Hanh Nguyen

Great food. I loved the crispy fried soft shell crab. Also ordered Pho BKK and blueberry cream brulee. Definitely will come back. Update: pineapple fried rice, som tum (papaya salad) are also yummy.

+6

Nicole Bartner

TapAsia has been on my Albany list for months now. FANTASTIC spot. The food is, honestly, just entire levels above Thai/Asian inspired Tapas I’ve had other places (including just up the block on Lark…). And I’m an AVID eater of Asian in inspired small plates. Not fancy. Not large. There are a couple tables outside, but the actual dining room/bar is below street level. Cool, intimate, well lit basement vibes. Also, clearly a neighborhood spot where people know each other and talk to each other. Another thing I really like. Gotta have good food AND good vibes and a neighborhood spot, a small, independent restaurant?? THAT is The Gold Standard my friends. And TapAsia is ALL that. I started out with fresh, summer rolls and added shrimp. These were, hands down, the best fresh summer rolls I’ve ever had (and I order summer rolls whenever I see them on a menu). These are chock full of perfectly, finely chopped, fresh ingredients, rolled tightly and served in a beautiful, already cut plating with housemade dipping sauce. Speaking of which! TapAsia makes all their sauces in house and it shows. Your sauces will make or break your dishes, ESPECIALLY in a cuisine that has a lot of sauces…like Thai… The dipping sauce served with the fresh summer rolls was so good I would not let my waiter take it away, because the Avocado Mango Egg Rolls were FANTASTIC when dragged through the summer roll sauce! Also, yes, I said Avocado Mango Egg Rolls. FABULOUS. They are exactly what the name implies: egg roll wrappers filled with perfectly ripe, diced avocado and mango and then deep fried. So you get all the wonderful experience of a hot, fried egg roll and none of the meat (I don’t eat beef, pork or poultry). These are not marked Vegan on the menu, but there are plenty of Vegan options here. I also ordered their Spicy Garlic Edamame as my third starter. My waiter asked me what heat level I wanted: Mild, Medium, Hot or Thai Hot. Me: “NOT THAI HOT! NEVER THAI HOT! I’ll take regular Hot.” As in: “DO I LOOK SUICIDAL RIGHT NOW??” Let’s be clear. I eat spicy. I eat A LOT of spicy in multiple cuisines. But I KNOW I cannot tolerate Thai spicy. Thai chefs did NOT come to play and whatever it is they use to dial that heat up is, frankly, DEADLY. Meanwhile, I had no problem with Hot Spicy Garlic Edamame. Which, clearly, lulled me into a false sense of security. And so I ordered the Som Tum (Papaya Salad) and I overlooked (??) the “spicy” icon next to it on the menu. Can. I. Just. Say. I was almost killed. By a salad. That damn salad was the kind of spicy that makes you MAD because it is HURTING you. But also? It was beautiful and delicious and I REALLY WANTED to eat it and kept eating more and then taking mouthfuls of water to sooth my mouth until I, eventually, ran out of water and had to stop eating the salad and order a side of rice to attempt to survive. Entrees are broken out into sections depending on which housemade sauce is the base. You choose your sauce base and then you can kind of “build” your entree by choosing one (or more than one) protein to add. There are a variety of Vegan choices! I ordered Pad Kra Prow (Thai Basil Sauce) with sautéed string beans, bamboo shoot and basil in chili and garlic sauce and then I added fried chunks of white fish (WHICH WERE AMAZING!!!). I told my waiter that I had almost DIED attempting to eat the Salad and requested that the Pad Kra Prow be “Medium” heat ( it is listed as “Spicy" on the menu...) My waiter looked at me…for a beat…and said, “How about mild??” Me: “Okay. Mild!” Look, I am not afraid to declare DEFEAT in The Spice Wars. The Pad Draw Prow was DELICIOUS. So incredibly flavorful and full of fresh, wonderful ingredients and I could taste the ENTIRE favor profile because my mouth wasn’t actually on fire. Next time it’s going to be MILD for me…across the board. But there WILL be a next time. Because every thing I ate at TapAsia was simply perfect.

+2

Miriam

A hidden gem. We stopped off here on a whim. We were actually on our way somewhere else and passed by and said, "let's try that," and I'm glad we did! It was surprisingly quiet on a Saturday afternoon. It's a few steps down from street level and quite sparsely decorated, but don't let that sway you. The food was excellent, hot and fresh, and they were so helpful in explaining what was in each dish, how spicy, and how noticeable different flavors would be. I've always been skeptical of avocado egg rolls (hot avocado?) but I ordered them here and they were noteworthy! Highly recommend.

+2

Laurie Roberts

TapAsia Arriving from out of town and just driving through on a graduation Sunday in May... we lucked out with parking right out front. The sign on the staircase thankfully said "Open", which was not the case with several restaurants I looked up in the area on that Sunday. We walked down a few concrete stairs into a quaint dining area and were greeted quickly and courteously and instructed to choose our own table. We chose one close to the window from the few but mostly open table options and, as I'm not used to dining in New York, I was entertained with the fact that I was able to look out onto the sidewalk at the level of passersby feet. My next stop would be to the airport so I didn't have a chance to try any of their drinks but they had plenty of wine options and an intriguing sake sampler ... along with several other drinks to choose from. As always for me, it was hard to choose from the plethora of options on the menu but since I absolutely love coconut curry, I decided to try it here. The service was prompt and attentive and our food came out quickly. Much to my delight, our dishes were presented beautifully and my curry was delicious. I attempted to eat every wonderfully spicy morsel even though I was already full halfway through the meal. I even tried my boyfriend's Octopus, which I normally would not even try, and it was good. Still not something I would choose for myself, but he thoroughly enjoyed it and told me I made a great dining choice.

Simply Zakkai

TapAsia Asian Tapas: Albany's Must-Try Hidden Gem! Get ready, Albany! TapAsia Asian Tapas at 227 Lark St is a true hidden culinary treasure. The moment you walk in, the exceptional service and incredible comfort food create an unforgettable experience. Every authentic flavor bursts with perfection – “every bite tells the story!” We started with the Gyoza, fried to perfection with a perfectly balanced soy-vinegar dipping sauce – pure deliciousness. For the main course, the PAD KRA PROW (THAI BASIL SAUCE) with extra chicken and medium spice was phenomenal. Be warned: medium is spicy, but the flavors were immaculate! Crispy veggies, al dente noodles, and succulent chicken all soaked in that incredible sauce, served with fluffy sticky rice. It’s perfect for any meal! The service was truly outstanding – kind, fast, and incredibly attentive. Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Atmosphere: ⭐⭐⭐ Total Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ You absolutely need to try TapAsia Asian Tapas for an authentic and amazing meal!

+3

PHILLFS

Food presentations itself will whet your appetite. Nice cozy nook on Lark Street that features gourmet Asian fusion. Definitely more than interesting to explore and sample items on the menu!

Anuja Puranik

Great food. It's located in downtown Albany and street is very lively. They have Ramen, thai, various small appetizers, soups etc. We ordered vegan Ramen, edamame, bao buns, garlic veggies with rice and pork Ramen. All dishes were good. Their desserts were very good.. especially creme bruile, chocolate lava cake and Vietnamese coffee ** please be aware of the spice level.. hot means very hot***

+3

kuldeep kumar

Good food. It's located in a normal street like a dive bar which is interesting. They have a great drink collection when it comes to sake. The hot sake was awesome. We had the takoyake appetizer. It's was really good. I had the drunken noodles and noodles with seafood which was good except we choose the wrong spice level. Recommend going with mild spice level here as medium is too hot. For desert we got cream brulee and Thai donuts. Cream brulee was just perfect. Good dining experience. It wasnt crowded. The service was good and quick. Definitely recommend this place if you are looking for good Thai food.

Augusto Paulino

The TapAsia fried rice with mixed vegetables ($14 plus tax) and the pumpkin curry with chicken were decent. But it’s a hard pass for the tough, leathery pork bun and the densely-breaded karaage.

+3

Jun Simons

TapAsia has a large menu selection, decent quality food, and okay service. Though it did not wow me, it had a solid green curry and other good food. Medium spicy here is very spicy to me, so be careful when ordering! Detailed review and criticism: The ambiance at TapAsia nice, and the service was fine. There seemed to only be one waiter on a weeknight (and maybe only one chef?) so it wasnt the fastest service. For appetizers, the mushroom bun was not particularly impressive, it didnt have flavor or texture to make it special. The chicken satay could have been more flavorful and I dont like how the sauce was just peanut butter in the dish (it wasnt much of a sauce at all) - for $9 I expect better. The main dishes of higher quality. The green curry with white fish and green curry with salmon were delicious, though beware medium spicy was quite spicy for me - its a delicious spice, but be careful! They have options for mild, medium, etc. The salmon was well cooked, I like that they included the skin. The pad thai was flavorful with good quality noodles and peanut flavor. Presentation of all the dishes was quite nice. The homemade ginger ale was good - I think for $4 they could use a larger glass (wouldnt cost much extra, just more soda water and ginger jam) If i had a main complaint, I wish there was more of a Tapas feel. It seems like they just renamed a generic asian restaurant’s appetizer section to “tapas”, but considering this restaurant is NAMED after tapas i expect better quality appetizers and a more substantial selection to live up to the concept. That complaint aside, the main entrees were good. I hope if i come back, there are some better appetizers worthy of a 4th star

+10

Reach Jag

Very spicy, they could have replaced the dish but wouldn't take it back. I can handle spice, most likely an inexperienced cook, the spice was so high that it could have triggered a heart attack for someone else. On top of it they added a .50c for spice.