Kimmy L.
Yelp
Isarn was recommended by one of my boyfriend's friend from Thailand who thought it was the most authentic Thai food she had come across in Seattle. My friends and I thus came here for dinner this past Friday evening to give it a try.
The restaurant has a beautiful entrance with colorful Thai baskets and other cultural items on a wall when you first walk in. It reminded me somewhat of Bangrak Market in Belltown. The interior is trendy and clean and they have both a restaurant seating area and additional seating at the bar.
We were worried it would be crowded on a Friday night, but we fortunately didn't have to wait too long for a table. Note that they only take reservations for groups of 6+ people.
Unlike other Thai restaurants that just list the different colored curries and noodles with a choice of protein, most of the dishes here were preset with a protein already included. Another important thing to note, is that if you're vegetarian, make sure to ask for the Vegetarian/Vegan menu. Our vegetarian friends didn't know there was a separate menu, and so they thought their dish choices were pretty limited on the main menu. Prices are also reasonable.
After perusing the menu, I decided to get the SOUTHERN THAI CURRY WITH VERMICELLI (+$19). I wanted to try something different that I had seen at other Thai restaurants before and that was one dish that stood out to me- plus it came with cod which I've never had in curry before. My friends ordered the Pad See Ew, the Tofu Fried Rice, and the Tofu Pad Thai.
It took about 15-20 minutes for them to bring out the dishes. Unfortunately, they had brought mine out first before the rest, and so my food was a little above lukewarm by the time we started eating.
The SOUTHERN THAI CURRY WITH VERMICELLI was huge. The noodles took up about 1/3 of the large plate and the other 2/3 of the plate consisted of raw cucumber, pineapple, cabbage, carrots, and pickled radish (plus half a hard boiled egg). It honestly wasn't what I was expecting- I thought the vegetables would be cooked into the curry, but I guess "fresh vegetables" on the menu just meant cut up raw vegetables. The curry was served on the side in a separate bowl. The curry itself was okay- it was creamy but definitely mild, but the waitress didn't ask me for a spice level like she did for the rest of the dishes, and so I assumed it was just preset. As someone who normally gets 3-4 stars, I think it could've used an extra kick or two. The cod was basically shredded into the curry (kind of like egg drop soup), and so I couldn't really use a fork or chopsticks to eat it. The only way to eat it was with a spoon. There also wasn't a lot of cod and so there really wasn't much protein overall in the dish. In retrospect, I think I would've been better off ordering my usual Khao Soi (Chiang Mai noodles), but at least I can now say I've tried a Southern Thai dish.
My friends enjoyed their dishes, but also found the spice level mild, even with 3 stars spice. Note that the fried rice was GIGANTIC and so my friend ended up about taking half of it to go.
Service was good. They came to refill our water several times and also came by to let us know when last call was.
While the setting and atmosphere were nice, I honestly just didn't enjoy my dish that much this time. However, I'm definitely willing to give them another shot and come back to try their Khao Soi and dishes that other Yelp reviewers have raved about. Right now though, I'd give them a 3.5 stars- definitely more than a 3, but unfortunately, not quite a 4.
Overall: 3/5 for food, 4/5 for service, 4/5 for atmosphere