Thai Cafe

2501 University Dr, Durham
(919) 493-9794

Recent Reviews Order Online

Customers' Favorites

Famous Thal Cafe Coconut Cake
Homemade Coconut Cake
Thai BBQ Chicken
Coconut Thai Soup
Crab Fried Rice
Barbecue Chicken
Drunken Noodle
Yellow Curry
Pot Stickers
Crab Angels

Menu

Appetizers
Spring Roll
Three homemade crisp, fried vegetarian rolls served with Thai cafe sweet and sour sauce.
Pot Stickers
Delicate dumplings filled with chicken and vegetables steamed then pan-seared and topped with red curry sauce.
Crab Angels
Four fried wontons filled with crabmeat and cream cheese, a Thai cafe favorite.
Fresh Roll
Two rolls filled with leaf lettuce, fresh basil, bean sprouts, pork, and shrimp accompanied with thai sweet and spicy plum sauce.
Satay Beef or Chicken
Five skewers with sliced lean fillets marinated in Thai spices, char-grilled, then served with peanut sauce and crisp cucumber salad.
Nam Tok Beef
Tender sliced ribeye, char-grilled, and seasoned with the perfect blend of chilis, basil leaves, fish sauce, and red onions served with fresh cabbage.
Larb Chicken or Beef
Your choice of ground chicken or beef, cooked with our special blend of spices, basil leaves, green onions, lime juice, and chilies served with crisp cabbage.
Yum Woon Sen
Silver noodles, shrimp, squid, and ground chicken seasoned with onions, lime juice, fish sauce, and chili sauce served with romaine lettuce and bean sprouts.
Crispy Fried Tofu
Delicious tofu fried to a golden brown served with sweet and sour peanut sauce.
Shrimp Tempura with Vegetable
Lightly battered plump shrimp with mixed vegetables deep fried to a crisp golden brown.
Crispy Squid
Tender calamari lightly battered and deep fried served with sweet and sour sauce.
Thai Sausage
Fresh romaine, crisp cucumber, red onion, and scallions, topped with sliced thai sausage in a sweet and spicy sauce.
Nam Sod
Ground pork, blended hot peppers, ginger, fish sauce, lime juice, red onions, and peanuts.
Thai Cafe Basket
A unique combination of shrimp, chicken, and sweet corn with thai spices in six tiny crisp baskets.
Edamame
Salted steamed edamame soy bean

Salad
Spicy Papaya Salad
Shredded green papaya, green beans, and tomatoes mixed with fresh garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, fresh chilis, and topped with peanuts. Served with beef jerky and sticky rice.
Spicy Beef or Chicken Salad
Marinated strips of flank steak or chicken breast char-grilled with cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onion, and spiced with lime juice, fish sauce, and chilis over romaine lettuce.
Thai Salad
Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sliced boiled egg with bean sprouts served with homemade peanut dressing.
Squid Salad
Steamed squid seasoned with spicy lime sauce and onions over crisp romaine lettuce.
Shrimp Salad
Grilled shrimp spiced with lemongrass, kaffir leaves with spicy thai dressing on a bed of crisp romaine.
Yum Yai Salad
Sliced boiled egg, tomato, cucumber, red onion, chicken, and shrimp with sweet and sour peanut dressing on a bed of crisp romaine.

Soups
Spicy Coconut Soup with Chicken or Tofu
Spicy Coconut Soup with Shrimp
Spicy Hot and Sour Soup with Chicken or Tofu.
Wonton Soup (Volcano Pot)
Shrimp and chicken stuffed wonton.
Spicy Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp
Silver Noodle Soup (Volcano Pot)
Silver noodles with ground chicken, shrimp meatballs, napa cabbage, and scallions.
Spicy Seafood Soup (Volcano Pot)
Squid, shrimp, mussels, and scallops.

Stir Fry Entrees
Spicy Basil Leaves
Fresh basil leaves with bell pepper and green beans in a hot chili sauce.
Prik King
Green beans and kaffir lime leaves mixed with thai red curry paste, a thai cafe favorite.
Veggie Medley
A medley of broccoli, carrots, onions, baby corn, cabbage, zucchini, green beans, celery, and bean sprouts in a light and delicate thai sauce.
Broccoli Lovers
Fresh broccoli and shiitake mushrooms in a mild brown sauce.
Spicy Cashew Nut
Bell peppers, garlic, onions, and cashew nuts are stir-fried in a spicy pepper sauce.
Ginger and Mushroom
White onions, scallions, zucchini, carrots, and fresh mushrooms in a ginger sauce.
Sweet & Sour
Thai sweet and sour sauce with onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, and pineapple chunks battered and deep fried with your protein choice(recommended with chicken and shrimp).
Garlic and Black Pepper
Special garlic sauce with black and white pepper served on a bed of crisp romaine lettuce.
Baby Corn
Miniature ears of corn, white onions, green onions, and straw mushrooms.
Pad Prik
Recommended with pork, this spicy pepper sauce dish has a delicious combination of red and green bell peppers, onions, garlic, and straw mushrooms.

Noodles/rice Entrees
Pad Thai
The most popular dish in Thailand is thin rice noodles pan-fried with egg and scallions, bean sprouts, and topped with ground peanuts.
Drunken Noodle.
Combination of green beans, tomatoes, basil, egg, onions, chili sauce, red and green bell peppers, and wok stir-fried with thai flat rice noodles to make this popular dish.
Pad See Ew
Thai flat rice noodles sautéed with egg, broccoli, garlic, and thai soy sauce.
Fried Rice
Egg, white onions, tomatoes, and your choice of meat stir-fried with thai jasmine rice.
Pad Woon Sen
Mung bean noodles sautéed with egg, tomatoes, cabbage, onions, and scallions in our brown sauce. Recommended with beef or shrimp.
Bangkok Street Noodles
Thai flat rice noodle layered with thin pan egg, cabbage, carrot, scallions. With our secret black pepper soy sauce. Served over lettuce and Thai style hot sauce on the side. Gluten free
Yellow Curry Noodles
Curry seasoned rice vermicelli noodles stir fried with juicy savoury protien, egg, carrot, cabbage, scallions. Gluten free
Beef Noodles Bowl
Thai spicy rice noodles soup with beef brisket, slice sirloin steak, beef meat ball, and slow cooked Thai beef stew. Served with lettuce, red onion and basil leaves.
Lad Na Noodle
Thai flat rice noodles stir-fried and topped with gravy broccoli sauce.
Spicy Spaghetti
Wheat pasta sautéed with green beans, tomatoes, and onions in our homemade chili sauce.

Curry Entrees
Panang (Red Curry)
Our popular curry dish is red curry mixed with kaffir lime leaves, bell peppers, and basil leaves.
Massaman
Sautéed in a massaman mild curry sauce with avocado and cashew nuts. Contains peanuts.
Green Curry
Zucchini, green beans, napa cabbage, and bell peppers cooked in a green curry sauce.
Yellow Curry
The hottest of our curry mixed with potatoes and carrots.

Special Entrees
Thai BBQ Chicken
Half chicken marinated overnight in our homemade bbq sauce, then char-grilled and served with shrimp fried rice and sweet and sour sauce.
Volcano Chicken/tofu
Chicken breast or tofu fingers stir-fried crispy with thai chili sweet garlic sauce served on a bed of steamed vegetables.
Spicy Tom Yum Seafood Fried Rice
The classic flavours of Thai tom yum soup get a fried rice makeover. It's so incredibly fragrant and has just the right level of spice with seafood, scallops, shrimps, mussels. Served with a slice of lime.
Crispy Basil Duck
Deboned duck, battered and deep fried over steamed broccoli topped with thai basil sauce with chopped bell pepper, onions, mushroom, and fresh basil leaves.
Soft Shell Crab with Asparagus Sauce
Two soft shell crabs fried to moist flakiness, topped with shrimp in a light green, curry asparagus sauce with bell peppers and basil leaves.
Crab Fried Rice
A delicious mixture of egg, onion, sweet pea, and carrots, stir-fried with wild-caught crab meat.
Pineapple Fried Rice
Served in a pineapple shell with chunks of pineapple, jumbo shrimp, onions, raisins, and peas.
Thai Cafe Crispy Catfish
Boneless catfish fillets fried to perfect tenderness, topped with thai ginger soy sauce and scallions.
Shu She Salmon
Char-grilled fresh salmon filet topped with red shu she curries sauce, straw mushrooms, bell peppers, and basil leaves.
Ka Proud Lamb
Four fresh lamb chops char-grilled and seasoned in thai basil sauce with chopped bell pepper, onions, mushroom, and fresh basil leaves, very flavorful.
Spicy Eggplant with Shrimp
Eggplant stir-fried with thai chilis, garlic, basil, and bell peppers, in thai spicy sauce.
Roasted Duck with Red Curry
Boneless roasted duck, slow-cooked overnight in a red curry sauce, combined with the perfect combination of pineapples, tomatoes, bell peppers, and basil leaves.
Thai Three Flavor Fish
Fresh tilapia filet, pan-fried to a golden crisp and topped with thai cafe sweet, sour, and spicy sauce.
Thai Cafe Black Pepper Catfish
Battered catfish filets, served with a Thai black pepper sauce on bed of steamed broccolis, carrots, cabbages, zucchinis.
Spicy Mix Seafood
Fresh green mussels, sea scallops, shrimp, and squid stir-fried in our own basil. Sauce, mixed with onions, and red and green bell peppers, is a seafood lover's dish.
Seafood Panang
Our favorite seafood mix is shrimp, scallops, mussels, and squid in a red curry sauce.
Soft Shell Crab or Salmon Louisiana
Your choice of crab or salmon topped with our homemade thai dressing, sweet lime juice, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, red onions, peanuts, chili's, and ginger garnished with fresh romaine lettuce.
Jumbo Shrimp Massaman
Jumbo prawns cooked in a light massaman curry sauce with chopped white onions over sliced avocado and topped with cashew nuts. Contains peanuts.

Homemade Desserts
Homemade Carrot Cake
Homemade Carrot Cake
Coconut cake-slice
Chocolate Cake-slice
Crème Brûlée
Homemade Crème brûlée with real vanilla beans
Coconut Cake Gluten Free

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Recent Reviews

I like the Thai Cafe. Food is consistently good. Service has always been friendly. A soup or salad is usually included.
Prices are reasonable and consistent with other restaurants in the area.
September 2025
Potentially THE best Thai food I’ve had in the area. The restaurant definitely looks a little bit older but the food comes out quick and it is DELICIOUS. I need a literal gallon of the tom kha soup immediately.
August 2025
This is my husand and I’s favorite place in Durham by far. We would get take out from them every Sunday when we lived in Durham for 3 years. The green curry and ginger stir fry were our go to’s and the coconut cake is out of this world. My best friend lives in Boston (huge food scene) and said she can’t find a green curry that measures up to Thai Cafes. The staff is wonderful and felt like family. When we come back to visit NC, it will without a doubt be our first stop.
July 2025

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Thai Cafe

2501 University Dr, Durham, NC 27707
(919) 493-9794