Thai Pavilion Single Serve Microwavable Pad Thai, 2.79-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6)

Best things about this product:1. NUTRITION: Reasonable nutrition (300 cal; 5g fat, 0.5g saturated, 0 trans; 0 cholesterol, 5g protein; note that carbs and sodium are high) and portion size (not too small) for this type of product. Still fairly low cal if adding healthy toppings or a side dish.2. FLAVOR: The spice packet!! 4 out of 10 on spiciness (not mild, bottom of "medium"). Quite flavorful and very unique among instant foods, it has authentic spices like tamarind, clove nutmeg, star anise, and cardamom! I haven't found another packaged pad thai flavoring (powder or sauce) that's even half as good as this one.3. VEGAN/ALL NATURAL: very few processed ingredients (so long as you don't count dehydration or purification) -- the noodles (1 ingredient - rice flour) and 2 ingredients in the sauce (sugar and hydrolyzed soy protein, not bad). If you consider oil to be a processed ingredient, add a 4th - the shallot oil is a mix of soybean oil & shallots. No artificial preservatives, coloring, additives or other junk.Some tips to get the most out of it:1. While everything you need to cook (with water and microwave, or boiling water) and eat it (fork, plastic tub as a bowl) is included, the noodles packet is not pre-scored, and it is very difficult to open without scissors. If you don't have scissors at your destination, SCORE THE NOODLE PACKET at home when you pack it.2. I prefer the BOILING WATER METHOD, since microwaves vary too much to know exactly how long to cook, unless you always use the same one. However, putting boiling water in this container is a challenge if you use the boiling water spout from your office coffeemaker, since it is not insulated and will burn your hand. I (re)use 2 stacked paper plates and lift that up to the water spout.3. Make sure to totally SUBMERGE the noodles in water, per the instructions. Be careful when you pour the hot water out of the spouts in the lid!4. Use the WHOLE OIL PACKET. It is difficult to stir in the seasoning if you don't.Finally, using it as a meal starter - for when you have a bit of time to cook (15-20 mins max):One box per person; combine ingredients from several boxes if you'd like to cook for several people.1. Add pan-fried/baked tofu or other protein (seafood, meat, egg)2. Add traditional restaurant toppings: fresh peanuts (put in a baggie and smash with something heavy, or chop), red cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, chopped cilantro, lime wedges3. Serve with traditional Thai restaurant condiments such as Sriracha or other chili sauce, jalapeños-Makes great leftovers -- store the toppings separately (sprouts/carrots/etc.).-Serve with appetizer such as a small salad w/ peanut dressing or a cup of soup (hot & sour, lemongrass, etc.)-Follow with a healthy dessert such as fresh mango or mango sorbet!

Loving Thai food as I do I have tried various fast ways of enjoying at work or home when I need something fast and uncommon. The less spicy version is still quite spicy to my untrained tongue so I learned that adding to the cooked, drained noodles a single egg with the sauce package and leaving out the oil made it just right...with protein to boot. Just microwave another 45 seconds, or so, to cook the egg. There is NO other version that is at all palatable by other companies, I have tried all I could get my hands on. This is not like what you get in a restaurant, but just a tasty little meal that's unique and gluten free for people like me who suffer from migraines and other illnesses.

I ordered this six-pack of Thai Pavilion Single Serve Pad Thai as part of a gift for my father. My parents are from Thailand, and I thought this portable instant Thai Pavilion Pad Thai would be good for him to eat when he's at work or when we're busy and don't have a lot of time to cook. I thought it was ironic and weird timing how I ordered Pad Thai a whole day in advance before all these news headlines emerged on the Internet about two Trader Joe's customers arguing and fighting over remarks and behavior revolving and involving Trader Joe's frozen vegan Pad Thai. This case even ended up going to court. Type "Trader Joe's" and "Pad Thai" if you want to read the whole stories. Anyways, I don't know how Trader Joe's frozen vegan Pad Thai tastes like (maybe I'll try some Trader Joe's Pad Thai in the future after reading those news stories), but it's a bonus that we can order good Pad Thai online such as that from Thai Pavilion. Thai Pavilion's Pad Thai is not frozen, and you can store Thai Pavilion's Pad Thai at room temperature. Thai Pavilion's Microwavable Pad Thai is delicious. Of course we have to be realistic. Eating this is not going to compare to visiting Thailand, dining at a Thai restaurant, or eating my mother's or any of my Thai relatives' Pad Thai, but out of the instant Pad Thais out there, this is pretty darn good. It's of medium spiciness - more true to Thai flavors and spices since Thai Pavilion write on their box that this is a product of Thailand. This product is all natural, gluten-free, and vegan. Anyways, this meal is very easy to cook. All you have to do is to remove the rice noodles from the plastic bag and put them in the tray. Then you put water in the tray to soak and cover the rice noodles. Then you snap the tray lid on and microwave heat the noodles for three to four minutes. You also have the option of pouring boiling water over the noodles. After completely heating the noodles, you drain the water from the hole slits on the lid corners of the tray (this is my favorite part of the instant cooking). I like the lid tray design, and I thought it was considerate that they packed a fork with the meal as well. Then you remove the lid and add seasoning and oil packets and mix it in with the rice noodles. On the Thai Pavilion box, they boast that they are "True Thai Food", "Authentic", and "Imported". The spiciness and flavor from this Pad Thai, in my opinion, is very close to how real Thai food is like. On their box they say that they have a Spicy Pad Thai Single Serve Microwavable version as well. This is the regular one. This Thai Pavilion Pad Thai tastes so much better than Thai Kitchen's Pad Thai (On Thai Kitchen's Pad Thai box, they say that their Pad Thai was made in China. Thai Kitchen do make some great products such as their Thai fortune cookies. But if you want my complete honesty, when it comes to instant Pad Thai, Thai Pavilion wins. Thai Kitchen's Pad Thai has a sour and tangy taste to it due to the sauce.)Anyways, if you like things hotter, then you can opt for Thai Pavilion's Spicy Pad Thai, which I know my father would like as well. My father loves hot and spicy food items. My father likes to put hot seasonings, Thai chili peppers, Thai Sriracha sauce on his pizza, noodles, rice, etc. So, I ordered Thai Pavilion's Single Serve Microwavable Green Curry noodles as well - they list the taste level on the Green Curry noodle box as "very hot". My father ended up eating all of the Thai Pavilion Green Curry noodles within the month. Garlic Chili and Thai Peanut are the other two instant meals from Thai Pavilion. Give this Pad Thai a try! I have to say that this Thai Pavilion Single Serve Instant Pad Thai passes this Thai American gal's taste test!

I am gluten free, which means I eat a lot of bland, not so fun quick meals. I've tried a whole lot of microwavable pad thai meals, and was dissappointed each time.. until I tried Thai Pavillion. I am hooked. It tastes like a true pad thai - the noodles as well as the spices are delicious. The portion size is decent for the price. The cook time is unbelievebly quick. However, the water you add may boil over - I just put a few paper towels underneath the container. The spicy is SPICY and sweet. Make sure to have a glass of water on hand. I will be buying this product again.