Pent-Thai

3.3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  3     

Pent Thai was one of my favourites restaurants near epping, but the reason why I'm giving this score as I had several disappointed experience with it. I found the food taste is not as good as before, I wonder has the chef changed the recipe or trying some new flavour. I had dinner in there few times not a while ago, I found some dishes were too salty which is not typical Thai taste, and the meat seemed over-cooked and made it too hard to chew. Anyway, I think I should stop recommending this place to go and maybe try somewhere better.

Apr 30, 2012 

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  1     

I had a shocking experience at Pent-Thai tonight. Foods served were not recommendable at all and the service (especially the Manager's attitude) was below par.

I ordered Pad See Ew, which is quite a well known dish available in nearly all Thai restaurants. Even if we consider that there is no “standard” Thai cooking and most dishes are at the sole mercy of your chef on duty - actually, this is why Thai food has so many varieties and one restaurant may attract more customers than another - tonight’s dinner did not satisfy my palate.

Pent-Thai's version of Pad See Ew tasted very weird and the whole dish had a peculiar smell and taste of some chemical (and there was nothing to suppress it, as there were only trace amounts of vegetables and herbs served).

My friend and I complained that one of the ingredients might not be fresh. I thought that it might be the soft noodle and my friend thought it could be the eggs. The server took the dish back to the kitchen and several minutes later the manager came back to us. She put the dish back onto our table and told us “3 of my staff has tasted this and there was nothing wrong. Maybe you don't know what Pad See Ew tastes like.” Well... Pad See Ew is one of my favorite dishes and I have had it at quite a number of places. Outraged, that she brought back the same dish that has been nibbled at by several of the kitchen staff, I told her I would not have it, so would she please take it away.

We also told her we would not come back here again and on that note she took the dish away from the table. However, a few minutes later she came back to us again with the raw ingredients of noodles and the eggs and vegetables and repeated 'nothing was wrong'. I was rather upset at her behavior and her management attitude. Told her - perhaps change the chef! Her second visit to our table was entirely not necessary.

Anyhow, the dinner was awful and more than that the management attitude was even worse. To top it, she charged us the full price for this crap food and the awful service, even though we returned the food immediately. I won't recommend this place to anyone at all.

Apr 22, 2012 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  9     

Very tasty food, good service, a busy place, would recommend going there, probably best in a big group as it gets noisy.

Feb 19, 2012 

5.5 Average

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  2     

My favourite Thai restaurant for years until recently when I was disappointed by the extremely small servings. Still delicious, but with meals at a fraction of the old generous portions, we came out hungry and feeling ripped off.

Sep 14, 2011 

5.8 Average

Food  4      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  5     

This review is based on my Home Delivery order on the weekend. I can't really say much for Ambience or Service, but I will be fair and give an impression mark.

Firstly disappointed that there was no credit card over the phone for home delivery. Many places are starting to do this. To have something home delivered sort of implies you don't want to go out to ATM to grab cash.

But what really matters is the food. The food really didn't live up to my expectations after reading the many positive reviews here. We ordered a few dishes for 3 people and all of us felt there was something lacking.

Pad Siew - Very few good Thai places get this wrong, its a favorite of ours and we never fail to order it at any Thai restaurant. But at Pent Thai it was bland and lacked that "wok" flavor. Thinking back, I can't remember anything in it other than noodles. [3/10]

Red Curry Beef - Very coconutty which I normally love, but that was about it.. It was certainly lacking that element that makes red curry, red curry. [3/10]

Pad Kaprao - This was probably the best dish of the night. This stir fry was spicy and had plenty of lush veggies in it. Sauce was sweet and tasty, but it just didn't Feel Thai. Just like a generic chilli-basil stir fry that lacked Thai identity. The pork was a little dry but this dish was the saving grace. [5.5/10]

You have to remember this review is based on Takeaway so it might not taste as good as dine in.. but I've now tried all the Thai takeaway in Epping and this is certainly not the best, despite the excellent reputation.

Jun 20, 2011 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  10     

Our Saturday night dining group found this gem tucked away in Epping. It is nothing much from the outside but once inside you are greeted with the warmth that the Thai people seemed to have perfected. Orders were quickly taken and the meals followed at a steady pace throughout the evening. It is not too much to say that of all the Thai restaurants that we have enjoyed, this is probably the best all round. The value is outstanding at about $20 and as it is BYO, it makes for a very inexpensive evening. Definitely a second visit is warranted.

Feb 13, 2011 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  10     

Been going here for years. The staff are helpful and friendly and the food is excellent as well as value for money. It's our local major family event restaurant.

Jan 03, 2011 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Lucky these guys have started doing home delivery because getting a table is tough! For the many years that we have been going here the food and the service have always been very good! The must have dish is the Coconut-Lime Prawns!

Dec 31, 2010 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  9     

I have gone twice to this Thai restaurant and I have enjoyed both times an excellent meal. Service is good, the place looks nice and the prices are very reasonable. I highly recommend it. Just be careful if you cannot handle very hot and spicy food.

Nov 19, 2010 

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  6     

Not too bad. The chicken satay ain't as good as doy tao thai in my books.

Aug 15, 2010