While staying in Southfield, I selected Thai Cafe based on its five 5-star ratings in Google Maps. I don't normally criticize others' reviews, but the food was so disappointing I have to wonder whether the other reviewers have ever eaten reasonably authentic Thai food before.\r
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First the good: The location is convenient and the atmosphere is pretty cool - clean, not too many tables, outside/sidewalk seating available (I sat outside). The service was attentive and the cashier/owner seemed genuinely concerned when I told her my meal was just ""ok"" (I was being generous).\r
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Now the bad: I perused the extensive menu for probably 10 minutes and struggled to find something I thought had a significant chance of being reasonably authentic. The menu is chock-full of Americanized Chinese stir fries (neither Thai nor Chinese food uses a lot of water chestnuts, baby corn, or broccoli, people!) posing as Thai food. I selected a yellow curry with squid. The food was delivered reasonably promptly, given the brisk take-out business that this shop does, and was piping hot. The amount of food was substantial, but that turned out to be a mixed blessing. Although the potatoes and white onions (in a yellow curry??) were fresh and nicely cooked, the peas and carrots were obviously poured from a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. I was shocked. The squid was overcooked and cut into the lacerated rectangles normally associated with Chinese cooking rather than the rings that I expected. (They didn't include the tentacles either - my favorite part.) I had asked for ""extra hot"" only to discover that, at Thai Cafe, this means ""dump a lot of crushed red chilli on the dish"". I normally order Thai food ""Thai spicy"" and am usually pleased with the hotness, but this was too much: I couldn't taste anything but the chilli. Really disappointing.\r
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Thai Cafe perhaps IS the best Thai food in the area. If so, you'd be well-advised to select a different cuisine.
Pros: Location, atmosphere
Cons: Food
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