i was apprehensive the first time I was taken here by a college who spent some time in Thailand. From the outside, it looks pretty rough and to be honest, I wouldn't have gone in without the push. Inside, the decor is ethnic kitsch. Once you know it though, the ambiance becomes charming and old school.
Food is always good and never shy to try something new here! Sometimes  service can be slow but you know, its a family run place and its fresh and delicious!
This review was written after years of eating here!
Driving up from Sterling, VA through PA I was quite hungry and burnt from the sun hitting me on the drive. Randomly stopped into Pakha's Thai House.
Apart from myself, there was only one other group of people there for late lunch. I was surprised service was a bit slow. However, the food made up for that.
Started off with the Poh Tak Soup (Large) and Thai Iced Coffee. Ordered the Kang Keaw Wan (Seafood Combination) for the entree.
Thought the Iced Coffee had too much ice.
The hot and sour soup came out first with the green curry almost immediately afterward. Bad timing on the service part. That was OK as the soup was scolding hot so I let it chill and dug into the green curry. The entree was phenomenal with lots of mussels. Rice came with the dish so kept dropping that into the bowl of curry. I was really surprised by the hot and sour soup. Think I counted nearly 5 or 6 mussels, awesome! What I really liked about my selections is that there were mussels everywhere! Really enjoyed the food and ate everything.
I would definitely stop by here again and perhaps try some different curry dishes, however, seafood all the way! I want some more mussels!
Got to Pakha's again yesterday afternoon. Â This place needs Robert Irvine's touch inside. Â There was something unrecognizable outside (rice noodles congealed? Â some deformed dead creature? Â we didn't stick around long enough to discern), but we were hungry and rolled in anyway. Â
Boy does this place need a makeover. Â But get past the torn blinds, holes in the drywall, and ODD decor, and you'll have a delicious meal. Â We both ate Pad Wun Sen and were both very pleased. Â Fresh Spring Rolls as appetizers were yummy but definitely not made that day. Â A little gummy but still tasty. Â
If not for the other diner across the room who apparently thought it was her calling to educate the men at her table about morality (I assume they were just out of church, and sadly she had finished eating so wasn't taking any breaks from talking to EAT...), it would have been a truly divine dining experience.
We decided after our meal that this is more of a "take out" kind of place. Â Food is great but the atmosphere definitely leaves a little to be desired.
Pro's: Big Portions, Fair Prices, Spicy
Con's: Â Food
Argh. Â I asked the server (who was Thai) what she thought they made well. Â I was told that the Pad Kee Mow was her favorite. Â I ordered it extra spicy. Â It came out with rather quickly, and with excellent spice. Â Back to my argh, I also ordered the Chicken Satay. Â Much to my chagrin it was deep fried and battered. Â WTF? Â I wasn't going to KFC.... Â I wanted Thai food. Â Also I asked for Srirachi (Rooster) Sauce or Fish Sauce with Thai Peppers, something spicy. Â I received what tasted and looked like Frank's Red Sauce in an unmarked plastic squeeze bottle.
I think two people can eat here for $15 per person sharing one appetizer and one dish, and two drinks. Â It's enough food for two. Â I would try and hunt out other Thai food before I revisited Pakha's...
I went with my boyfriend on his suggestion when I had a hankering for good Thai food. Being from NYC, I'm no stranger to good ethnic food. This place hits it right on the mark!
What it lacks in decor and service, it more than makes up for in food taste and quality. This is hands down the best food I've had since moving to PA. It compares with my favorite little hole-in-the-wall Thai place in NYC. It surpassed my expectation by far! Highly Recommend! (With the warning that the service and ambiance is a little lacking...but like another reviewer said, it just makes it more authentic!)
LOOOOOOVE Pakha's! I used to live in the Middle East where it was chock-a-block with authentic Thai places, and this is the closest I've ever found that came anywhere near the same type of quality.
I personally love the fact that they pay far more attention to the quality of the food than the stylishness of the decor (which, quite honestly, makes this place far more authentic in my experience), and you really cannot beat the value for money here.
If you don't like Pakha's, you don't really like Thai food.
Get the Tom ka gai, you won't be disappointed!
BEST THAI IN CENTRAL PA!! Ok, I LOVE Bangkok Wok, too, but Pakha's just has a special something. Everything we've had there has been incredible. Highly recommend cinnamon chicken, beef ginger perfect, pineapple fried rice, seafood soup, curries. I think Bangkok Wok does a better pad thai. Appetizers also incredible. Don't miss the yum apple salad, papaya salad, and coconut cakes. Great food!!
Review Source:My husband and I used to stop at this restaurant a lot on our way up 15 and we were always able to look past the shabby building and kitschy decor because the food was so good. Not this time. The place is just downright slovenly now (dirty carpets, mold on the walls, even standing water in the bathroom) and the food left a lot to be desired. It is disappointing to see a place go downhill like this. We won't be going back.
Review Source:Technically I give this a 3.5 but I'm feeling generous today so I rounded up.
My husband and I stopped in there for lunch after passing it a gazilion times on our way to VA. Â The atmosphere was simple but decent.
The service that day was good but not great.
The food was wonderful. Â I'll go back for the food and ignore the atmosphere and service. Â For me to say I'd go back even after spotty service, is something something about the food.
Everything we ordered was very good. Â The only thing missing was a little more spice. Â However, I've slowly learned to accept the central PA accommodations of ethic restaurants for the bland palates fo many people around here. Â The next time I'll ask for it to be made with more heat.
I love the food here!! Â The first time I went i was thrown off by the ambience. Â It looks dark and seems a little bit dated. and thai food in dillsburg, I wasnt very confident! Â
But the food is wonderfully flavored and everything has just been divine! Â I even like the noodle dishes here better than the place on the pike!! Â The eggplant is nicely done with a wonderful flavor. Â the pad see ew is sweet and flavorful w/out being spicy. Â the thai shrimp fried rice was not as dry as most other asian fried rices, but it was wonderfully flavored with large succulent shrimp. Â (surprisingly also had tomatoes in it. Â next time I will just say no tomatoes but they were not stewed/cooked in, so they were easy to take out.)
the place has pretty good service and they do pick up as well. and often times there will be a coupon on the back of the local Giant recipes. Â but i have yet to remember to do such things myself. Â
definitely the best asian food in town! :o)
I agree that Take Out is not always the best.
The food experience at Pakha's location has been always good for us. Â We are local to Dillsburg and that may effect our point of view. Â We are very grateful to have Pakha's here.
I do have to say that their Catfish dish is outstanding!!!! Five Stars for the Catfish.
The Pad Thai can sometimes be rubbery - especially on Take Out.
It's really surprising to get this kind of a flavor experience in such a small town!
I've visited a few times now, mostly for lunch, and always get the Thai tea, which is exotic with a creamy, sweet, flavorful tang. Â
The sometimes slow service and somewhat dingy appearance of the place are the only reasons I give 4 and not 5 stars. Â The food and price is fantastic!
I met a friend here for lunch on a Sunday (8/22/10). I'd recently heard of this place and was surprised by the good reviews given the highway location.
The interior is nothing fancy. It's kind of goofy, actually. But, you're not coming here for the ambiance. When we first arrived at about 12:45pm the place was pretty empty, but during our lunch the place completely filled up. Despite the crowd, it was not loud and service was in no way hindered. My water glass never hit empty.
We ordered Thai iced teas and fresh spring rolls to start. I'd not had the iced tea before and it was certainly different. It was a tall glass filled about halfway with iced tea and the remaining half was a top layer of sweetened condensed milk. The tea (or perhaps the milk?) was infused with cardamom. The drink was definitely sweet; more like a dessert. And while I love cardamom, the amount of spice used was a bit overpowering for a drink.
The spring rolls were wonderful. One order includes two generous size rolls. They were chock full of fresh, crisp vegetables and roasted pork; they were perfectly wrapped. And the accompanying peanut dipping sauce was great.
We also ordered Pad Thai (w/ chichen) and the Green Curry (w/ beef). The Pad Thai was very good. The noodles were perfectly sauced and did not clump together. Nor were they dry. It was a nice balance of sweet, savory, and spice. The green curry was also very good. Upon first tasting the sauce, I got a wonderful explosion of freshness from the basil and other herbs and spices. About three seconds later came a nice little rush of heat. What a great combination. I could have gone for more vegetables in this dish. The beef, bell peppers, onions, and carrots just floated around in a sea of sauce. That said, it was still quite tasty.
The prices were very reasonable and the portions were generous. We both had two servings of each dish and I still brought food home.
My friend ordered the Thai custard for dessert. Out came a dark ecru-colored triangle sprinkled with sesame seeds. My friend took a bite and I could tell by the look on his face he got a bit of an unexpected surprise. I asked him how it was and he said that he couldn't describe it. I would just have to taste it for myself. I did. The most unexpected thing was that it was piping hot! How strange. Next was an odd yet familiar flavor that I just couldn't work out before the flavor of the sesame seeds kicked in. I took a second small nibble, but still no luck. I finally asked a waitress and was told it was made with taro. That was it! It wasn't bad, but I think it would have been much better chilled.
I'll definitely be going back here to try more of their food.
FYI: Heading south on 15 it's slightly tricky to get to. Turn left at the light at Mountain Rd. (SR 4040) and then cut through the Choice gas station on your immediate right to get to the restaurant which is next door.
I ate here a week ago with a friend of mine who was really excited to try it out. I'll be honest, I don't eat a lot of Thai because I can never find people who are willing to try it. They are scared of spice. But I really really like this place. And I'm not just saying that because a server is a friend of a friend of mine.
The person who I came with ordered an appetizer: chicken on a stick (2 pieces). These are HUGE, so she let me take one. Chicken is very flavorful and crispy. As entrees, we ordered the chicken curry and drunken noodle with beef. Chicken curry is spicy!! But I would drown my rice in that coconut milk-based sauce every day. :D There were carrots and green beans in the curry, and those were tasty. Drunken noodle was very good. It was probably good that I ordered a not-spicy dish so that I wasn't overwhelmed. Not that I don't like spice; I'm just a wuss and don't want to drink lots of water and trouble the waiter.
As a desert, we had coconut cakes! Awesomeness! Kind of has a nutty flavor on the inside, but sooo good and served warm.
We couldn't finish our entree's, and my friend let me have the leftovers. Mmm, good even when microwaved.
We stopped here today on a recommendation I got from someone, and I definitely have to say that I can see why they suggested it! Â All the food we ordered was excellent, and the service was very prompt and pleasant despite the fact that they were busy with several large parties. Â Physically Pakha's is an odd looking place that I suspect used to be a Mexican restaurant... that will certainly not be hindering me from stopping by here when I'm coming to or from on route 15. Â I enjoyed it more than the Thai places I've been to in Harrisburg...
Review Source:Pakha's Thai is a nice spot in Dillsburg, it's been around a lot longer than many other thai restaurants in the area. It sits on route 15, with easy access from the northbound lanes. We went on a friday night and and was packed, hard to get a parking spot or a table. We placed our order for appetizers first, fried egg rolls and tom yum soup. It came out right away. Our main dish was that seafood combo stirfry. It had shrimp, crab, mussels, squid, as well as noodles and veggies. It is decorated nicely with statues & posters of thailand, and also has a small area where you can buy Thai Merchandise: fans, clothing, statues, etc. I'd love to go back.
Review Source:My work peeps tell me that this is the best Thai in the area - seems like they win a ton of awards every year to reinforce their exalted rating. I always order the same thing when I first try a Thai place - pad see ew. Their version was actually good - I asked for it medium spicy and got it - my lips were going numb before I finished, but it wasn't so spicy I couldn't eat it. I thought the broccoli was a little undercooked and it could have used a little more garlic, but I was happy with it overall. Also liked their Thai Iced Coffee.
Seems like the only dish that the co-workers ordered that wasn't a hit was the red curry, but that could have been expectations for a spicier dish. (Ask for medium spicy, people, you won't regret it.)
Would definitely return here to try more things on the menu if I was in the area again.
Get past the fact that this place looks like a broken down building, and see past the fact that there is a bunch of flare staring at you everywhere you look, and what you have at the end is a great tasting thai restaurant. The owner routinely comes out to check to see if your meal is good, and the wait staff is friendly during your order. Most every dish I have gotten has been prepared well and it has excellent presentation on the plate with their different dinnerware in the shape of leaves or whatnot. Their specials are excellent and I highly recommend the BBQ chicken, it pulls right off the bone and has a great flavor to it. Their curry is well portioned and their Tapioca and Mango desserts are fantastic.
.
Pahka's has a personal significance for me, because I used to meet there with my friends often a few years ago. It was in between our home areas, so we all used to meet there. Anyway, that is just me.
Most entrees are excellent, they taste like they are made from scratch. I recommend prik khing (chicken with red curry and green beans) and seafood in smoked chili paste. Make sure to order "mild" or "medium" if you get something spicy, unless you are used to VERY spicy, because at a thai place when they say "spicy" they mean Spicy! Â Desserts are also good, my favorite is mango with coconut rice.
The service.....well...this is why I give it 3 stars. Twice, I had to wait a LONG time. I don't know why, especially because the one time there were hardly any people there. So, it is not like they were very busy. Â I think the service needs to be more organized and aware of customer needs. It could be more efficient. It is a shame because the food is good and there is a cozy atmosphere. Other times, the service was good. Waiters and waitresses were always polite.
I love the cozy atmosphere!
I got the chance to try takeout here! All the dishes that we ordered were cheap (less than $10) and portions were large (for two people, easily).
- Their papaya salad was plainish but tasty - we added our own spices to kick it up after we took it home.
- The pad thai was sweet and its sweetness reminded me of pad thai that I've had at buffets on the east and west coast. Not bad.
- The pineapple fried rice (we ordered it with chicken) had a fun curry taste to it. Excellent!
Recommended for what it is, where it is (a Thai place out in the country). Stop in if you happen to be passing by Dillsburg!
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