Northern Thai

A true hole in the wall.
Best tasting Thai food in the region hands down.

Packed with flavor and fresh tasting ingredients.
The dry beef curry is a must try as well as the chicken satay appetizer. Enjoy.

It's actually quite difficult to find a decent Thai food restaurant that which makes quality food a reasonable price. Northern Thai knocked it out or the park. The food was incredible and the interior is cozy and well presented. Don't let the street view deceive you, this place is top notch. I would have given it 5 stars, but I do have one beef with the restaurant that I've noticed with the occasional Thai restaurant. When you order a curry, it does not automatically come with rice. In my opinion, it should be standard issue. Usually though, if they charge extra for rice, it's maybe $2. Here it was $5 per person for a small dish of jasmine rice. I honesty believe that's a bit exorbitant. Please consider either lowering the price of the rice or just include it with every curry and bake it into that price.

Really delicious and flavourful food. Would definitely recommend the spicy shrimp dish. The server was extremely lovely, we came in (unknowingly) close to closing but were still served happily. Will be going again

Great food, very tasty and not overpowering from spices. Staff very friendly. We will definitely go back.

In what world does Pad-See-Iew come with peanuts and a wedge of lime? And why does it taste like generic stir-fried noodles with soy sauce? Even if this is the wrong order and they gave me a Pad Thai, it's still pretty awful. As a Thai person, I'm constantly offended by Thai food here in Waterloo, and this one is no different. This is NOT Thai food. 2-stars for friendly staff. No star for the food.

I love finding local spots and everything about this restaurant gives you the vibe of local and authentic. The service was great and the food was awesome. I recommend checking out this spot if you’re looking for authentic local Thai.

The food is great. But the service is not so pleasant. I guess the guy on the counter want us to leave as soon as our finish the food, he wen to our table to ask if we are done even we haven’t finished yet.

I enjoy this place for there Pad Thai and the green curry. Consistently tasty. I prefer to done in but still great when I bring it home.

Don't be fooled by the aged sign and rough exterior. This is one of the best Thai restaurants in the area. I had the "Drunken Noodle. The flavour stands out from typical similar recipe. I asked for it to be spicy and it was ACTUALLY spicy. Worth your time and money if you're in the area looking for authentic, quality food. The spring rolls were outstanding!

The rude guy on the counter perfectly RUINED the effort from the chief. Good food but terrible experience

Arroy mak mak! Finally we found a place that is just like my wife and I would be eating in any Soi in BKK.
Thai beef salad was made perfectly with real fresh chili and gave the brow a little sweat. Pad Thai was flavourful and hit the spot.
100% we will be back to experience more of the menu. Looking forward to return.

Disgusting experience. The guy on the counter was rude. Rude meaning very rude. He seemed very arrogant. Arrogant about what? Didn’t understand. Definitely not about the food he served. Food was horrible. Ambience was shady. Definitely not for families. I will never come back

Have been visiting this restaurant for years. They serve lovely food, infused with a fantastic balance of spices and herbs. The servers are friendly and knowledgeable. They can tweak the spice level for patrons. Everything is freshly prepared.

Of course we were a bit sceptical when entering this place, but when the service started and the food was served, we were very pleased. Having Thai Food in a lot of places overseas, this place serves almost authentic Thai Food, we very enjoyed.

Went on a Saturday at around 1: 00pm for lunch and was extremely impressed and satisfied with the food, service, and price. I ordered fresh spring rolls and Pad Thai and it arrived at the table very quickly! Friendly service as-well. Highly recommend.

This is one of those hidden gems, the kind of place where you walk in and don’t expect too much… sure, it’s dated, you won’t find them on instagram and things look like they haven’t changed in awhile, but for good reason. Staff were very kind, food came quick, and man was it delicious. We ordered the fresh rolls, mango chicken and pineapple curry with sides of rice. The rice was a little dry for my liking but perfect to my partners preference. The curry was amazing, and although it was more than enough food, because everything was so good, I had to order one of my classic favourites, tom yum soup - super flavourful with a little spicy kick! Because it was all so tasty, I’m tempted to order the same next time but I’m curious as to what other flavours to explore. Would definitely recommend for a low key, casual, great KW gem. Ps. Apparently they only do their specialty drinks in the summer time.

One of my favourite restaurants in town for the last 10+ years - friendly staff and owners, incredibly delicious curry, plenty of vegetarian and pescatarian options. I'll love you forever, Northern Thai. Never change.

I had a lovely chat with the owner and he told me that everything is made fresh each day. That. Is. Amazing. Its unheard of!

In the picture you can see the soup and deep fried tofu. We also got the padthai and cashew chicken with rice. Food was good and we enjoyed our night

First time going to Northern Thai and the food was EXCELLENT! The place looks small from the outside but we could tell it was a local favourite. Take-out orders constantly going out the door. Nice to see small businesses doing well! Thank you so much!

Thank you! Northern Thai, my daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed the Pad Thai and Red Curry. We are always grateful for your friendly service, and your wonderful variety of delicious Thai dishes.

Decent pad Thai, has a particular flavor/distinct from some of the others in town. Tangy taste. Nice staff. A bit expensive, about $17 for a standard box of it.

Outstanding Thai food! This is a hidden gem with consistently superb cuisine. We love the pad Thai, panang curry, red curry, coconut shrimp, chicken satay! Keep up the wonderful job!

This spot always delivers. They have good dishes for affordable prices, there no long wait even when the spot is full.

Amazing food, great service, great prices, wonderful staff! Take out is consistently excellent.

Myself and some colleagues went to Northern Thai for the first time last week. We were all pleasantly surprised! The food was absolutely delicious and fresh. I had pad thai and it is one of my top favourites. The pad thai had more of a tamarind, sweet flavour which I love. It also came with a spring roll on the side.

I used to love this place and recommended it to everyone I knew. I haven't been in a few years so I was shocked to find the quality has dropped. I ordered takeout yesterday:

Golden Squid - smelled off and there were about 10 small pieces which wasn't worth the price, especially given their rotted state

Green Curry with seafood - tasted good albeit without any heat but it caused severe diarrhea later in the evening. Guessing the seafood was bad.

Pad Thai - okay but the chicken was way overcooked and very dry. They used to do this well when they were dine-in.

Pad-See-Iew - first Thai restaurant I have been to that used the same noodles for Pad-See-Iew as their Pad Thai. Got this with the beef and much like the Pad Thai, it was way overcooked and hard.

In general, the meal was primarily sweet with a few underlying flavors and few vegetables. Lots of meat but that was either overcooked or had already gone bad. I don't intend to come back again despite loving this place years ago. Something has changed and not for the better. Fortunately there are other Thai restaurants in the area.

Anyone who travels to Thailand is forever able to distinguish an authentic Thai food experience therafter. Northern Thai is as authentic as it gets. Amazing service is just a part of the experience. My fav place to eat.

This little restaurant is a hidden gem for real Thai food in the KW area. We have gone here several times and they use authentic ingredients with real recipes for great flavor in their meals and appetizers. The owner comes from Northern Thailand and wants to bring the flavors of Thailand to Canada with him. The prices and portions are reasonable so give them a try if you're in the area!

Really really bad. Ordered take out. The sticky rice was hard as a rock and the bag it came in smelled bad? There was a hair in our sauce. The green curry was watery and flavourless. The vegetable curry tasted like kraft dinner cheese powder? Our spring rolls came with mine when we asked for non. Big disappointment. Not a single thing was good or right. $50 gone for what

Used to come here all the time back when I used to work nearby. Green chicken curry, dry beef curry, sticky rice mango desert.some of my all-time favorites here. Last night came for a takeout and it was just as tasty! Great to see these guys still make some of the most memorable curry I’ve had in KW.

Excellent food, you can't have better Thai red curry elsewhere! Dropping a star because I wish they would put some effort into improving the store front, currently it looks like a run down building on the corner of Charles and Queen. Wouldn't have tried it for the first time if I wasn't feeling adventurous enough haha! Glad I did though, this place is a hidden gem with amazing food!

Beef was too hard, the curry sauce was alright, all vegetables in my dish were over cooked.rice was pretty good.the pad si ew was.not authentic.would recommend Bangkok Cuisine over this.

This is the favourite place for my friends and I to meet up for our get-togethers. It is family owned and the chef comes to to check with you about how you liked your food. The menu has lots of good choices without being overwhelming. Their mango salad is the best in town.

This has been my favourite place for years. Very unassuming, in a small out of the way location. But you need to make the trip. The food is fresh and you can taste it in the ingredients. The flavours are subtle, yet powerful! The veggies are not overcooked (as can happen frequently) and they provide generous portions, lots of meat (if you ordered it). Always pretty fast service.

I love this place, great food. Service was a bit slow but I didn't mind it especially once the full flavor food arrived.

Authentic Thai food.
I love their papaya salad.i had medium hot northern Thai version.reasonable price.great parking.

Ordered a takeout lunch for 8 people for pick up at 11: 30 am (they open at 11 am, thought that should be okay). Show up at 11: 29 am to an empty restaurant and I get told that it will be another 10 minutes to “cook the rice because they didn’t want it to sit and wait. ” Umm, ok? 20 mins later, and I still hadn’t gotten my food. I was there on time, my order should have been ready for me to pay and go. Needless to say I was late for my lunch. I will never order from them again. It doesn’t matter if your food tastes amazing if I can’t get it when I need it. Hard pass from me. And if you value your time, then it should be a pass from you too.

By far my favourite Thai restaurant in Kitchener-Waterloo. Service can be slow but the food comes out quickly and is always tasty. Been going here for 5+ years and have never been disappointed yet!

I don't usually write reviews for restaurants, but there are a couple of things about my experience with Northern Thai that I feel other potential customers should know.

My partner and I ordered food from Northern Thai on three occassions using an online delivery service. On each occasion we had requested that an ingredient be excluded from the dish, and indicated that if there was a problem with the instructions to call us. On the first two occasions, the instructions were ignored, and on the third we received a completely different dish than what we had ordered.

My partner has a sensitivity to the ingredient, but luckily in the first two cases we were able to remove it at home without issue. Nonetheless, it is concerning to me that explicit instructions regarding the preparation of the dish were completely ignored on three separate occasions. Given this, I would recommend those with food allergies be very wary if ordering from this restaurant, especially if the allergy is serious.

All that said, the food we did receive tasted fine and was reasonably priced.

Talk about finding a hidden gem! I wish I had taken pictures of the food before I had eaten it but it looked and smelled so good I couldn't resist! The pad Thai is incredible at this place! The shrimp is huge! This is the best Thai food I've had in years! I believe I've found my new go to Thai restaurant and will be bringing all of my family and friends here!

We've tried a few different Thai places in KW and this has instantly become our spot. Our food was delicious and we couldn't even finish our portions. The restaurant has a comfortable and casual ambiance perfect for connecting over a meal.

Great hidden spot, which has good food and a limited drink selection. Nice for a casual hangout.

Pad Thai for under 15$ with tax, pretty tasty for the price.
I order to go here alot and its become a favourite place.
If you go during peak hours, sometimes they don't have enough staff for the amount of people that come in and you will late a long time for food.

My buddy whose well traveled says the place is ran by chinese people pretending to be Thai. Don't let that dissuade you, this place is a gem!

Had the pad Thai and a red curry.
Curry was really good.
Pad Thai was very saucy, first time I went it was more dry and I could taste the food.
If you add to much sweet sauce you can't taste the food.

Picked up drunken noodles and pad thai from this place on a Thursday night. Was very excited to try this place considering it has a fairly high rating. However, both of our foods were very disappointing. Noodles felt like they were microwaved and tasted bland. Would not recommend.

Cozy place with Thai decorations. It is a family-run business so service not necessarily the greatest but they are trying. Ordered fresh spring rolls and chicken satay. Tasty food with fresh ingredients.

Great food! Always yummy and filling. Not always the best service, so I’d recommend ordering takeout and enjoying your meal at home!

Fast, fresh, never had a mistake with my order. Great for takeout downtown Kitchener, can dine in as well. Careful with the door, it shuts with some power. Regulars know.