Thai Coconut Island wants to satisfy your hunger for exotic spices and flavours! Our family owned and operated restaurant offers delicious, authentic Thai cuisine. We use only the freshest ingredients when we prepare your meal. Our recipes are authentic and are made by our very own in-house chef who was born and trained in Thailand. We have been in business since 2004 and have become a destination for exotic and authentic Thai food.more...See more text
Bound by curiosity, a love for Thai food, and some influence from the reviews on this site, my better half and I paddled over to TCI for dinner.
After waiting a minute at the front door - on behest of the PLEASE WAIT TO BE SEATED sign we were allowed to choose our table after being greeted by our friendly server. There's nothing I enjoy more than being able to choose my own table - considering there were only half a dozen patrons, I found it humorous given the generous size of the establishment.
While enlightening our visual curiosities with decor typical in most Thai and Asian restaurants, we found ourselves chowing down on our appetizers and sipping jasmine tea quite promptly.
Here's how it all went down and what we ordered.
0) Jasmine Tea - Was delightful as usual / JT is dirt cheap - it should be complimentary - if you're going to role with the Thai theme, it could have been served in a nice looking cast iron pot as opposed to your standard stainless steal one.
1) Cold Shrimp Rolls - Mediocre at best - nothing to write home about - $3.50 is a little pricey for two in my opinion. The dipping sauce was good.
2) Spring Rolls - Hot and crispy, and good, again, pricing is a little unjust.
3) Green Papaya Salad - Was an insult. The presentation was poor, too much fish sauce in the 'Tangy Lemon' dressing. It was torture eating it.
4) Shrimp Pad Thai - It was good, not great. I've had better.
CONS:
Interior: I love bamboo, but the problem with bamboo blinds is the spacing between the slats, I had the bright evening sun blasting right into my face, and had to eat my meal with my sunglasses on. The restaurant might want to consider tinting their windows or switching to different blinds.
Fly - a house fly kept buzzing my head while I was trying to eat - if I was eating outside, or in the wilderness it'd be acceptable.
Bathroom - bathroom was dirty and dusty and unacceptable!
Chopsticks: Should be at the table and not have to ask for them / Furthermore, they should have been the nice glazed kind, or plastic, as opposed to the disposable ones.
Prices: a little on the high side for me - markup varies from place to place but I think they could come down a bit, or at least throw in a little more for what they charge. Say 2 cold shrimp rolls for $3.00 or 4 for $5.50 - I'm all about deals! I've purchased this food and made these rolls myself, so I do have some idea of what they should be charging. But again that's just my opinion. You can always offset the costs of one item by increasing another tactfully. I guess it's just a matter of figuring out what works best.
Pros:
Tables: Large and seating was reasonably comfortable.
Service: Prompt and friendly
Would I go back - If I were in a rush, hungry and not in a picky mood, then yes, I would.
This is the best place in the entire Trip/Quad city area. I eat mostly in TO and have been trying to find a restaurant close to me that approximates good food. Before TCI there was nothing and I was about to give up. Then I had their red curry noodle soup with the fat noodles and I fell in love. Now I eat there so often that they know me as the fat noodle lady. I go 1-2x/week and no longer cook at home. The other day I tried to go for breakfast (since I no longer grocery shop due to TCI), but they don't have that unfortunately. Anyways go to TCi and support them because you will never have better food from Framebridge in your entire life! Pad thai is amazing, pho is good (but needs tripe), salads and apps are great too. All staff are very accomodating and friendly! Let's go TCI, LETS GO OO OOO!
The best food in this area, I cook asia food but I said I can't say I can bit this I even learn a few favour from this couple and the cook is more than friendly they are great, like the older said your food is good when you cook from your heart. We certainly come back just to feel like home.
In reading some of these reviews, I find it difficult to think that they have visited the same restaurant I visit so frequently. Over my past three years in Cambridge, my cravings for Coconut Island are still just as frequent as when I first moved here (usually a weekly - biweekly visit) The food is incredible from the pad thai to my favorite -cashew nut chicken, along with the amazing appetizers (spring rolls and the boneless chicken wings win my heart) and there is always a smile greeting us. We always get great value for the money and walk out completely satisfied. This is a tucked away gem of Cambridge and well worth giving a try if you haven't been there yet
Ive never been to a restaurant with the worst service ever. SERIOUSLY!! Service was totally bad but the food was good. I think the food would of tasted better if the service was better. I tell everyone that this place has the worst service because it DOES!! I wouldnt recommend this place.
