Phaya Thai Express

Excellent Thai fast food! As they said it themselves, it's a Thai Panda Express. You chose 1/2/3 items on top of rice with certain premium items with $1 extra charge. Exactly like Panda Express except the food is WAY better. We wanted a quick dinner since it was getting late and we were in and out in less than 30 mins (yes, I eat way too fast). All the dishes were very tasty, especially the catfish. Definitely recommend it for quick meal/takeout!

Simple place for Thai food when you don't know what you want to eat. The kind of day where the internal divide beckons you between noodles or rice. Don't fret for you can have it ALL HERE!Price wise it's not bad and is structured like a Panda Express, the options are pretty reasonable. My issue is that there is a huge lack of vegetables, (i know that I'm aging because I'm typing this). I wish they even did a simple side of stir fried veggies (broccoli and cabbage with carrot) because after eating my food I could feel my blood pressure spike from the immense flavor(s) which were battling for dominance on my tongue. It would be nice to have something even a diy pick your spice papaya salad to balance out things. I will say if you order the pad see ew for to-go the amount of food is super disappointing because it's almost $17 for a small bowl of friggin noodles. This is a huge rip off - they need to add more noodles considering wide rice noodles are less than $1 at wholesale costs.

The concept of a buffet a la carte style Thai restaurant is unique. Tried this place for dinner because the IG content and photos. Tried some options like the Phaya chicken and palo braised pork and egg with rice. The hot items at the service station were kinda empty and didn't look very fresh. They were out of calamari for one customer and just not every tray was topped off or full. Maybe the lunch hours was busy? Limitint food waste? Just seemed odd the food options weren't all there. Phaya chicken had sweet garlic basic and tasted like any Chinese food orange chicken like batter. Palo pork was tender and the egg was good. The sauce had a little too much 5 spice for my comfort. Reminded me of Thai boat noodles which are way over seasoned with 5 spice. Probably a recipe I'm not used to. The white rice was horribly mushy like wayyy too much water was used to cook the rice. Like it was a few levels below porridge rice. Ordered pad Thai chaya? And pad see ew to go. I tried both at home, pad Thai did have the coconut milk flavor but was covered in chili flakes. I did ask for mild so the texture of chili seeds kinda try and raw made for a grainy texture on chewy noodles. It was too salty for me. The pad see ew was the same. Very salty but the beef was tender. Maybe the velveting baking soda technique of Chinese food was used to tenderize. There's an absence of tamarind sweet sour and fish sauce. These recipes aren't as sweet and savory compared to other Thai food restaurants. A bit more on the salty side with ingredients like fresh coconut milk on pad Thai does elevate one flavor note but mutes everything else. A partial symphony that just kinda left me like huh? What's missing. Not sure Service was good tho. Lots of outdoor seating and the interior is fresh and modern. Just the food itself wasn't as impressive as the instagram content.

I really want to love this place due to the wonderful concept of Thai express food where you able to pick out already made food options for you. I love Nudi so I was delighted when I heard the owner opened this wonderful concept. Ordered the 3 protein options and tried few selections that the worker recommend. I was disappointed when I tasted the food that it was either hard, tasted like it's been sitting out for a while, or flavor was just okay. I believe it may be due to the fact that I went during a non rush hour. There was no one else in the restaurant when I arrived and felt the food has been sitting at the warmer for a while.

I will never stop raving about Phaya. It is SOOOO GOOOD. The staff is so nice. And they let you have samples. The food is absolutely incredible. You get such a great value for the price. The bowls are big. The FLAVORS are so good. The Thai basil is there. The Thai chili is there (but not too badly). It's a super fast option that is so good! They are also gluten free. The Thai tea was wonderful. The interior is spacious with lots of seating. They have lots of drink options. Outside seating is plentiful. Parking is free around the area. It's a perfect quick meal when you're in southeast. I recommend that Phaya Chicken, NY Steak curry, catfish, and the garlic shrimp.

Similar to Panda Express with the layout but upscale, local, and fresh! I really love how there were a few options for vegan, and I knew I would be impressed considering that the owner also owns Norah. I got the vegan options like the tofu curry and the fried tofu served over rice. It's very affordable and I enjoyed the curry. It had a nice spice followed by a rich coconut cream curry. The fried tofu also had a sweet sauce on it.I think the rice was mushy in my opinion, which is why I ranked it with four stars. A little disappointed by the lack of vegan options but I like how it's accessible to all diets.The cocktails looked good and there's a lot of our door seating. Very spacious inside.

Decided to stop by for a dinner, after hearing great things from reviews online and friends recommendations and loved it. Phaya Thai Express offers cafeteria style thai food, where you are able to build your plates with different entrees (curries, stir frys, etc.). I got the massaman curry and spicy chicken, I had a really hard time deciding what I was going to get as everything smelled and looked great. The spice levels vary depending on dish, but found certain dishes to tickle my mouth with loads of spice. Can't wait to go again to try more dishes.They also offer some creative tasty cocktails and mocktails to enjoy with your meal in their cute inside tables or in the outside seating in the back. I would recommend Phaya Thai Express for someone looking to try some thai staples done right!

Fantastic service, the gentleman at the front (i think he was a chef) was so excited to share what options we had to pick from. I decided on a bowl with brown rice, lentils and quinoa. I had the Phaya Chicken, which was breaded well with a sticky sweet garlic sauce. My second item was the Prik Khing Tofu which was large fried tofu mixed in a chili garlic sauce (not spicy). I did indulge in the dry chili and the chili sauce on the side which added a nice DIY kick. We had a really hard time picking items since the choices were plentiful and all in front of our faces in this high end version of a cafeteria line.

It's pretty amazing that the food here which is laid out and already cooked kinda like buffet style beats out a majority of Thai restaurants in portland. If you really want to taste something close to Authentic Thai, you must try the food here. The venue also very nice, spacious, and beautifully decorated with indoor/outdoor seats. The people working here are also very humble, happy, & super friendly. For now, I can't think of a better place for some awesome Thai food that doesn't break the bank and is not altered to cater to Western palates. On average, I think their generous portions will allow most people to have left overs to bring home.

Great portion size, very fair pricing.Food was flavorful, and well balanced. Outside and indoor dining love the option especially for the summer time!