I've been wrestling for awhile as to whether or not I should review this place. My experience with Thai cuisine stems as far as ordering Pad Thai from Thai Express up the street from my apartment, so I keep telling myself that maybe my taste buds weren't built to handle traditional Asian cuisine. I mean, I'm half-Filipino, but that doesn't mean I know how to appreciate all other types of Asian delicacies. I finally decided to go through with this review, and I shall paint the picture for you.
I was visiting my friend who had recently moved out west from Columbus. This friend is even more well traveled than me, and spent six months in Thailand. He had heard of Glai Baan from various magazines and tv reports, and was overly intrigued by the thought of authentic Thai food. After all, he had spent most of college in Cincinnati experiencing the same Thai Express that I'm accustomed to, and Cbus doesn't exactly fit the bill for real deal Thai food either. All of this backstory is basically me explaining how pumped he was to try Glai, and how it ultimately let him down.
We ventured in on a Wednesday evening to find the restaurant pretty packed. Luckily, we were able to score a spot on their cute side patio. It was well lit and heated so it was the perfect dining spot. We both opted for beer (I am a fervent beer drinker, and my friend has some weird obsession with Thai beer.) Surprisingly, they had a nice mix of crafts from the west coast, so we were both happy with our drink selection.
I was leaning toward ordering the pad Thai because I'm basic/unfamiliar with Thai food, but the server steered me toward the green curry. My companion was super pumped because he could order kao soi, which is essentially Thailand's chicken noodle soup. Our food arrived, and we were taken aback by how pretty our plates looked. They were expertly put together and could have been an awesome addition to the 'gram. However, the consensus between our two dishes was that it was good, but we felt like there has to be better out there. For as pretty as my dish was, the toppings/noodle/broth ratio didn't feel very balanced, and I found many bites to be missing something. As for the kao soi, my friend liked it but noted that it didn't have the kick he found in many kao sois across Thailand. He added a lot of chilies; I thought it was cute that they had a little table side array of chilies available for her food. After all, I do enjoy the spice.
I would try here again if asked, simply because part of me feels like the dishes that were ordered on my trip weren't my cup of tea. I do love some pad Thai, and the pad kee moo sounds like something I could get behind. If I ever come back, I just hope the flavors are kicked up a notch.