I love Thai food but I surprisingly haven’t been to every Thai food restaurant in the U District. This just isn’t right, especially when it comes to proper Thai food rankings done by my undergrad buddies. Well, I am a bit more legitimate in future Ave Thai restaurant rankings. Last Sunday, I went to Thaiger Room.

Thaiger Room, located in the heart of the U District on the Ave, is a place that most UW students frequent as freshmen. But I was never a freshmen at UW since I transferred and although I go out for lunch A LOT, I just got immediately hooked by Thai Tom and never looked back. But last Sunday, I was with a large group, which is absolutely not suitable for the little hole-in-the-wall that is Thai Tom. The seven of us, after much heated discussion, decided on Thaiger Room, which had enough room for a table for us in the back, and made fun of me since yes, it was my first time.

Since it was my first time at the Thaiger room, I went with the customary Pad Thai. It’s the one food that I have tried at EVERY Thai place, so not only does it make it a good standard to compare with other restaurants as far as food quality goes but it’s also just a popular menu choice. Additionally, I hadn’t had good Thai food in a long time, spending the past four months abroad, and just wanted some good, traditional stir-fried noodles with crushed peanuts. My friends REAMED on me for this since that is typically a “freshman meal”. I was donned the freshman hat for the rest of the night, despite being a Senior. Ouch.

I spent most of the night watching other people’s food arrive. Some friends joined us later and their food arrived BEFORE mine. So, the service didn’t leave a positive impression on me. The Pad Thai was delicious when it finally did arrive except that it was a bit on the spicier side. I tend to always get 2 stars of spiciness and can handle it, no problem. But these two extra-spicy stars made me eat my Pad Thai slower than normal, which didn’t help the fact that my food arrived last. I spent the majority of my eating time, awkwardly trying to eat my food while holding up the rest of the group and also trying to flag down a waitress to box it up. One of my friends even started eating off my plate. Not cool. I get protective over my Pad Thai, even when it is too spicy for me.

The Pad Thai tastes exactly what you would expect from a Thai restaurant in Seattle, except it is a bit spicier than normal, as I stated before. Keep that in mind when you say your stars of spiciness. But the Pad Thai isn’t phenomenal, when Thai Tom’s is, in my mind. But the Thaiger Room is great if you want Thai food but you don’t want to wait outside in the cold rainy weather (always happens at Thai Tom) or if you have a large group. I’m going back to Thaiger Room to order a few more dishes to make a proper assessment of the restaurant and then, I can properly participate in the Ave Thai Food ongoing debate. As you can tell, Thai Tom is in the lead but I have to give props to the Thaiger Room name.