Sala Thai

Is there such thing as bad Thai food? No. Is some Thai food better than other Thai food? Yes. The dish that they served me last night, Kee Mao, was the tastiest thing I have ever eaten in my entire life. If I could eat it every day I would, but then I wouldn’t be able to afford other things in life, like vacations and my mortgage.

First time here, love the décor inside. Came on a Sunday, got food to go and it wasn’t too crowded. I ordered shrimp satay and yellow chicken curry. The shrimp satay was good but the chicken in my entrée was over cooked and didn’t taste fresh. Plus they had carrot and peas in the rice (which I hate, but I just picked them out). Plenty of items on the menu to choose from, maybe I may come back and try something else.

My husband and I visited D.C. for the first time and stay around the corner from here. It was suggested that we are here and we are both really happy we did! Great food! I had the Pad gai and my husband had the duck! Neither one of us are big into Thai food either but really enjoyed this place!

I ordered delivery frome here when I visited washington DC week ago. The Duck Ma kam was very amazing !!

I went here for the first time. And inwas pleased staff was quick and nice. Only complaint was that our food seemed so boring. You should always be excited to eat your food. Presentation guys!

This is a complete and utter disappointment in regards to food service, customer service, and outright human consideration. No one should ever have to go into a restaurant and wait for almost 20 minutes to even be acknowledged, only by you getting their attention. Not at all surprised by their ratings. This place is too new, and should commit to better customer service. At least they have U St. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!!! Still hungry. :-(

Sala Thai has some of the best Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles) I’ve ever tasted. It’s a must every time I’m in DC. One of these days I’ll get something else. I’m going through their drink menu and the Apple Martinis are pretty good. The service has always been good. It’s clean and moderate noise level. I can come here during the afternoon and have a relaxing lunch. Love it!

Ordered From here and my dish was not correct at all. I sent it back and they returned the same dish that I returned to me. I asked for the manager and I was told that there is not one on duty. I’ve been coming to Sala Thai for years and this is the last time. I will not ever come back and I will never recommend this place again. How do you mess up the easiest dish to make?
It’s a shame too because I really liked them.

Had the shrimp pad thai. It was good, definitely not the best I’ve had. The shrimp tasted like it was over-​cooked, separately, with no seasoings. Also, there were those small faux pork pieces that the Chinese carryout usually puts in their pork fried rice.

I went here late and was one of few customers in the place. I was treated politely and got very good food.

First, I want to say how happy and excited I was that a new Sala Thai was opening up in NE. This location is the closest one to my apt and I’m glad I don’t have to hike to Columbia Heights to get some sushi. I’ve been to this location several times at various times dining in as well as take-​out. My experience has always been hit or miss.
However, my most recent experience with this Sala Thai location made me so angry I couldn’t not post about it. Let’s start with the happy hour menu that is a joke. Sushi rolls are only discounted one dollar and the selection is poor. I’ve had better sushi at better prices. HH ends at exactly 6:30 and they close out your bill out and start a new bill for non happy hour items.
I have ordered from here many times, both sushi and thai food, and been relatively pleased with what was delivered.
On this particular day, I ordered the Salmon roll and California rolls. The salmon roll was completely raw, which I did not know and could not eat it. The California roll was just crab with no avocado and no cucumber. I asked the waitress if I could exchange the salmon roll for something else since it was raw and I don’t like raw food. I didn’t touch it and apologized for my ignorance. The waitress told me, I couldn’t exchange for anything else since Happy Hour ended. She stated instead they could take it off my bill and place a new order. I was disappointed but said «fine.» While I continued finishing my california rolls, my new order (Spicy crunchy shrimp roll) arrived. Once I finished eating the california rolls, I started on the Spicy crunchy shrimp roll. I called the waitress attention to order a drink and when I looked back at my food, there was a fly on one of my rolls! The waitress looked at the fly and continue trying to take my drink menu. I told her never mind and just give me my bill.
When my bill arrived I payed the total without leaving a tip and proceeded to leave the restaurant. I was maybe about 20 feet away from the resturant when I realized someone was calling after me and following me. It was a male employee of the restaurant (who didn’t wait on me btw) asking why I didn’t leave a tip and if my food was okay. I was completed embarrassed and felt extremely uncomfortable that this strange man was shouting after me and following me to ask for a tip! I didn’t respond to him and proceeded on my way home. I will never patronize this establishment again!
Poor food and even worse customer service.

This is my favorite Sala Thai location in DC. Their tom kha soup, as well as their ka prow chicken dish and eggplant basil + tofu dish are excellent. The ambience is very cute, and often times they have live music. I would definitely go back here more often if I still lived at RIR!

Sala Thai on Rhode Island Row
I cane in today after a visit to the DMV. I did not have any of their Thai Dishes, I only had Sushi and Japanese dishes. First thing to note, the price for a regular roll is $ 7 usually this runs about $ 4-​$ 5 even in the better spots. This immediately threw me off a bit but I was ok with it, I ordered a seaweed Salad, miso soup and two salmon and two tuna rolls.
Miso Soup: Great –you really can’t mess this up but this one was particularly good
Seaweed Salad — Same as above
Iced Tea-​it was carbonated. Not sure how this happened but it tasted terrible.
Tuna Roll– The tuna was of the worst quality. I have been eating sushi for over 10
years now and this was by far the worst tuna on a roll I have ever seen and tasted. In addition, the tuna part was tine and to make up for it they LOADED up on the rice. This was a HUGE mistake. If you are service small amount of fish, you need to reduce the rice not increase it to balance the taste. It tasted BAD.
Salmon Roll– The salmon was not bad but once again the meat was tiny and the rice portion was HUGE.
I will not return to Sala Thai. I only came in because of a Groupon but let me be clear, I always make it a pont to spend significantly more than the Groupon amount. My BF and I spent a total of $ 65 and tipped a total of $ 15. It wasn’t the servers fault their restaurant has TRAGIC sushi.
Hope this helps.

Awesome place, used to be my go to along with a couple of coworkers every Friday when I worked by Brentwood. The Beef Ka Prow is the best I have had around the DMV, and I eat thai quite frequently.

The good is always great. Yummy yummy staff awesome. Will be back sometime soon. On Saturday they have a band.

The service was exceptionally speedy and maybe that’s not such a great thing for this restaurant. In their attempt to provide swift meals, Sala Thai’s dishes just don’t make the grade.
The shrimp panang curry that our family ordered had some kick but only 2 small pieces of broccoli and 5 shrimp? It seemed stingy for the price.
The chicken massaman curry had more pieces of meat but the cuts of poultry were not the best.
The amount of rice that we got for main courses was shockingly very little. I think we had maybe a cup of rice between us all.
The spring rolls proved to be the tastiest item but pedestrian.
The omission that disappointed me the most? No garnishments and only 1 condiment – very barren presentation overall. Thai cuisine is highly regarded for its plating – with graceful garni and fabulous condiments.
Seemed like our orders lacked careful oversight. That’s what I mean by too fast.
I was told that this newer addition to the Sala Thai portfolio has been open a little over a year. Found at the metro-​accessible Rhode Island Row complex, this particular location needs some improved quality control.

First, I want to explain that I do not normally review restaurants as I work in the industry and don’t want to be overly critical. I have eaten here before and would have given it a 3 or maybe even 4 stars.
However, my most recent experience with this Sala Thai location made me so angry I couldn’t not post about it.
I have ordered from here many times, both sushi and thai food, and been relatively pleased with what was delivered.
This time we ordered the Yellowtail Jalapeño Roll which was listed as Jalapeño & Yellowtail on top of a California Roll. What was delivered was NOT that. The fish was yellowtail but it was half bloodline, a bright red and very unappetizing section of the fish that is almost always cleaned off before served, raw or cooked. It is bitter, chewy, and gross. The california rolls was just crab with no avocado and no cucumber.
The tuna was also not very good tasting, probably not stored properly.
I called and explained that I had ordered this item (the jalapeño roll) before and it had looked nothing like this. I explained that I was a chef and knew that the bloodline should have been trimmed. He said the fish was two colored, I explained that I had butchered dozens of yellowtail and had only seen cream colored flesh and red bloodline. I also said the california roll was lacking both avocado and cucumber. He said it was made with crab salad.
He then said sorry and hung up the phone.
Poor food and even worse customer service.

UPDATE (9÷12÷14):
I returned a month later to Sala Thai and was pleasantly greeted as I had been before. The boss had heard about my last experience and was apologetic. It’s all water on the bridge. They had a down day when I came last time I was here.
This place still has the best Sushi in the area and is incredibly affordable. It’s clearly becoming a go-​to place for many of the new residents in the Rhode Island Metro condos.
I’m deleting my original negative review.

I’ve always gotten takeout, so I can’t attest to their dining service. The food is excellent and the prices are great. LOVE their Drunken Noodles with tofu, which I think is even better than with any type of meat because they make it so well, and their Spicy Basil Fried Rice. Generous portions. I always look forward to ordering their lunch specials.

Sala Thai at Rhode Island Row is incredible. I’ve been here two or three times and every time the food arrived quickly. The food is succulent, fresh, and plentiful. I’ve ordered the drunken noodles with tofu (it’s spicy – watch out!), drunken noodles with chicken (just as spicy), and the pineapple chicken (which comes in a halved pineapple, no less!) The wait staff is friendly and knowledgeable of what dishes to order depending on your craving and spice level. I’ve come here a few times to use a Living Social half-​off deal, which made the experience all the more desirable.
Their alcoholic melon ball is extremely tart and unless you can stomach intense tartness, you will not be pleased with it.