Cody T.
Yelp
We stopped by Friday night for a quick bite before my gf and I decided to hit the road for a trip, and we felt a bit adventurous in trying something new. Nearby after some quick shopping, we saw the store front for line thai and immediately had a Thai itch to scratch.
Line Thai is conveniently located in the heart of Fremont on Washington Blvd. There's plenty of parking spaces in the plaza that shares their space with a Burger King, mountain mikes, and other fast food joints. Upon entering, there was only another couple dining in, so we didn't need reservations.
The decor inside was very comfortable as well! They had booth style chairs on the side of the walls, and stools that were in the center with several tables. They had a chalk board with their most popular dishes and a lot of Thai decor, and very comfortable medium lighting!
Unfortunately, the food definitely did not hit the spot, hence the low rating here. We ordered the chicken pad Thai and the chicken Tom kha noodle. The problems:
The amount of food you get is very small. For $14-$16, the portion size should have been a bit more filling. The meat to noodle ratio was very skewed as well. It was ALL noodles and maybe 1-2 small pieces of chicken. Do not come hungry.
The taste of the food was very one dimensional too: very, very sweet. The lime, chili spices, and additional spices that came with my pad Thai did not change the flavor profile at all. It was just way too sweet. The Tom Kha was also just a white soup that looked like it was saturated with coconut milk. For each bite, we had to wash the taste with water. My gf couldn't finish her food. What's even worse was we overheard the conversation from the other diners saying the same thing and couldn't finish their meal either. The reason why dishes are too sweet? The owner/waitress explained that the current demographic that dines here prefers it sweet or that ingredients are too hard to find to truly match the tastes from Thailand.
The noodles for the dishes were also very overcooked, and were not typical noodles for Thai dishes. I'm a HUGE noodle guy, looking for good chew, long slurps, and great taste. The noodles we had on Friday night were super short(1" noodles at best), really soggy(overcooked), and a type of rice noodle that you typically find in pho(really thin).
As for service, it was very nice at first. Upon entering, the front waitress came in from the back to welcome us and seat us. But she kept rotating from the front and back(I imagine she might be the owner and is a bit short staffed?). Despite that she was very responsive despite the lack of help. Unfortunately, the restaurant is a bit quiet, so you can hear the back's conversations. Around 8-9pm, another waitress came in and we overheard their conversation on some pretty harsh criticism on her performance on that day. Made the experience there very awkward for all diners there.
Overall, I can't recommend line Thai here in Fremont. Despite the comfortable decor and homely vibes, the food and awkward service at times would definitely drive me away. I'm generally not too harsh on reviews and would love to provide a star based on decor, but the food was just way too sweet and improperly put together. Definitely bad enough to be elected for an episode of nightmare kitchen. Sorry line Thai!