Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on December 30, 2020.
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Took Took 98 opened in the heart of Squirrel Hill on Murray Avenue in 2019. While this one brands itself as Thai street food, we have to admit that in having an impressively large menu this one has just a bit of everything.
So whether you like curry, noodles, rice dishes, or more, Took Took 98 will likely have something to satisfy your cravings.
As with most Thai restaurants, for our first visit we went for our staple order of pad see ew with tofu and red curry with shrimp, and rounded it out with stuffed wontons and a few flavored beverages as well!
A Large Thai Menu at Took Took 98
When you first take a look at the menu at Took Took 98, you may get decision paralysis as the menu is, in a word, large. There are so many items here that you may have to make several visits just to be able to order a decent enough cross-section of everything they offer. Naturally, going for our staples made this one easy.
The stuffed wontons had a modest amount of pork filling in them and were fried to perfection to offer a nice crunch without being greasy. A small dip into a side of Thai chili sauce is all it needed to complete this one (included) and was a delicious starter.
Our first entree, pad see ew, is one of our favorites as when it is done well it is a harmonious balance of sweet and savory flavors. Took Took 98's iteration was done quite well with neither flavor type overwhelming the other, and the firm tofu was a sufficient size to provide a contrasting texture with every bite as well. Another iteration of this dish we'd be happy to order again!
When we opened the container of red curry, the first thing we noticed was, well, nothing. This was because there was so much curry in the container that we couldn't see a single piece of vegetable or shrimp sticking out. This was an unfortunate downside as we simply wanted more vegetables (and to a lesser extent, seafood) given the size of the dish.
That being said, the curry itself was flavored quite well and an intensity that we have come to expect from our favorite Thai dish. As the associated rice portion that comes with this meal is also somewhat small, you'll do well in ordering extra otherwise be prepared to make more at home. If your order was anything like ours you'll have a lot of sauce leftover!
In the grand scheme of things, that is not a bad problem to have but was something that still caught us off-guard when opening the container all the same.
For both of our entrees, we opted for a level 3 on the spice scale (which ranges from zero to five) and noticed a nice lingering heat that was not overwhelming. In the pad see ew this seemed to be accomplished with chili flakes, while in the curry was more from the curry spices that brought out the intensity.
On the beverage front, Took Took 98 has a number of Thai drinks, fruit juices, and bubble teas as well. We rounded out our order with a Thai iced tea with bubbles as well as a spritzer of passion fruit, mint, and more bubbles. First off you'll notice these drinks are massive as they only come in 24 oz and 48 oz sizes. From there, we thought both were a tish on the sweet side (especially the passion fruit drink) but were quite flavorful all the same.
Coupled with the size we had trouble finishing these, but that just meant more for the next day as they kept just fine!
Overall, the miss of the curry filling aside, we quite enjoyed the flavor profiles in our dishes from Took Took 98. Unfortunately, with such a large menu we only sampled a very small cross-section of everything this one offers, and look forward to returning in the future to dig into the menu even more.
Took Took 98 is located at 2018 Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill.
For more restaurants in Squirrel Hill, click the previous link to check out our neighborhood guide!
