Checking the Thai offerings of Pad Thai Express

One of the reasons why Thai food is good is its consistency – i.e. you may be in Bangkok, eating off those house-turned-restos to serve lunch-going employees in residential area-based offices; or in an eatery off the main tourist roads of Pattaya; or ordering from ambulant food vendors somewhere in Phuket… but the food tastes similar somehow. Yep, there would be slight differences (perhaps due to availability of goods, contexts of the actual locations, and so on), but a Pad Thai is a Pad Thai is a Pad Thai.

This trait, this consistency, is what’s tricky when Thai recipes are prepared outside of Thailand. Because it makes it extremely easy to detect what claims to be Thai food, but doesn’t taste like Thai food at all.

Anyway… we checked one of the branches of Pad Thai Express, this chain of Thai restos all over Mero Manila. How was it for us?

Una, there are many branches of this business already, so you’re bound to find one that’s accessible to you. The one we visited is located inside Pilar Village in Las Piñas City, which has its own private security, meaning you may be mandated to leave an ID just to visit.

Ikalawa, the actual place isn’t grand… but it more than suffices since: it’s clean naman, has enough seats, and the air-conditioning was working during our visit. May parking pa nga eh.

Ikatlo, attentive ang staff – e.g. an admin officer was there when we visited, and she shared info pa on the owners, their branches, and so on. With small restos, kindness of staff matters as this always leaves a good impression.

Ika-apat, how was the food?

• The ₱220 Thai Green Papaya Salad didn’t taste like som tam at all, as if some key ingredients were left out in the making of the sauce.
• The ₱370 supposedly highly-recommended Shrimp Tom Yum was okay naman… albeit the soup was on the watery side. At least malaman naman siya, with the shrimps not rubbery, so you know care was given in preparing this.
• The ₱225 Satay Chicken was… somewhat overcooked, so it was chewy, so that it tasted like BBQ bought from some street vendor (sorry…).
• The ₱345 Mixed Pad Thai was okay, though not something you’d write home about. Similar to the som tam, it tasted like a key ingredient was left out, so – while it’s supposed to be sweet, sour, salty, and savory with a hint of spice and nuts – this one wasn’t all that.

Yung gist, the name of the business ought to tell you the approach to Thai food here – i.e. “express”. This isn’t necessarily bad. But at least it’s a reminder to lower your expectations when here.

But off we go to search for more lafang venues.

Pad Thai Express – Pilar Village, Las Piñas Branch is located at Unit 4B of PDC Commercial, Pilar Rd., Las Piñas City, 1740 Metro Manila.