Thai Restaurant
Why did we dine here? – Lotus of Siam is a legendary Thai restaurant that most foodies in the US know of. James Beard Award winning restaurant. We have been putting off visiting this famous spot for many years. Having dined at most of the famous Las Vegas restaurants, we felt it was high time to finally visit Lotus of Siam. Anthony Bourdain recently featured this restaurant on his television show.
Prik Hom is a small Thai restaurant in San Francisco’s inner Richmond district. It has 4.5 stars on Yelp right now. It was recommended by a friend and was also on the NY Times 25 best restaurants in SF 2023. Reservations are a must unless you want to walk in right when it opens. We’ve eat here twice.
The menu has limited selections in each of its different section, not like the usual Thai spots. No pad thai or pad see ew here! Simple concise menu with several options for vegetarians. Their spring menu saw several new dishes.
Why did we dine here? – Nari (Women in Thai) is a contemporary Thai restaurant from the folks at Kin Khao. (Means “to eat” or “let’s eat” in Thai.) It is run by the famous food blogger of Chez Pim – Pim Techamuanvivit, girlfriend of Manresa’s chef David Kinch.
Where does a San Francisco Foodie eat in Thailand? Follow our journey and learn from our experiences.
Here is a compilation of more casual restaurants, snack places we visited during our 2020 Asia trip. Our goal was to find good eats at reasonable prices, primarily restaurants where locals go. We have no interest sampling cuisine that is done better at home in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is challenging on an expensive ‘island’, full of pricey tourist traps.
Top notch Thai in Chiang Mai. Our original restaurant pick, Blackitch, was full, so our hotel concierge suggested this spot. Boy was he spot on. This was the best meal we had in Thailand. The restaurant is located in a posh hotel that costs US$700 a night and is rated at almost 100% on Trip Advisor.
Marnee Thai has been serving up Thai food since 1986 in San Francisco. They have 2 locations in San Francisco’s Sunset District. We were in the neighborhood and having not eaten here in a long time, decided to give them a try. Our last visit was in October 2017.
Why did we dine here? – Excellent, Authentic Thai in San Francisco. Kin Khao means “to eat” or “let’s eat” in Thai. They received one Michelin star in 2016. We have thought about dining here for a while. It is run by the famous food blogger of Chez Pim – Pim Techamuanvivit, girlfriend of Manresa’s chef David Kinch. Kin Khao is located in the first floor of the Parc 55 hotel, so it gets a ton of tourists, lucky them! Be sure to enter on the Mason and Ellis door.
Why did we dine here? – Champa Garden is a Thai restaurant not far from City College in San Francisco’s Ingleside district. The original location opened in Oakland in 2006 and is well loved. Our friends like this casual restaurant, so it was time to give it a try. Last to go visit was in early 2017.
Why did we dine here? – Lers Ros is a popular Thai restaurant in San Francisco with a newly opened location in Hayes valley. We have never dined here previously, so it was a good excuse to check out the new location. Lers Ros means “excellent taste of the food” in Sanskrit. Tom Silargorn is the owner and chef. Michael Bauer has this restaurant in his top 100 Bay Area restaurants for 2012. This review is the culmination of two visits. The restaurant is extremely noisy during peek times and also cramped. Last visit was in 2017.
Why did we dine here? – Chabaa Thai is a Thai Restaurant in San Francisco’s Sunset District. We happened to be in the area, shopping at the great produce store next door. Looking on Yelp, nearby Marnee Thai and Chabaa are both rated four star for Thai. This restaurant does a lot of to-go business. Be sure to try Kin Khao.
Osha Thai is a popular Thai restaurant in San Francisco that has grown to seven locations and was started in 1996 by sisters Wassana Korkhieola and Lalita Souksamlane. Osha means delicious in Thai. We visited the third Street location near Moscone Center. They focus on fresh, seasonal, local ingredients while serving both traditional Thai cuisine and modern interpretations. Our last visit was in April 2013 where we saw quality had fallen off. Be sure to try Kin Khao.
Thaiger Thai Kitchen recently opened in San Mateo and focuses on high food with local and organic ingredients. Most of their business is takeout, but they do have some seating.
Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine is a restaurant in Foster City, a couple doors down from popular 5 Joy Chinese restaurant. They also run a vegetarian Thai restaurant next door. We were going to 5 Joy decided to mix it up a little bit after having a very good meal at Osha Thai in San Francisco.
Decor, Vibe – Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine has very nice interior decor with Buddha fountain by the door, modern art lamps, wooden banquettes, and bamboo tables. The place was pretty full for a weekend evening.
Menu