Simply Thai

I was born & raised in New Orleans, lived in Southern California several years, & lived in Shanghai for 8+ years. I know and love good food, especially Asian food. Simply Thai is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. Good curries, pad thai, excellent service, and atmosphere / ambience nice enough to take dates or work colleagues (I've done both) without feeling overly pretentious... And it's tucked away in large house in a great neighborhood in the French Concession, under the radar for most tourists, flanked by some great bars (Blarney Stone, what used to be Cotton's / Freelance, Eager Beaver, etc.). Highly recommended.

(p.s. I was last there in '08, but saw a negative review and felt compelled to say something. It may have changed recently, but it hadn't changed in the 5-6 years I was regularly going there, so would be surprised if it has in the last 3...)

I've been to Simply Thai at Xintiandi twice, and I haven't been very impressed. The first time I sat outside which was enjoyable. The second time inside, the table location was somewhat poorly placed and awkward. The Thai beef salad had generous amounts of beef, but it was old and tough, so I didn't even want to eat it. The pad thai wasn't bad, but not especially good either. Same goes for the yellow curry, and the morning glory vegetable. The first time, service was quite good, but the second time, they were busy, so service was poor. My hot tea was already cold, and I wasn't served any rice with my curry. It took about ten minutes plus to get it. Bottom line is Simply Thai is just ok.

The food was excellent. The restaurant was very busy and a bit crowded. Service wasn't wonderful, but the food was fantastic. Nice change from Chinese food