Yes, "Diamond in the rough," as another rater mentioned, might be an apt brief description. Â My preferred rating is 4.5 stars, by the way.
Our party of four shared a couple of appetizers. Â The Papaya Salad was really something. Â As this is my wife's favorite Asian-style salad, she's especially particular about this dish being prepared just right. Â She and I were very pleased, though.
We also shared our entree dishes. Â I thought all were excellent. Â Even my old, half-dead palate was awakened and impressed. Â I don't recall which entrees our two guests had, but I very well remember my choice: the Talay Thai. Â Let me tell you ... I was highly, highly impressed and they can count on me ordering this again for my next visit. Â Tasty, spicy, and a simply perfect blend of herbs in the sauce make this an excellent choice I'll surely be ordering again.
Oh, and that reminds me of my wife's entree: the Drunken Noodle. Â I've had this many, many times in other restaurants, but never-EVER have I had it taste as good as the way it was prepared here. Â I have to say, this restaurant really, really "raised the bar," as we say, and I don't think I'll EVER be able to enjoy this dish elsewhere again. Â Getting Drunken Noodle was another excellent choice that I'll be certain to try again.
Our server, Rose, was most pleasant, attentive, and patient with us. Â We had trouble deciding on which beverages we might like to try, but she generously offered us samples that helped us to make the right choices.
If none of that is impressive enough for you, then wait until you try their desserts. Â The Strawberry Sorbet was tasty, and the Chocolate mousse was nice, too. Â BUT ... But MY choice was a killer: the Parfait au Noir MUST HAVE been made with homemade ice cream. Â I've NEVER had a dessert as rich and delicious tasting as that dessert was.
To summarize, we WILL be back!
After taking a trip down to Colonial Beach, my friends and I wanted to try the local cuisine there. I actually looked at both Yelp and TripAdvisor for suggestions. Both searches led me to Seaside Restaurant. Everyone's reviews were right...this place rocks!! Â I've been to many good Thai restaurants in the DC/MD/VA area but I must say that Seaside is probably one of the tastiest. Â They offer both Thai and French cuisine, which is very unique. Â All their foods have an authentic, exceptional taste to it. The moment you walk in, you can feel the warm and welcoming environment. Â The property has a romantic ambiance which brings out the French vibe. The staff is fully attentive and very friendly. Â Surprisingly, the owner of the restaurant actually came out and took the time to talk to each table making sure every patron's experience was superb - VERY sweet lady.
Out of my entire group, I was the hungriest.  So for an appetizer, I ordered the French cream of crab soup for myself.  Loved it! Very creamy and delish!  Everyone tried it and agreed.  For my entrée, I got the pad kee mao with chicken. I order that all the time at every Thai restaurant. Seaside makes this dish so well! It bursts with flavor and has just enough spices. My husband had to try one of their French dishes. He ended up ordering the filet mignon. He was NOT disappointed! This place cooks it perfectly to your liking. The sauce was not overbearing and the plate was served with sautéed vegetables. Our friends ordered the salmon entree and pad see ew with chicken. I really loved the salmon there. Cooked nicely and served with their veggies. I honestly wish I ordered that myself - next time! The pad see ew with chicken was really good too. Truly the Asian comfort food at its best here! It was not too sweet and the amount of meat and Chinese broccoli was great.  As full as we were, we couldn't leave without trying their desserts. Being that this place is both Thai and French, our group decided on sharing the mango sticky rice and crème brulee.  OMG - their desserts are to die for! If only I can get my hands on their recipes. Â
Thai or French, it's pretty noteworthy that all their plates were presented elegantly. You don't get that at some places...so I appreciate the effort. Â Seaside's prices are unbeatable and their food is impeccable. Â This is a location that is worth stopping in and trying.
FIVE STARS:
The restaurant is located in a house near the waters. Â When you walk in through the doors, you'll immediately notice the Thai exotic decor with gold, blue and orange accents. The setting is warm, romantic and rustique. Â
Our large party reserved a private room in the back of the restaurant. Â The room itself is very intimate, located farther away from the main areas of the restaurant. Â The room could probably hold about 30-40 people. Â
The service is impeccable.  Our server, Rose was particularly attentive and sweet.  She checked on us just the right amount of times, our drinks were always filled.  She helped my sister and I select a wine from the wide selection.  She made very yummy Thai Tea (the best we've had).  The owners, Yupin and Chairod (?spelling) greeted us a few times during our meal to make sure everything was perfect.  And surely it was.  I just really love it when the chef or the owner of a mom and pop type restaurant checks up on their patrons and seem to genuinely  care. Â
We ordered several of the dishes so here's the break down of the dishes I could remember:
Pad Kee Mao: My favorite dish. Â Most know this dish as "Drunken Noodle". Â This dish is a stir fried noodle dish. Â It has distinctive flavors of thai basil, fresh red chili pepper with perfectly cooked pork. Â The cuts of meat seems to be high quality compared to other places. Â (you could also get it with seafood, chicken or beef)
Pad Thai: Â I normally do not like Pad Thai. Â Usually it's too soggy or alternatively, too hard. Â This one was cooked perfectly with notes of sweet and sour. Â The noodles cooked al dente. Â Absolutely loved this dish. Â
Pad See Ew: Â Soft, chewy rice noodles pan fried with chicken and Chinese broccoli. Â Yummy. Â (Again, can be made with the meats mentioned above). Â
Yum Phet (Thai Duck Curry): Â This was the special of the day. Â It was creamy coconut milk, mildly spicy with spices that enhanced the roasted duck. Â This is a must try item! The duck was very tender and flavorful. Â
Moo Dat Dieo (deep fried pork) perfectly crispy and soft on inside eaten with sticky rice. Â My go-to place for this dish has been demoted. Â I used to love it from Bangkok 54 in Arlington, but this one definitely reigns in as King of Moo Dat Dieo!
Shu Mai: Large!
Duck Salad: Â A very deep and tasty duck complemented in just the right amount of exotic flavors. Â
Papaya Salad: Â Again another exotic salad. Â Fresh, crisp, tartness of green papaya combined with the saltiness of fish sauce and fresh red chilis was delicious! Â This dish has many variations throughout Asia. Â
Filet Mignon: Extremely soft and tender. Other viewer was exactly right on the dot.
It was "tender and succulent". Â Melts right in your mouth, it was so tender!!
Desserts:
Chocolate pate: decadent and unique. I didn't think I would like this dish. But wow, it's like an explosion of interesting flavors of chocolate in your mouth!! Â I'd probably get it again if I came back.
Mango and sticky rice with coconut on top was very good. Â Traditional dessert at most Thai Restaurants. Â
I honestly wish this place was back home. Â But the reality is, it is everything you'd want in an intimate and romantic setting located in just an area that you'd want it in.... Â near the waters in a small, unspoiled town called Colonial Beach. Â It really makes it that much more appealing to visit. Â The service, the food, and the setting earns this place FIVE STARS and GOLD STATUS.
You gotta love it when you find a diamond in the rough, especially when it's a mom & pop operation executed wonderfully. Went to visit a friend in the area this past weekend and she recommended this place.
I was pleasantly surprised! From the outside, I would've never expected this quality of food and presentation. Â I actually took some pics for the first time. lol. Will post them up later... I felt like I was eating at a fine dining restaurant, but at a MUCH more affordable price. We ordered both Thai food and French food and both were outstanding.
It wasn't too busy when we visited and interestingly enough, we had a nice conversation with the owners. They were really excited about being able to attain a high quality chef from the DC area. I really enjoyed the food and service and my friend said she thought the food was even better than the last couple times she visited. I'll definitely return when I'm in the area.
Best Thai I've ever had! Â I have been to a lot of Thai places and this is the best I have ever been to. Â What is most surprising is that it is in Colonial Beach, of all places. Â I like Colonial Beach, but it is not exactly known as a fine-dining haven! Â Â The food is excellent and the service is reasonably quick. Â Not much else I can say other than that you should not miss this place if you are in the area!
Review Source:THE BEST Thai food I've ever had!!!! Â Having lived in NYC, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Diego, and now DC, I can say that this is the best Thai food I've had. Â Every dish we ordered was superb and oozing with yummy flavor. Â Though we live an hour and a half away, it is worth the drive. Â It's the best thing to happen to Colonial Beach. Â Great service and very modest decor.
Review Source:One of my new favorite Thai places around this area. Wonderful owners, super friendly and great customer service. Food was beautifully presented on plate and taste was wonderful. Try the Thai iced coffee if you like sweet coffee drinks. Homemade ice cream was good too. Definitely a place to visit!!
Review Source:Excellent food and warm, hospitable service. Â We had the panang curry, and it was great! I also got the tom kah (coconut milk soup with chicken), and it was good - actually the chicken was more tender than in other versions I had tried. Â The dessert - a chocolate fondant with the consistency of between fudge and a brownie. Â It was outstanding! Â We met the owner, a Thai immigrant from decades ago with a fondness for his home cuisine that really translates in the foods. Â
Great place - definitely a winner.
Pros: Â Fresh, delicious food
Cons: Atmosphere is severely lacking
Hubby & I checked this place out on a Saturday night. It's a good thing we came in around 6pm b/c a steady stream of locals started to pack the place shortly after we arrived (that's a good sign!). Â
The restaurant decor/atmosphere is mediocre but the food makes up for it & the owners are very nice.
We started with the Tom Yum & Tom Kah soup. Â Both were excellent but we wished they had a little more meat & spice. Hubby chose Seafood Curry & I chose the special: Baked Crabcake with Sauteed Veggies. Hubby's was awesome & mine was pretty good (I was a little disappointed b/c it wasn't an actual crabcake, it was just lump crab meat on the plate). The best part of our meal was the dessert! Â It's all homemade & it was incredibly good. Â We split a Creme Brulee (great, smooth flavor) & homemade Hazelnut Ice Cream with Candied Caramel Pieces (amazing).
Overall, we'll definitely be back... & we'll be saving room for dessert. ;-)
Every dish was delicious and flavorful. Â We started with spring rolls, which were great, and escargot, also great...and there were more escargot than I expected for the price, a nice surprise.
For dinner, we had pad kee mao, red curry and spicy fried rice. Â I thought the flavors were delicious, although the dishes weren't spicy at all. Â We had requested them hot. Â They did a great job with the noodles. Â Sometimes with wide noodles they get stuck together...these, however, were cooked perfectly and every individual noodle was sauced.
We will definitely go back, but will be sure to ask for Thai hot next time.
The Seaside Thai & French's food is amazing!!!! I ordered the Taley Thai and enjoyed every bite. The owners where polite, people friendly, and wore happy faces. The atmosphere was cozy and people dressed in casual attire. I can't wait until my next visit to the Seaside Thai to try another yummy meal. Love this place!!!
Review Source:Who would have thought that Colonial Beach would have such a delicious, French-Thai place? The owner greeted us and was very friendly and helpful. We started off with and order of spring rolls and an order of fresh garden rolls, which have shrimp in them. Both were delicious appetizers which were accompanied by generous portions of each sauce.
I had the drunken noodles with veggies. They were awesome. Some of the best Thai I have had. My husband had the beef  bourguignon , off of the French menu, which he said was delicious and flavorful. It looked good, if you are into beef, which I am not. My daughters had Pad Thai. One with veggies and one with seafood. This is a hidden treasure in the area, that definitely matches up with any other Thai place.
This place would be a competition killer up home in Northern VA so down here in Colonial Beach it stands alone! I always order the thai basil chicken, extra spicy. Noy always asks me if I'm crazy and reminds me that thai spicy is much spicier than "normal" spicy, but it's just right for me. Service is wonderful, everyone is friendly and Noy the owner is hilarious! We have noticed that it's been harder and harder to get a table lately, but that's simply because it's hands down the best restaurant in town. Definitely call a few hours ahead and try to get a reservation!
Review Source:One word, EXCELLENT! Â This place would compare nicely if it were in DC against all the other great Thai places. Â Down here in Colonial Beach, wow. Â The staff is great, the owner Noi will take great care of you. Â The presentation of dishes are creative and wonderful. Â The Thai dishes tend to run a bit on the mild side to tell them if you want them a bit hotter. Â They always have some great specials usually on the French theme.
Review Source:Wow!! We have driven past this place since it opened, even chuckled about the name (it is on the river), but, before today, never ventured in. Â Well today we decided to go there for lunch. Â What an excellent surprise! Our food was excellent! We started the meal with an order of their spring rolls, which were the best we have had. My husband got the crab cake with saffron butter sauce and I got the Rock fish special. Â In addition to the excellent preparation, freshness, presentation and taste, the service was professional and friendly. If you are in the area, you must try this place. It will now be our choice when eating out down here.
Review Source:I liked this place so much that I ate there twice on a recent trip to Colonial Beach, once for dinner and once for lunch.
On our first trip, we ate on the patio. We started our meal with crispy rolls and a bottle of viogner. They were out of Drunken Noodles (we went pretty close to closing), so I got Pad Thai with Tofu. My friend got spicy eggplant with mixed vegetables. All our dishes were satisfying and tasty. Service was extremely attentive.
The next day we were hungry for lunch, and decided to try the Thai joint again over the more American fare places surrounding the beach. We were pretty sandy so we decided to eat on the patio again, even though our waiter (the same guy, I'm guessing the owner) warned us to beware of flies.
This time I got the Drunken Noodles, and boy were they good. Still a fan of the eggplant, my friend got the same dish but with chicken instead of vegetables. We also split spring rolls and fried banana for dessert (they were out of the mango sticky rice pudding, but hey, we went on Sunday, not the best day for deliveries). We also got one Vietnamese beer (Tiger) and one Thai beer (Sing Ha). Yeah, I've seen them both before, but it was a nice touch here.
Both times we were satisfied with all our yummy dishes, and prices were pretty affordable. I'd definitely come back if I return to Colonial Beach.
After staying at Westmoreland Park and eating the usual burgers/dogs for a couple days we decided to venture out to Colonial Beach to get some decent food. We were planning on getting some seafood but passed Seaside Thai. Whaaaaa, Thai in Colonial Beach??? Actually I wasn't that surprised because this place used to be a Peruvian chicken place that I ate at several years ago, so clearly the town has a taste for food on the exotic side.
Anyways, the food was pretty good. I was surprised. We started with Tom Yum and Spring Rolls, both of which were great. My kids then had the Pad Thai and Chicken with Broccoli. The Pad Thai was pretty good but sweet for my taste, great for the kids. I really liked the chicken with Broccoli. I had the Pad Beef Ka Pow, which was decent. I've had better but this was pretty good, maybe it was just that we were all starved for a good meal. The green curry I didn't care for too much. It was very thick, which is ok sometimes, but was also very sweet and not very spicy.
Both the Ka Pow and Green curry were much better after being tweaked with the Spice Tray, which I was also glad to see. I've gone to Thai places in remote areas where all you get is a confused look when you ask for the spice tray.
Overall it was a good experience. We ate outside on their patio on one of the first nice days of the season. Our server, who was probably also the owner was awesome. He was very friendly to our kids and us and very attentive.
We didn't venture on to the French side of the menu but they had some really good looking dishes. Like the other reviews, had this restaurant been in the DC area I would have given 3 starts, maybe 3.5 but it earns the extra just for being in Colonial Beach (pretty tiny town). I'd definitely recommend this place if you happen to find yourself in the area.
We came here for lunch on our Northern Neck wineries trail in late December. They do have wine, although no wine list, and serve many thai dishes and a few french dishes (although the french selections are dinner entrees so you would probably not get this during lunch). It was pretty casual and actually kind of hard to find (according to our GPS anyway); we circled that area a few times. Small town. The owner was very friendly and acted as the host and our server. I ordered the chicken pad thai, my fiance ordered the eggplant and my friend ordered the green curry. All of our dishes had very different tastes but were all excellent. As a previous reviewer stated, the eggplant dish does have only 3-4 slices of eggplant but that's to be expected for this type of dish. Overall, we were all very pleased with our food and completely finished our plates. I would imagine this is probably one of the better, if not the best, places in the northern neck area so I would suggest visiting if you happen to be in the area.
Review Source:For Colonial Beach this place was good. If I could rate it based on that I'd give it five stars. Currently the major draw back is the place has no liquor license (they just opened) and the air conditioner wasn't up to snuff. We started with the Thai iced tea and the steamed dumplings, both of which were good. Then as entrees to split we stuck with the tried and true ordering a chicken pad thai and to spice things up a beef eggplant dish that warned it was 1 pepper on the spicy scale.
The pad thai was delicious, but unfortunately it was BEEF not chicken as requested. Next the eggplant dish, which was good, was not spicy and only had three eggplant slices, but it was full of beef. I would recommend it to someone already staying in Colonial Beach, but not as a "must".
4 Stars + .5 star for being the only Thai Restaurant in a 40 mile radius.
I've been twice: first on a random night, right before closing, and second on a busy Friday night. The service was very friendly and helpful, although the Husband, Wife, and guy back in the kitchen were spread a bit thin on Friday with the entire patio full with several large groups inside. I'll forgive them, considering it's Colonial Beach, they've been open barely two weeks, and probably have no idea what size of crowds they can expect.
That said, both dining experiences were positive. For appetizers, we managed to lap up every drop of the sweet chili sauce with the generous portion of four crispy spring rolls we ordered. We also enjoyed the Garden Rolls which were accompanied by a sweet hoisin/peanut sauce.
For entrees, we split the Thai Fried Rice, Green Curry, and Pad Him-Ma-Pan. The Thai Fried Rice was OK but not remarkable--next time I'll try the Spicy Fried Rice or the Pineapple Fried Rice. Like the Red Curry I had previously, the Green Curry had everything I look for in a Thai Curry dish--good combination of spicy with a hint of sweet, aromatic Thai basil, and a smooth coconut milk that soaks right into the rice. The Pad Him-Ma-Pan was stir-fried chicken with vegetables and cashew nuts. The chicken was flavorful and the sauce was light and delicious.
I look forward to trying their noodle dishes and desserts on a future visit. Spending most of my time in the DC area, I am no stranger to good Thai and their efforts are certainly noted. It's obvious that this is not the first restaurant they've run and details like good food presentation were not overlooked. Further, the outside patio is a nice place to watch town life scoot by. Based on food quality, service, environment and cuisine uniqueness (for CB anyway), it's a 4.5 in my book...check it out!
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