favorite Thai in SF downtown/Chinatown?

[david kaplan]

I'm looking for a Thai place to add to my regular lunch rotation. Siam Kitchen is probably my favorite of the not-very-good choices I'm aware of. What are your favorite places?

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Siam Kitchen
668 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111

[nsheth]

Part of this is driven by proximity to the office and the need for a quick lunch, but we usually end up at Thai Thai on Clay (can be a bit hit or miss), occasionally Siam Kitchen (which other folks have mentioned) or Banana House on Kearny.

Not really a fan of Osha, I usually feel like the food looks better than it tastes . . .

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Siam Kitchen
668 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Thai Thai Restaurant
653 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Banana House
321 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA 94108

[myst]

I eat at Siam Kitchen too. I like the claypot, but its certainly not stellar. Osha in the Embarcadero is good but pricey and a little "fusiony". Are you looking just in FIDI?

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Siam Kitchen
668 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111

[david kaplan]

Yes, just in FiDi/Chinatown, for weekday lunches. If I could get to Lers Ros Thai, Bang San, or Thai House Express for a workday lunch, I wouldn't care about Thai in FiDi :)

Haven't had Siam Kitchen's claypot. I like gai gaprow, pad kee mao, or larb for lunch, and Siam Kitchen is a little better for larb and gaprow than others nearby, but not enough to keep me coming back often, and I don't think they make pad kee mao.

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Thai House Express
901 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94109

Siam Kitchen
668 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Lers Ros Thai
730 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA

[myst]

Siam Kitchen has good gai gaprow and they do make pad kee mao (its on the paper menu taped to the wall), but its not much better than the places on Kearny for that dish. I've tried a number of places in the area looking for a good thai curry and everything has been so-so. Sorry

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Siam Kitchen
668 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111

[david kaplan]

Have you tried King of Thai Noodle on Grant & Vallejo? I like their other locations and just discovered that they took over that space a year (or more?) ago.

[DezzerSF]

I watched the World Series there.

We had chicken wings, pad kee mao, papaya salad, pad thai, larb, fried rice, and steamed brocolli with tofu. Only the chicken wings were good. Every dish is only $5 though, and the beer is $2 IIRC.

[david kaplan]

Do you like larb or pad kee mao better elsewhere in the FiDi/Chinatown?

[DezzerSF]

Haven't eaten much in the area, but I like the larb elsewhere at Lers Ros and the pad kee mao at Million Thai.

[Melanie Wong]

Maybe a little too far, but felice's post on Chabaa Thai on Geary a block past Union Square sounds promising.

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King of Thai Noodle
1268 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133

Chabaa Thai
420 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94102

[lucymom]

I eat here at least once a week. I go to the Ofarrell St location, right next to Macys. I usually come here for their pad thai or one of their noodle soups. I work closer to Oshai but find Oshai to be bland and over priced. It's definitely not as good as Thai House Express but hit's the spot when I'm craving thai food and most of their menu items are under $10.

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Thai House Express
901 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94109

[david kaplan]

Just tried Siam Kitchen's pad kee mao. Barely spicy, despite my asking several times for very spicy; minimal basil -- and it was Thai basil (horapa) not holy basil (gaprow); though reasonable wok char.

The next time I need a fresh rice noodle lunch (which is often), I might try Great Eastern's beef chow fun with XO sauce.

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Great Eastern Restaurant
649 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94133

Siam Kitchen
668 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111

[myst]

Yes its sad. Have you tried OSHA in Embarcadero, not a cheap fast lunch, but it is nice for a change-up.

I sometimes walk to King of Thai, but on O'Farrell, but only when I want eggplant.

Try Siam Kitchens' clay pot. Its not spicy but they give a good portion with lots of meat. I just pile on the jalepenos...nice flavors.

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Siam Kitchen
668 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111

King of Thai
184 O Farrell St, San Francisco, CA

[DezzerSF]

The Osha "Lounge" in Embarcadero has REALLY good pork "jerky".