Thai Thien Sub - Calgary

A number of people have suggested Thai Tai during my visit to Calgary. Considering it was literally across from my hotel so it didn 't hurt to try it out. My first impression of the restaurant wasn 't the greatest. It was a hole in the wall type restaurant which I didn 't mind; some of the best restaurants I know of are 'hole in the wall ' types, but the dining area could have been better maintained as the garbage bin was overflowing. There was also a pile of garbage on the floor that might haven been forgotten about and needed to be swept up. The menu catered more towards Vietnamese dishes, ie subs and vermicelli bowls, which I found to be misleading since the restaurant was named 'Thai Tai '. I ordered the lemongrass chicken with prawns in a vermicelli bowl. It came rather quickly. They provide you with a slab of chicken accompanied by 3-4 plump shrimp. I 've had better vermicelli, but for roughly $9, I couldn 't complain.

Good For What It Is. This Thai Tai location is better than the other one in Chinatown and probably the busiest, especially during weekday lunch hours. The service is efficient and the food is good for it's price. The food is generally ok. I usually get the ultimate bowl, tried the curry which was surprisingly good but too spicy for my sensitive taste palate, the subs are very hearty, good size using brown bread instead of white and I've tried various bubble teas from avocado, taro, watermelon when in season , etc.. It's more of an Asian fast food place, but with a small bar section with chairs you can sit to eat your meal if you like. It gets crowded pretty fast I find. They don't have a tip option on their debit/credit machine which is ok in a way. I remember just ordering a bubble tea to go at the Chinatown location and the guy looked at my bill with disapproval that I didn't tip for a bubble tea to go ? They do have a tip jar that I think most customers either miss or forget since most customers only have debit/credit usually. Just try to remember to leave something in the tip jar because the place is overall good for what it is.

There subs are huge!!! I couldn't even finish mine... Probably could have shared w my lunch date

Really yummy Banh Mi and other Thai food. Vegetarian options. We really enjoyed the tofu banh mi sub and the salad. The new caramelized black pepper tofu is so good. Super affordable. Great cheap eats. Big sandwich. Nice staff.

Considering the prices of most of the items at this place, I would say this is one of the better places to come for lunch in the area. I ordered the lemongrass chicken and rice bowl and it only cost me $8.50. I honestly can't remember the last time I went to a restaurant and saw prices this low. A good reference point for me at any Vietnamese restaurant when looking at pricing is the bubble tea. At this place, they are charging $4.75 per bubble tea, whereas most places are charging around $6. How they remain profitable is still a mystery to me, or perhaps I'm just used to other places over charging. Anyways, my meal came with a good amount of rice, two pieces of chicken and a spring roll. Again, considering the price, I was definitely happy with the food, as it was hot and seemed fresh. This place does get busy around lunch time, so I would recommend ordering online or phoning your order in ahead of time. Overall, I would recommend this place if you are looking to get a bite to eat and are looking for good value for your money.