Nested in the heart of Lexington, Love at First Bite Thai Kitchen and Bar offers a cute, casual, and relaxed dining atmosphere. The restaurant is easily accessible with free parking in the back and near other stores. The food is good though it is overpriced for a small portion. However, the place offers such an inviting menu with many options to choose from. Additionally, the drinks are fun, creative, and delicious, with many customers calling them “Amazing!”
When I entered the restaurant for the first time, I was stunned by its modern interior decor. The vibe was really cool! The space is very contemporary with a collection of art and light fixtures. There are lots of decorations hanging on the walls and the inside seating is chill, with yellow-toned lighting. The restaurant is very clean throughout.
Whoever is running the kitchen really knows what they are doing! For appetizers, I preferred the crazy rolls because they had so many different textures. The outside wrap was crispy, the minced pork inside was chopped up nicely, and the glass noodles in between provided some chewiness. My favorite main course is the beef pad thai noodles, which was absolutely authentic and fantastic! I have been ordering it almost every Friday as a takeout since COVID-19. The takeout portions were generally good.
It is mouth watering to have a plate of beef pad thai, which contains tender sirloin steak, fresh green onions, bean sprouts, scrambled eggs, and silky rice noodles smothered in a rich, savory, and subtly sweet sauce and tossed with minced dry-roasted crunchy peanuts. It is well-balanced between sweet and savory, and it has layers of flavor. I have tried other pad thai noodles from many other Thai restaurants in the US, but here is the tastiest I have had. In addition, sweet mango with sticky rice, roasted duck curry, etc. are customer favorites. Furthermore, a must-have is their signature drink, Thai iced tea topped with a Thai iced tea popsicle. This drink was perfect both in presentation and taste.
One improvement they can make is their service. Their service can be hit-or-miss and has a lot of room for improvement especially when it is busy. For example, nobody served my family any water during the whole visit. If I ask their servers for curbside pickup, they always immediately ask for a tip. To me, I feel it’s very unusual and rude to ask customers this kind of question. Furthermore, I am rather upset with their mandatory 20% service charge.
All in all, it is a rather small place and can fill up pretty fast, so reservations are recommended! It tends to get busy during lunch hours, so you should try to be there before noon to secure your seat. Or if you want to avoid the lunch rush, just go there around 1:30pm, otherwise, they might give you a time limit for an hour and that will make the dining experience a bit rushed.