Absolute Thai
“It's a tiny takeout place, so get delivery or take your lunch to the beautiful Conservatory Garden close by.”
“As far as I know, it's the best Thai place in East Harlem.”
“I've never had a bad meal from them between their pad Thai, pad se ew, spring rolls and even their tofu.”
Absolute Thai
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Hole-in-the-wall two-seater serving up really tasty Thai staples. First, their spiciness levels are no joke – no way is it "American spicy"! I coughed my way through the papaya salad, which came chock full of tomatoes and lots of chopped peanuts. I only wish there were more of the crunchy string beans.
The beef in the pad see ew was a bit overcooked and tough to chew but it was a giant portion. I've also tried the tofu green curry and I've always been amazed by the sheer amount of veggies they pack into the dish – lots of carrots, green beans, eggplant, and bamboo shoots. Definitely enough for two meals or, if you're anything like me, finish the whole thing plus half of a pint of Ben & Jerry's Half-Baked froyo.
The only thing I've had here that I wasn't too crazy about was the jalepeno poppers. If deep fried husks filled with artificial-tasting cheese and some semblance of green vegetal matter slathered in the accompanying spicy mayo is your thing, then by all means, but I didn't love it.
NEXT TIME: pineapple fried rice, mango cake
A little gem in East Harlem which deserves its rave reviews. The lunch special is $8 and for that you get a salad, a REAL appetizer like tasty crab croquettes, and a good size entree. The pad kee Mao is as good or better than any I've had on the upper east side. It's a tiny takeout place, so get delivery or take your lunch to the beautiful Conservatory Garden close by. (Here's hoping they expand to the row of empty restaurants across Lexington.)
Wow this stinks -ordered food via GrubHub and 1 hour later still no food – Called restaurant phone just rings. 1 1/2 later food shows up. Don't think I'll be ordering from them again…
The lunch special! Reasonably fast, so inexpensive, and so tasty! I had beef pad see ew – it was properly sweet and salty and rich, with a good ratio of beef to noodles to chinese broccoli. Salad dressing surprisingly spicy. Thai iced tea a touch sweeter/creamier than I prefer, but still good.
Lunch specials are filling and tasty. The shrimp fritters (they spell it flitters!) were deep fried and juicy with a side of a sweet duck sauce and the small salad came with a piece of tofu, one lonely grape tomato, cucumbers, iceberg and some other lettuces.
The pad kee mao with pork had really nice thick pieces of pork (a bit different from other places), egg, and actually a lot of vegetables which were mostly onion, peppers, string beans, carrots, and bamboo shoots. It was actually more veggies than noodles! Pretty spicy as well because they actually put in those little thai chilies, unlike plenty of places in Manhattan. It's good but nothing to write home about.
All in all, a decent lunch special, especially for the area but not the best thai I've had. Tiny counter to eat at with two stools and quite a decent wait if you order there since they seem to do a bustling delivery business.
I tried the Pad See Ew and Pad Kee Mao from here. Both were made fresh, tasted absolutely delicious and were filled with so much flavor. One thing that I noticed was that the Pad Kee Mao was not very spicy, but it was okay. They probably tone down the spiciness for their customers. The entrees came in generous portion sizes too. Also, because it's located in Spanish Harlem, their prices are also a little cheaper than Thai places a neighborhood south.
Holy lunch special!!!!!!
For days I had told myself that come Sunday, I would do the greatest activity in the world: lay in bed and eat pad thai. Normally I get stir fried dishes but I really wanted pad thai, so for days I looked forward to what would surely be the best meal.
Then, Saturday night, I end up at a thai restaurant. I don't order pad thai–because I know what tomorrow brings.
Sunday, in bed, so hungry. Pad thai time. I spend way too long looking at different restaurants until I realize Absolute Thai has an amazing lunch special: something like $7.50 for pad thai, appetizer (two spring rolls), and a soda can. YES PLS.
Ordered, delivered in less than estimated time, portions were large, a great time was had by all*
*by all, I mean just me, alone in bed on a Sunday, eating pad thai.
Yummy in my tummy! This place has very well made Thai food at a great price (most of the standard curries, noodles, and rice dishes are $8.95).
It's our go-to for girl's night in and we've consistently gotten hot, fresh food delivered quickly. I particularly like their drunkman noodles and veggie spring rolls.
What's more, I also always have enough for 2 meals – I call that a delivery win!
It's a good thing Absolute Thai is nowhere near me because I'd probably order in every night.