

I’ll start by saying the food was delicious the several times I had it. I discovered Typhoon when it was catered in for a work activity and I later took my husband to enjoy it.
I’m a bit delayed in posting my review, but the last time we went (around March 2011), I found a cockroach in my food. The server apologized, offered me a dessert (which I had to pay for) and only comped my affected dish. My husband attempted to finish his after thoroughly investigating it, but we were so grossed out.
Needless to say, we’ll never go back.

We used to live in Redmond and came here at least once a week. They offer buy one get one free with the passport lifestyle card (which Microsoft employees can get for free). We used this promotion a lot!
They have excellent Pad Thai, curries, and soups. It’s not the best Thai restaurant you will ever go to, but it’s extremely solid.

This is a rather expensive place for Thai food. However, the restaurant has a «classier» feel to it, so I guess you can say you’re paying for the atmosphere. With the Microsoft Prime discount, it’s well worth the price you pay. I’ve had dinner here a couple of times with friends, and both experiences have been great. The servers are attentive and very helpful.
What’s good here: eggplant lover, green curry, spicy stir-​fry chicken with crispy basil, and crab wonton soup. I’ve also tried «death by asparagus,» fish on fire, and spicy soft shell crab. All of them are good, but what really stands out for me is the eggplant lover entrée. Try it if you like eggplant – you won’t be disappointed.

Almost 2.5 worthy but not quite. I went here while visiting Seattle a couple months ago and was really expecting a nice dining experience. What I got was a completely foul starter, crap seating, cold draft, and lousy service. My boyfriend and I got seated fast enough but right in the center of the room at the entrance. It was a busy night and we could have asked to wait for a better table but I was hungry. And I get crabby when I’m hungry. The down side to this table was that every time someone came in or left, the cold outside air would blast right in. Had the food been acceptable, this issue would easily be overlooked, however — that is not the case.
We started out with the Superwild Prawns which have a Yee-​hah spicy rating and sounded delicious — cooked white prawns in a very spicy garlic lime dressing. I love prawns, spice, garlic, and lime but these things were disgusting. As soon as the waiter brought the plate to the table my nose perked due to one of the most foul odors you should never smell when you’re about to eat food. It was like locker room foot. Being an adventurous eater I decided to still give it a try — these things were WAY over marinated. The garlic and lime were so overpowering and it did not even taste decent. I couldn’t do more than a bite. I could see though the little room divider that the people at the table on the other side were also offended by the horrid smell and I could overhear them wondering «WHAT IS THAT SMELL». Horrible.
I went with the green curry which was OK — I was really just so turned off by the appetizer that I felt nothing on the menu would be tasty. It took a very long time to get refills on drinks and the check. I will not be going back since there are much better Thai restaurants I’ve had while in town. This place is loud, crowded, and very mediocre when it comes to food. Stay away from the garlic prawns.

i remember going to the typhoon that was below the market and would hit it every now and then… the old wild ginger location. this one is tucked away in the corner of a shopping area (not far from a movie theatre).
i mis-​timed lunch and had to wait awhile for my friends. when we all arrived, service was prompt and friendly. our dishes came out and the heat in each was all over the map. my friend’s soup was really spicy (which led her to leave most of it) and my king’s curry was only mild (and the dish that came out was more of a chili paste with green beans and chicken).
the food was okay, but not as good as i remembered from before. the menu is extensive, though.

The food is okay, but it seems so much more expensive and similar quality of cheaper places. I’ve actually had some not so great meals here, too. One was a fish special that comes to you in fire… Don’t order this! It tasted like burnt fish that was soaked in kerosene.
They have a huge tea selection which is neat, but will not impress you if you don’t drink tea.

Well, I’ve eaten here before, but on a slow Sunday night at 8:30 you’d think that the wait staff could bother to come over and greet you or give you a warm glass of water or sucker punch you for interrupting their calm, peaceful evening. But, on this Sunday night you’d be wrong. My wife and I sat there with menus closed for many minutes (I even went to the restroom and came back) with not even catching a server’s eye.
In fact, two servers stood not 10 feet away leaning on the half-​wall between the dining room and the bar area and chatted while we waited for someone to come take our order.
So, after a good 12 or 15 minutes, we just got up and walked out. On the good side, the 20ish male greeter was very pleasant on the way in and apologized on behalf of the restaurant as we were on our way out, but the damage had been done.
I’m not sure why it seems wait staff seem to slack off after the dinner rush, but it’s pretty common. I know this place has good food, but that does not give you an excuse to just ignore paying customers Also, there didn’t appear to be a real management presence making sure that everything was running smoothly, and clearly it wasn’t.
I’m not sure if we’ll be back, but it’s going to be a while if we do… One star isn’t really fair with one bad experience, so I’ve upgraded it to 2, but they’re capable of 4 stars which is why it’s disappointing to write a review of a normally good place. It sucks because it’s normally better than that!

If I could give 2.5 stars, I would. We used to eat here quite often when we lived in Sahalee and would say the food was consistently good but not great. We ate here again last night before a concert — my husband faired better than I did.
We started with duck spring rolls with a sweet (and overly sticky) sauce which were nice — the cucumber chunks in the roll added a nice freshness, but the duck was a bit dry.
I started with a cup of the Thai sweet pea soup — it’s made with coconut milk, ginger and a small amount of chile and mint. It was phenomenally complex with its layers of flavor. Simply put, it was yummy.
My husband had the chicken phad thai (a standby for him) — he enjoyed it (the taste he gave me had a piece of overcooked chicken).
I ordered the garlic prawns with garlic black pepper yakisoba noodles. The noodles were overcooked but really flavorful and the broccoli and grilled scallions were nice. The prawns, however, were gross — they were horribly overcooked and tasted musty (such that I didn’t ask to have new prawns prepared).
I had a nice amber beer and my husband went out on limb and tried an organic pinot gris from Oregon and, to his surprise, he enjoyed it (I tried it and wasn’t bad!).

Good food! The orange chicken is very tasty. (It’s a food meter-​stick for me, so if they can impress me with it, they’re doing well.
If ANYTHING, go for the TEA. Their tea is INCREDIBLE.
I haven’t had such good tea at a restaurant ever.
My only complaint with the place is the noise.
Most of the place is hardwood, so sounds tend to travel. And when the place is busy with a lot of people it can get hard to hear someone sitting across from you. And it also doesn’t help that the waitresses nosily sort silverware at their station in MIDDLE of the dining area. :-\
Even still, the place is worth a couple trips. :-)

Stopped by Typhoon today for lunch. There are a number of Thai places nearby, but I had not visited Typhoon until today because of the persona that the exterior gives. It kind of give this feeling that it is an upscale Thai spot with nice ambiance, but higher prices and just okay food. My visit did not really do much to convince me otherwise.
Came in later in the lunch hour. Dining room was probably less than half full. Seated at one of the tables in the front. The ambiance here is indeed nice. There is what appears to be an open kitchen at the back of the restaurant, with a bar to my left. The soundtrack selection of the place was decent. It is kind of subdued, just like the food.
There is a fairly decent selection of lunch options which are $ 15 or less. I ended up getting a cup of crab wonton soup ($ 3.95) and the seafood drunken noodles ($ 10.95). Waiting time seemed a little longer than I expected, but my items came out in good time.
The two selections that I got were kind of smaller than I expected. The drunken noodles were served on a really large plate, while the wonton soup was one which is cup size (duh!). However, both of these items were good.
It is very clear that they select the best ingredients possible. I was impressed by the freshness. The soup was nice. It has a subdued flavor. The yu choy sum that accompanied the wonton was a good touch. Just wished there was more than two pieces of wonton. Crab is expensive!
As for the drunken noodles, I based my selection on some of the reviews below and I was not disappointed. I got a milder version of it, but it was still very flavorable. The tomatoes in the dish added a creamy type flavor which I enjoyed. It kind of bordered on being bouillabaisse-​esque. Not soupy, just the style of the dish. Again, the item was good but I wished there was more.
Overall, the food was pretty good though a bit pricey. Basically paying for the ambiance. And the ambiance is just okay. A little turned off with the preparation for dinner service in the 1 o’clock hour. Lunch is not even over! Still, a nice place to get some good Thai food in the area.

I only get the drunken noodles here (their version of Pad kee mao) and it’s very good. Their appetizers are pretty good but a bit small and not so cheap. The pad thai looks okay but nothing special. Some of the curries and stir fried dishes looked and smelled very good. I only go on sunny days so we can sit outside during our lunch. I love Thai food especially when it’s spicy but they can’t seem to get the spicy-​ness consistent. Sometimes a 3* is not spicy at all, and sometimes it’s okay, but if you ask for 4* they go too crazy.
You do pay for the setting though, and i’ve heard the management does not treat their employees that well. It’s reflected by their slow service and disinterest in their customers.

This place has an owner/​chef who knows Thai cooking and has proven herself over the years in both Bearverton and Redmond. However, she lives in Oregon and clearly this Redmond location is diminishing in importance.
Their King’s curry is an excellent dish and the tea menu is exquisite. The spicy green beans are also a favorite.
There are far better Thai restaurants in the Seattle area.

In all of my 24 years on this earth, I had never sent back a meal until I ate at Typhoon. I ordered a salad with Thai barbecued chicken. I’m pretty sure what I got was candied lettuce with bits of bark thrown on top. I’ve got a sweet tooth, but not when it comes to my salad. And the chicken couldn’t have been drier. One of my dining companions also sent their meal back to the kitchen with a similar complaint.
The reason that this is two stars rather than one is because our server was understanding and apologetic. He was quick to comp our meal for us. Also, the nice atmosphere was a bit of a surprise, since the restaurant is located in a strip mall.

This is the sort of place I really want to hate. If restaurants had egos, Typhoon strikes me as the type that thinks it’s the coolest thing around. And I guess I’ve never bought into the «upscale Asian» thing because of too many bad experiences in overpriced fusion restaurants. And of course, there’s the service… I always make reservations so I don’t have to wait 30 minutes to sit, and I try never to go unless I have at least an hour to eat. (And if you haven’t seen your server for awhile, don’t wait patiently… go find him/​her.)
But when you get the right thing, the food is good. I skip the drinks, skip the extremely expensive appetizers, and just order a main course and get out. I have a half-​dozen friends who swear by the drunken noodles (phad kee mao). I really love their family of red curries — red, panang, and pineapple. They also have seasonal specials that change regularly with interesting choices that you won’t see at most other Thai restaurants. Today, I ordered off that menu and got a «Fall curry,» which included mixed vegetables, kabocha squash, and chicken in red curry sauce. Delicious!