Thai Kum Koon Restaurant

This place is always amazing! It's nothing fancy & the food is incredible, always consistent & delicious!! It is family run so that's a huge bonus & it's always great to see them and support such a wonderful family & establishment. They have take out, dine-in from the menu & they also have a great lunch buffet (check for days and times) during the week so you can't go wrong. We have been going there since we moved to Norman 10 years ago, a fave for sure!!!

First Time at Thia Kim Koon – Norman, OK Serving the community since 2001 We finally tried Thia Kim Koon, and overall — we were impressed! The food came out hot, flavorful, and clearly made with care. Here’s what we ordered: Tom Yum Soup Spring Rolls General Chicken Chicken Fried Rice Pad Thai with Chicken (one regular, one spice level 3) Everything had great flavor, and the portions were generous. The General Chicken and soup were standout favorites. The only small critique? The Pad Thai noodles were a bit on the mushy side — something we saw mentioned in other reviews. But honestly, the flavor made up for it, and we’d still order it again. It’s always nice to support a local spot that’s been part of Norman for over 20 years. We’ll definitely be back to try more of the menu!

The last time we ate here was around 2020. They used to have a buffet that we really loved. Today we ate lunch here and truly enjoyed it. They have daily specials and the portion size is just right. We went on a Wednesday and selected from the lunch special. I chose the General Chicken that was crispy and not soaking in sauce, the Massaman curry, chicken spring roll, and Pad Thai. Our meal was prepared to our satisfaction and delicious. The service was and always has been wonderful. If you haven't tried this restaurant, I recommend you give it a try.

May just be the best tai food in Norman. Great service and fun place to sit down and eat. There spicy isn’t that spicy. There scale is 1-5. I can easily do a 4. I’d recommend getting some chili paste with your meal to make it spicier.

Was really disappointed by my meal. Food was definitely oversalted, tofu was not cooked, and the dish only came with only one of the many vegetables listed in the ingredients. Order from one of the other many Thai restaurants in town instead.

One of the best Asian restaurants in Norman. We love coming here for the General Chicken. The food is so fresh and delicious and the service is exceptional. Prices are also very fair. We would definitely recommend this place.

Simple restaurant with big and authentic flavors. I got the lunch special and boy was it good. The depth of layered flavors were amazing. The spices were spot on also. Restaurant was clean and service was excellent. Will be back for more for sure. 👍

I have lived in Los Angeles & Houston my whole life and tried tons of Thai food from various areas of the large cities. We happened to be on the road and stopped in for a quick bite. This is hands down, the “Best little Thai food restaurant in Texas.” WORTH the drive if you ever wanted to try it or as a pit stop along your journey. Service is great, food is amazing with such a variety to choose from, there’s something for everyone. The yellow curry with a hint of spice with hot jasmine tea (made with real leaves, not bag) was the perfect palate pleaser on a hot summer day. Try the fresh flavorful seafood salad or Panang to spice things up in your life!

The restaurant isn't a lot to look at from the outside, but don't judge a book by its cover. The staff were very friendly and helpful. I ended up getting the Chicken Pad Thai. The flavor was amazing, very fresh. Their spring rolls were deliciously crispy and cooked to perfection. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone! Will be coming back.

First Time at Thia Kim Koon - Norman, OK Serving the community since 2001 We finally tried Thia Kim Koon, and overall -- we were impressed! The food came out hot, flavorful, and clearly made with care. Here's what we ordered: Tom Yum Soup Spring Rolls General Chicken Chicken Fried Rice Pad Thai with Chicken (one regular, one spice level 3) Everything had great flavor, and the portions were generous. The General Chicken and soup were standout favorites. The only small critique? The Pad Thai noodles were a bit on the mushy side -- something we saw mentioned in other reviews. But honestly, the flavor made up for it, and we'd still order it again. It's always nice to support a local spot that's been part of Norman for over 20 years. We'll definitely be back to try more of the menu!

Got the pad Thai and house curry. The pad Thai was decent and pretty average. It was what you'd expect. Got a 2 spice and it was a great balance without being overly spicy. The house curry was the worst curry I've ever had. I honestly think the cook messed it up and or gave me the wrong order. I did not taste any curry at all. It was straight coconut milk, chicken, and veggies. I ordered a 3 spice and did not taste so much as 1 chili flake. SO VERY disappointed... I'd like to mention that they have a lunch buffet. I should have just got that instead. Checking it out on my way out, it didn't look very impressive, but I'm positive that it could not possibly have been as bad as the curry they sold me.

My family loves this place! We've been coming in on special occasions and birthdays since my kids were little. Their massaman curry is my favorite!

Possibly the worst pad Thai I've ever had in my life. Noodles were mushy,flavorless, with 0 spice or kick. I come from the area where restaurants can't survive with just "decent" food. Thai food is no exception. This joint won't even survive 1 day with food this mediocre. Giving it +1 star for an enormous portion which will just add weight to my trash can

I really like the Pad Thai! I wish more people would support this family run business!

Bugs climbing around, I used to love the buffet but it's no longer. Way too many cockroaches crawling around my table.

Our friends love this place and we tried it with them but they ordered for all of us. We usually get Pad Thai and theirs was not good, barely any chicken and the flavor was off and it was a little soggy to me. They also ordered sweet and sour chicken and each dish had about 3 pieces of actual chicken in each dish

Food was absolutely delicious, ordered the duck and it was fresh and brought me back to Thailand. Highly recommend !!

Love the food and the people at this place! I've tried every version of Panang chicken in town, and theirs is by far my favorite. Try them out, you won't regret it!

Great food, super yummy! Service is good, great people. The family loves the take out, curries are awesome, pad Thai, pa sui eh, a lot of amazing dishes.

Thai Kum Koon is a hidden treasure in Norman! Amazing food, always fresh and yummy. It is a family owned business and they do great taking care of their customers.

I love the sesame chicken and my husband likes the pepper beef. They also have really good fried rice.

We ordered Evil Jungle Curry and it was flavorless it needed. The Broccoli Beef sauce was okay, but the beef was very tough. The Pad See Ew was also lacking flavor. I added some sweet soy sauce to it at home and it made it palatable.

Obsessssssed is an understatement. Authentic flavor and HOMEMADE thick and wide noodles. I haven't had Thai like this since living in New York. It's my favorite lunch spot during the week.

I started eating at Thai Kum Koon a year after they opened. Decades later, I thought I should write a review. Before I started writing, I scanned the other reviews to get a feel for how others see Thai Kum Koon. Most people, thankfully, have taken the time to get to know the family and the vision of the restaurant. If you do not want to read any further, it is my humble opinion that this is the best Thai food you can find locally. A few, thankfully only a few, clearly did not take the time to get to know the owners or understand the vision of the restaurant. Their reviews, in large part, reflect their perception of what a Thai restaurant should be. It was said a time or two, 'if you have been outside Oklahoma, you would know what good Thai food is.' Ah, the not-so-subtle pejorative 'Okie' reference. No surprise, I guess. Tom Joad and the Dustbowl still create that unfortunate, and incorrect, perception. So, what is going on with Thai Kum Koon? The owners are a beautiful family from Chinese, Cambodian, and Thai backgrounds. Is that why the restaurant does not serve 'pure' Thai food? You might be on to something. If you have been to Southeast Asia, and you have eaten at any roadside café that seats 20 people, you might notice something: Thai Kum Koon looks familiar. I have been to five countries in that part of the world, and all of those cafés look and feel the same. And, not to offend the Thai food purists who have made it this far in my review, the food is remarkably similar, except for some cultural and geographical differences. Being that this America, praise God for the Health Department, because in my travels overseas I got a glimpse in the kitchen of those cafés, and I cannot unsee what I have seen. All that to say, when I walk in Thai Kum Koon, I feel like I am back in one of those roadside cafés. There is more. The Cambodian family members fled the Khmer Rouge and made it to a refugee camp just over the Thai border. Exhausted, sick, and weak, one of the family collapsed in the sea of refugees. At that very moment, two American doctors were working their way through the crowd and saw what happened. They acted immediately, rendered aid, and were instrumental in getting the family to Oklahoma City. I bet you did not know that, did you? Do their backstory and cultural experience help you understand why they do what they do, and why the food is the way it is? In talking to the owners and getting to know them, as well as my experience overseas, it makes sense to me that they want to recreate a café like what they could go to at home. That life, sadly, was stolen from them. It must be working, because three decades later the restaurant is still going strong. The food, at least every time I go in there, is tasty, in large portions, and cheap. I hope my review influences you to go buy a plate at Thai Kum Koon. I know it does for me!

Have been coming to this restaurant since I was a kid and it's still amazing. The basil beef is the best. Staff is friendly as well.

My family has been dining here for 15 years. Needless to say that we love the food. Our favorite dishes are the Ginger Onion Shrimp, Tilapia, Hot Seafood Pot, Pad Thai, Green Beans, Fresh Spring Rolls (they aren't fried), Water Spinach, Basil Stir Fry, and others. My son grew up on their food. His favorite dishes are the House Noodle Soup, Basil fried rice with chicken (make that extra chicken :)

This is the best Thai restaurant that we have tried in Oklahoma. Great food, great service, very good hot and cold Thai tea. Clean but an old building. Highly recommend them.

I haven't eaten in the restaurant itself, but their catering is phenomenal! Their catering prices are the lowest in town (sometimes $40 less than Pad Thai Restaurant) and their quality is still amazing. They are also very open to making food gluten-free, vegan, peanut-free, etc. They are very organized and don't mix up orders; very friendly and helpful! Favorites to order: evil jungle, pad thai, stir fry

Very authentic Asian food. Food tasted great, 4 stars due to it being somewhat disorganized

Best Chicken Pad Thai in Norman! If you like it spicy just ask. They were very nice and service was fast. Also, they are very reasonably priced compared to some of the other spots in town.

Came here with my granddaughters and wife. Ordered the Pad King, and waited for about forty-five minutes. I asked the waiter about my meal but it turns out, they never even made it! Everyone else had already eaten theirs within that time. About fifteen minutes later, I finally received my dish. It was bland and tasted boiled as if they had just thrown it together. I already had a bad past with this restaurant to begin with; wrong orders, tastelessness, etc. They didn't take my order off the receipt, nor did they apologize. I had to remind them to cook my meal, and definitely don't expect too come back.

Tried Thai Kumkoon for dinner one night. I remember it being over on Lindsey but I didn't know that it had moved until recently. It's pretty tucked away in the corner of the Heisman Square shopping center. Walking in, it wasn't necessarily what I was expecting. It was not busy when we came in, but got busier. Service was prompt in getting our drink and food order. Portions were very generous and prices were very reasonable. I ordered the fried rice and it was super delicious. Will definitely be back!

Somewhat odd initial impressions gave way to... mediocrity at best. Thai Kumkoon has no windows, so you can not see-in from the outside to determine if you are in the right place. The door is very poorly-marked making you feel like it is either out of business, or a speakeasy. Then upon entering, no one greeted me. So I stood there. The owner's daughter(?) sat behind her laptop in a booth and finally rose to greet me. However there were several college-age chubby Thai students dining and carrying-on in Thai. So that was an encouraging sign. : ) Unfortunately it was not a sign of things to come. The owner(?) took my order. The service was slow. The Thai iced tea was good, but standard fare. However the rest of the meal went down hill from there. The crispy chicken spring rolls were served blisteringly hot, so they were dried-out. The shrimp pad thai did come with a good number of shrimp, but the noodles were not spicy (I had asked for a '7' out of '10' on the spicyness scale). The noodles were not even bland Thai noodles; they were basically linguini noodles in butter. No bean sprouts or peanuts came with the pad thai. Disappointing all the way around. The service, unfortunately, matched the poor food. The waitress (owner?) brought my food without making eye contact and scooted off to the next table to deliver the other food in her arms. She never checked-in with me to see how the meal was. After not seeing her for a while, she arrived with the check (which I had not asked for - and might have risked asking for a dessert to give them one last chance to serve good food if she had asked if I wanted anything else). She then scooted off again not even hearing me say 'Miss... miss...' (I was asking for more lime). The check came with a ... Chinese fortune cookie..?!? The men's room is a little messy (not unclean/dirty - just stocked with random cleaning supplies and then other stuff hidden behind a curtain). There is no mirror - just a photo of an otter where the mirror should be over the sink. (Is there such a thing as a Thai otter?) ; ) So I'm totally confused by the positive reviews of this place; I feel misled. At the risk of sounding catty, let me just say that perhaps if you've never been outside Oklahoma, Thai Kumkoon might have a 'wow' factor to it just because it is not a typical Oklahoma burgers or ribs place. But if you've had Thai food in NYC, or L.A., or any big city, then you know there is nothing special about Thai Kumkoon's food, service, or décor. Eat anyplace else.

Best Thai-style iced tea around, and easy to find right here in Norman in Heisman Square. Known the family for years, and have always received great service from the whole crew.

They used to have a buffet, simple but delicious especially their fish my wife and I we loved it. But they stopped because of the pandemic... I miss their buffet.

My husband and I ate at this restaurant nearly daily for 2 years while getting our MBA at OU. Now, 17 years later, the location is different but the amazing food and wonderful owners are the same. We stopped here passing though norman with our 2 boys (7&5). We had Tom Yum soup, beef lo mein, spring rolls, and green curry chicken. The kids, who rarely eat much beyond "kid food", loved the lo mein and the spring rolls. The tom yum soup and the curry were both delicious. What's more the 4 of us stuffed ourselves, took food home, and the check was only $32. Love this gem of a restaurant, will forever be my favorite Thai restaurant.

This restaurant is the best Thai restaurant this side of Bangkok - HANDS DOWN! I say that without reservation: been going to TKK for 25 years. I have been blessed to travel to Bangkok 20+ times and can say with certainty this is "as good as it gets." Truth be told, the original owners of Thai Kum Koon are very special to me; I even traversed Bangkok with Nui (a local person; Thai cuisine expert actually, that many local Thai folks know personally). The dishes at TKK are authentic, freshly prepared, reasonably priced and service is excellent. Likewise, the atmosphere exudes what you would expect n SE Asia. This past year they added a substantial drink selection which includes a montage of teas, slushes, and swirls. Thai Kum Koon is by far my favorite restaurant EVER. It always gives me great pleasure to introduce family, friends, and even visiting faculty and prospective faculty/student candidates at OU to this great gem. In fact, I am planning to introduce my neighbors to this quintessential Thai experience this coming weekend. Norman is very lucky to have Thai Kum Koon!

Excellent food, very flavorful. Evil Jungle the best!! Staff are very friendly and attentive. Great prices, highly recommend.

I was very disappointed with my order! First time ordering from here. Egg drop soup was greasy and Massaman curry lacked flavor. Massaman curry also had a greasy taste in the back end. Spring rolls were also lacking!

Great food. Great pricing. Friendly staff. Extremely consistent. Highly recommended.

Thai Kum Koon has such a wonderful staff and a great selection. I had the C2. Massaman with chicken At a heat level of 5 The Chef is second to none and I believe this little kitchen will leave me with a great little memory of Norman town. If you haven't ever tried it, Id say it's a must..... (5 stars from this foodie)

So glad to find this gem hidden in the corner. Just moved to Norman from the Asian District. The food is just like my neighbors made. Curries are my comfort food. They are so nice and welcoming.

This is not the fanciest restaurant, but they do have good food on the buffet & the dishes are good (which I usually only order at night, when there is no buffet) They always have Pad Thai and several curries on the buffet. There is not a huge variety, but everything they have is good! There are also vegetable and vegetarian dishes, which are sometimes lacking from buffets of the Asian variety. The service people and owner are friendly and do a decent job filling your drink and delivering your dishes (and keeping the buffet filled up) +1 star for blue bell ice cream! I don't go here a lot, but I always leave happy when I do.

This didn't taste like Thai food! We went for the lunch buffet, so my review is going to focus on that. Atmosphere: 3 stars Your typical hole-in-the-wall, but on the lower end. It didn't look very clean. The wall, carpet, decor looked old and faded. The dining area had not been well maintained and was really run down looking. The kitchen is mostly closed off, so the noise level is average to low. Wait Staff: 3 stars Definitely nothing stellar here, but we were not ignored entirely either. A gentleman came to take our drink order, brought them to us, and then that was it. We didn't stay long, so I don't think we needed refills. I was too disturbed by the food though to really remember the wait staff experience well. The Buffet: 1 star The buffet is open until 2pm (I think). When we arrived around 12:45 or 1pm, the buffet was nearly empty. A few minutes later they started bringing out more food, but it wasn't fast enough. There wasn't even enough to fill your plate with one passing. So we kept having to go back to see what else was added. The containers they were adding were very small and so were being emptied very fast. So there was this constant up and down trying to get more food before it ran out. The Food: 1 star I'll try to describe as best I can what I had from the buffet. Only a few things were labeled, which adds to my frustration, but I'm familiar enough with Thai food that it wasn't a big deal. *basil chicken stir fry - I couldn't taste anything beyond the salt. It had some decent (for a buffet) level of spiciness, but was so incredibly salty that I couldn't actually taste anything else. *evil jungle curry - the biggest disappointment of all! I pored it over some rice, and what was left was rubbery, yet mushy chicken with a pasty (yes... pasty) white sauce. I could barley taste coconut flavor, and beyond that it just tasted like sauteed bell peppers. *another type of chicken curry (not sure what it was, but it wasn't massaman, and it had the same color as the evil jungle curry) - The chicken was slightly better in this one, but I was still left with a pasty white sauce. It barley tasted like coconut, so it was really bland and just tasted awful, like they added a ton of thickener to it or something. *cashew chicken - I think this was their version of cashew chicken, but there was not a single cashew in sight. It was actually the best thing on the buffet and the thing that tasted the closest to what I was expecting, but it was still not good: Dark meat and overcooked. *fried rice - It looked good, but there was something so awful about it that I kept eating it trying to put my finger on it, but never could. I honestly cannot describe how this one went bad. It didn't taste anything like Thai fried rice and was more like a Chinese fried rice. *white rice - hard to mess this one up! *pad Thai - It didn't even look good. It looked bland, and it most definitely was. It had some sort of sauce, but not enough of it. I couldn't even taste peanut flavor of any kind and there was no depth or richness to it at all. *fish - No idea what this one was, but it was a whole fish that they sliced through the meat, but left in tact with the bones. It was brought out while I was standing there, so I was hoping it was fresh. I tried by best to pry a slice from the bones, but ended up mangling it further. It was so crispy and dry on the outside that I couldn't get it to pull apart. I ended up with a mangled pile of fish and bones on my pate. When I ate it, I was pulling bones from my mouth and the fish was so tough on the outside I couldn't tell if it was bones, skin, or just incredibly overcooked fish. *fried bread - isn't this a Chinese thing? This is the first Thai restaurant where I've ever seen this. *ice cream - ahh... blue bell ice cream in their original buckets. They can't screw this up, right? Wrong! Must ask for assistance while serving? Yet they were so backed up trying to manage the buffet, no one was available, and there were people everywhere, it wasn't even worth the hassle to try. In conclusion with the food taste, it was like I was at a really bad Chinese buffet. Nothing had that characteristic sweet, yet spicy flavor that one expects from Thai. There was no depth or richness to anything I tried, and was very bland overall. Price: 2 stars $7.50/person for the lunch buffet. While this is a good price for a lunch buffet, the food was not worth this cost. I wouldn't eat it if it was $2.00/person. If someone did like the food, I feel $7.50 is a fair price for a buffet. Overall: 1 star Downright awful! The people who recommended it to me told me dinner is great... so maybe it's just the buffet? I do want to try dinner before writing this place off forever, but I need to reacquaint my taste buds with proper Thia ASAP! Go to Thai Thai for lunch instead (except Mondays). They don't have a buffet, but they have a lunch combo thing where you get to choose 4 out of 8 things.

The pad thai is my fav of anywhere in Norman that serves this dish. Everything I've had here is great, though. Very nice and attentive staff.

The menu was nice. They have Larb, which I thought was Laotion, so I will have to try that. I got the Evil Jungle Chicken, it indicated it was spicy but it wasn't..at all. I had to keep adding hot sauce to it. It seems as the Thai is a little toned down in this place. Kind of a watery mixture of Thai/Chinese. Service was slow but I didn't really mind.

The service here is nice and very attentive. We have had the lunch buffet many times and there's always so many options to choose from. It's very affordable (a little more than $8). Now the quality is pretty standard buffet quality. It definitely lacks that really substantial flavor, but if you're needing a Thai fix, then it gets the job done!

I lived in Thailand twice for extended periods of time and Thai Kumkoon makes just as good If not a better Pad Thai w shrimp. Highly recommended and the shrimp is the best I have had anywhere in a very long time and I eat out regularly. The owner is a sweetheart and we had a delightful conversation about energy fields and Shaolin Kung fu. The fortune cookies are also the best I ever had. Bravo!!!!

There are some dishes at Thai Kumkoon that are just incredible. The buffet is tiny with a fairly small number of options, but they usually have at least 2 standout dishes on the buffet. The menu offers plenty of options, if you go that route. The big issue is the service, which may have gone downhill since they moved. No one took our drink order, so we ended up with water and no one ever checked up on us after seating. Needless to say, no tip... and I'm usually a pretty big tipper. I don't know if they've just gotten tired, but it sure seems like they were more customer friendly a few years ago, not to mention 20 or so.

Their Evil Jungle chicken is great! Fantastic prices too. Weekday buffets are amazing too.

I lived in Southeast Asia for 3 years and we traveled to Thailand frequently as it is one of my favorites. I love Thai food, both from the street vendors and the restaurants. My all time favorite outside Thailand is in Coral Springs, Florida. Thai Kumkoon is my all time favorite of the 6 or so Thai we have in Norman. Nice people and great food. I too like the Evil Jungle!! Ed Magruder

possibly the best soup and wontons i've ever had the wontons were fresh and delicious the soup was good together it was magick in my mouth. the food is great

My go-to for Thai food. Hands down, its the best Thai. They have a lunch buffet that caters to all. The food is always fresh and as the buffet empties they are quick to refill. The owners are friendly and sincere. I have been a customer for 5 years. I love their Evil Jungle Chicken, Basil Chicken, fresh spring rolls and chicken fried rice. They are open for lunch and dinner. No buffet at dinner. Give them a try!

Tai kum koon is THE highest quality Asian food in norman and their Tai tea is perfect. We have to get Tai tea everytime we go. It's part of why we keep going back. You will not regret this.

How I wish they had not moved from Lindsey Street! Alameda is kind of far for a quick lunch but it it worth it. Never had anything that was not delicious. Keep up the good work Thai Kum Koon!

lunch buffet is really a good deal! You have a lot of choices and they all taste good!

I've only been for the lunch buffet, but that's all I've heard it's worth going for. There are definitely other Thai places in Norman that I would frequent before here, but I found the lunch buffet cute. Not a massive selection, but we all liked what we had and were full by the end of it. I'd try the buffet again.