Roost & Roast in Palo Alto

Review №1

2023-10-29 01:38:25

I absolutely LOVE this place! It is one of my favorite places to eat in Palo Alto! I love the 3-piece Hat Yai Chicken and Rice with the sweet chili sauce. The chicken is always crunchy and the pickled carrots and daikon, crispy onions and cucumbers are just the perfect combination! The portion is perfectly filling without overwhelming!The staff are always polite even during really busy hours. They can get quite busy after 5, so sometimes the wait can feel a bit long, especially if youre really hungry! The front end always looks clean and orderly. There are a lot of people that come through whether they order for pick-up or at the counter.The location is convenient, especially to Stanford. It is also right next to Palmetto Superfoods, which is an acai bowl shop, which is my favorite placed to grab an acai bowl! Even though the plaza is always busy, we always manage to find a parking spot.Definitely recommend you stop by and grab something to eat!

Review №2

2022-01-19 04:15:37

If you are in the neighborhood looking for to-go, and like chicken karaage, dont mind some grease, you might like this place. Or check out the rice dishes or Thai iced tea machine.The quality of chicken is no worse than most places around here, and since Bonchon chain has gone down the drain, this may be the slightly better option (at R&R you dont get soy garlic or gochujang, you get toasted rice nori? Or sweet chili sauce on the side).Several years ago, this place used to be a chicken place with a different name (Tony?we dont recall). Now its got a spiffy looking sign and clean cut look.We didnt want rice, so we ordered the chicken a la carte option with a mix of wing, thighs, drumsticks, which tasted like bone-in chicken karaage and also tried the popcorn chicken, which was exactly like the taiwanese fried chicken at those bubble tea places, right down to the two skewers.The bone in fried chicken smelled like your typical fresh fried chicken, overall tasted fresh, but was very greasy, oily. They do give you fresh lime wedges that cut the grease a bit.The fat, particularly in the chicken wings is 80% rendered, which given that NO place around here we have tried has yet to render properly (why?why?) we either fry ourselves and smell the lingering chickeny odor for days in our rental apartment while working from home, or just settle for mostly rendered, and spit out pieces of rendered fat. (Yes, truly we have sunk to a new low)The popcorn chicken was less greasy, but like other taiwanese fried chicken places, pieces were rather rubbery, fatty, and mostly fried batter pieces (Some people love this). We got a mixed batch, some were pale, powdery, some were dark brown/black in color.They package your chicken in vented eco-friendly containers. Not closing the lids keeps chicken crispy. The plastic bag accumulate lots of moisture, but guessing paper bags might leave grease spots in your car.They are generous with the deep fried Thai basil, but maybe its the season? There was no aroma or taste (normally you can smell the sharp herbal note of Thai basil).Service is friendly, but store procedure could be improved. Once you place your order on one of the two kiosks, an estimated wait time/txt msg when order is ready would be nice.As it was, we waited outside, (there isnt really a waiting area or seating inside) hovering at the entryway, making sure we didnt miss our name being called from inside the store, while not blocking potential customers from entering.Good to know: if you order a rice dish, they do carry the worst quality splintery chopsticks that a lot of silicon valley restaurants use (i am on a mission to eliminate these splintery cheapo chopsticks from restaurants everywhere! Saving one tender mouth at a time!)

Review №3

2022-08-12 19:23:49

We got Roost and Roast for lunch delivery. Everything showed up hot and fresh.I decided to try their Gai Yang BBQ Chicken and the Roti and Curry. I thought both were delicious. The BBQ chicken had a delicious lightly sweet marinade on it with a little sauce on the side. It was well cooked, tender enough and well balanced. It was served over rice with some cucumbers and was definitely a hearty plate of food. I only wished I had a little more sauce.I also tried the Roti and Curry. I did not find the curry to be watery. It had a nice mild flavor and coated the roti nicely. It was the perfect amount for the amount of roti.I would definitely eat here again and I would definitely go for the BBQ chicken a second time.

Review №4

2022-03-06 07:11:41

Got the Thai pop. It was like pop corn chicken from most boba shops. Some pieces were good but some were mostly batter. The sauce was too sweet for my taste & wish there were more fried basil to give it more flavor. It was very busy during the lunch time rush hour and the staff tried to move things along as quickly as possible while being courteous. Willing to go back to try other item.

Review №5

2022-04-29 06:37:40

Yikes, this plazas parking lot is hot garbage on a weekend afternoon. My review of this place isnt affected by that, but just reader beware if you plan to go.Roost and Roast sounded like my perfect place to check out. I like chicken. I like fried chicken. Easy decision to go.I ordered:- Hat Yai Fried Chicken Meal- Roti and Curry- Popcorn ChickenThey surprisingly did not have khao mun gai/hainanese chicken. No biggie.The fried chicken had an excellent crunch and the chicken was very moist, but the flavor was extremely light and def needed the sweet chili sauce on the side. If it had just a touch more seasoning/salt, it would have been great. The meal comes with jasmine rice (which was cooked fantastically) and cucumber slices to cut through the oil. 4/5The roti and curry was alright. The roti wasnt as light and thin as Im used to having it, but the curry sauce was so very light. It definitely leaned more towards the coconut milk flavor than the curry flavor. 2/5The popcorn chicken didnt have a distinct smell or flavor. Like the fried chicken, it could have used more seasoning, whether on the outside after frying or on the inside while marinating. The portion for this was extremely generous and the fried Thai basil definitely helped, but this too needed to be eaten with sweet chili. 3/5Dining tables can be hard to get, so be prepared to eat in your car or enjoy it at home. If youre lucky, you can grab a table, but theyre all shared between the other restaurants there.

Review №6

2023-11-19 06:04:48

Got the popcorn chicken rice box ($16) and added fried egg ($2). Chicken was well seasoned and not too salty. A good amount of chicken.

Review №7

2022-08-28 21:07:57

Absolutely delicious Asian food. Ordered delivery using ezcater and this is one of the best restaurants weve used. Delivered on time, good food portions at a reasonable price.Pad Krapow Moo (Pork) [Pork stir-fry with Thai basil served over rice, topped with a fried egg and served alongside fresh cucumber, mint and lime wedge] was fantastic with a lovely spice level to round out the flavor profile.

Review №8

2023-08-02 03:49:50

Ordered their hat yai dish and a couple hours later I vomited continuously I have not eaten anything else so it could only be the food from this place I had tried the chicken but noticed it was completely over fried but the chicken inside was still raw I had left the chicken after trying a few bites do not recommend eating here. I belive that the workers may have also forgot about the order as I had gone back 10 min later after placing the order and they were just waiting there when I asked them about it they said 2 min and started to work on it. Their food is not too bad but because of the rush job it had lead me to have severe vomiting and a horrible stomachs ache

Review №9

2022-01-30 02:50:28

Fried chicken was really good. Very crispy with the right amount of seasoning. I’m really happy that a Thai fried chicken place opened up around here. The style is unique and pairs really well with some rice and papaya salad. The sauces could use more fish sauce and chilies and less sugar. I get it that they’re trying to appeal to a general audience but give us options to kick up the fire. Pad Thai and other noodles were ok, too sweet for my tastes.Just come here for the fried chicken, you’ll be a happy camper.

Review №10

2021-08-08 02:19:47

So good, such a welcome addition to T&C! We had the BBQ chicken, roti with curry and papaya salad with a thai iced tea - all were excellent. Will be back often!