03/08:Baan Thai, Seaside:Excellent Ethnic on Monterey Peninsula

[opinionatedchef]

Thanks again to CH for leading us here. 10 min drive from carmel where we are on our annual march vaca and determined to find more good restaurants.this is on 'restaurant row', fremont blvd, further north from La Tortuga, a mexican restnt we like.

family run,very personable friendly fast service; delicious food; as good as our fav local thai place in boston. big spacious formica tables with lots of personal touches.

all 4 dishes we ordered were highlights:

pumpkin curry with chicken. really made with (the superior ) kabocha squash, pedppers, onions, coconut milk, red thai curry paste. rich and unctuous.

eggplant soybean w pork and thai basil. the most neutral of the sauces. great to have asian eggplant in a thai dish.

brown rice is really extraordinary here- made with both black 'forbidden rice' from thailand and w local brown rice. what a difference from plain brown rice in other thai restaurants. i'm going to start cooking these 2 types together at home. so chewy/meaty. a real rice epiphany!!

kai koar- noodle dish w/chicken and sprouts and peanuts. chow foon noodles i believe- my fav; chewy yum. great neutral foil for the various sauced dishes accompanying it.

btw, next time i will ask for all the dishes containing chicken- to have the chicken less cooked(dry chicken is a perennial problem for me in thai restaurants.) We also asked for med. spicy but that was too mild, so we'll get spicy next time.

and did i mention the $ tab? all the above plus 20% tip- came to $44. all riiiiighttt!!

cl sun, lu and dinn m-sat.

www.baanthaiseaside.com

[Carb Lover]

Thanks for your report and link to their website! I didn't have Baan Thai on my radar before. It is nice to see a place in Seaside being highlighted. The specials menu looks like it has some interesting items, and I notice that they make their coconut ice cream in house. Thanks again.

[opinionatedchef]

hi there cl. went again and have lots more to post but not tonight. great chow night tonight at cortez.reporting later when i'm more awake!

[susancinsf]

Thanks for the report! Baan Thai has been on my list to try for a while now, but seems like every time I've been in Monterey area and in the mood (translated: not going to Passionfish :-)) lately, it has been on Sunday night, when Baan Thai is closed, as you mention...but hopefully will get there soon.

I am a bit amused (or perhaps heartened?) by your description of the area as 'restaurant row': I guess perhaps it is for a Chowhound: lots of little places to explore in the area, but to me 'restaurant row' implies a touristy area of big box restaurants, and that Seaside is most definitely not.

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Baan Thai Restaurant
1760 Fremont Blvd Ste F1, Seaside, CA 93955

[opinionatedchef]

yes, my restaurant row is the opposite of yours- like femont, lots of little ethnic restnts i.e.. lighthouse ave in pg/monterey is it. see my other post on amir's kabob house!.