The patio wraps around the restaurant's exterior with cozy couches and plush pillows, seemingly a nice place to enjoy drinks and appetizers with friends on a cool night.
The decor and design are delightful, and sadly, that might be where our love for this spot begins and ends. Our qualms lie primarily in the prices, mainly because we’re unsure whether what we ate and drank delivered enough to justify the cost. Interestingly, prices aren't available on their website. If they ever added a happy hour, we might go back to enjoy drinks and appetizers on the patio, but otherwise, we don’t think we’ll be rushing back anytime soon.
There was a 45-minute wait when we walked in, but self-seating at the bar was an option and we took it. The tight bar area is sandwiched between two point-of-sale stations where servers ring in orders, so we got quite the earful of the drama inherent to working in a restaurant.
The highlight of our meal was the drinks. We ordered the nonalcoholic Blue Elixir ($7) with butterfly pea flowers served with a sidecar of lemonade, which was fun as well as tasty. Butterfly pea flowers have a deep blue-violet hue that bleeds into water when steeped. When citrus is added to a tea, the pH level changes the color from an almost-fuchsia to a lavender-lilac. We love to see more restaurants offering showy yet balanced mocktails.
We also got a Sabai Sabai ($13), a riff on an old fashioned with a coconut water ice cube and four rums, which sounds nothing like an old fashioned, save a splash of orange bitters.
Some drinks ring in around $14, like the Melon Refresher, and a My Thai with Captain Morgan is $18. A version of Long Island tea, Lost in Bangkok, is made with Grey Goose, Hendricks, Bacardi and a house-made Thai tea ($17). There are a handful of draft beers, as well as two bottled Thai beers. The draft beers range from $7 for Michelob Ultra to $10 for both the Ace pineapple cider and the Voodoo Ranger Juice Force IPA.
Our first entree was chicken fried rice ($17) cooked with garlic, scallions and egg; we added a side of chili oil. Overall, the fried rice was serviceable, but was it good enough to boast a $17 price tag? In a quick audit and drawing from personal experiences, we find this dish often comes loaded with more meat, herbs and vegetables and averages $13 to $14. There was a hint of spices, but nothing that popped off the palate, and the chicken was sparse.
The yellow curry with chicken came with jasmine rice, roasted carrots and potatoes, which were soft and cooked well. Was it $20 curry? Not likely. Again, it was OK, but not better than curries we’ve had at other Thai restaurants for much less.
Yellow curry with chicken and jasmine rice; in the background, a side of chili oil and the Blue Elixir, made from butterfly pea flower tea and lemonade.
Danielle Beller
For dessert, there's a passion fruit cheesecake, which we’ll admit was tempting. It sounds like it would be good, especially paired with a latte or cappuccino (both $5) made with coffee from Dallas-based roaster Ascension.
In our heart of hearts, we want every restaurant to be successful and wish we never had a qualm, but it seems like the decor and throw pillows are what separate this spot from other great Thai places that have lower prices and dare we (sadly) say, better food. It makes us think of one of Paul Hollywood’s main critiques on the Great British Baking Show: “style over substance."
Potentially important to note: Tande Thai does not take cash, so keep that in mind if you decide to stop by.
Tande Thai. 5754 Grandscape Blvd., No. 105, The Colony. Monday – Wednesday, 5 –9 p.m.; Thursday – Saturday, 3–10 p.m.; Sunday, 3– 9 p.m.
