It Tastes Like a Third Place Thai to Me in San Diego, CA
Written: Jul 14 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Food and Presentation: |
 |
|
| Ambiance and Decor: |
 |
|
| Quality of Service: |
|
|
|
Pros: Cute setting with outdoor seating; affordable with lots of vegetarian choices.
Cons: I didn't care for the taste of a lot of the food.
The Bottom Line: I wouldn't run back here. I didn't love the food but it might be my east coast taste. The prices are right; the portions large.
|
|
|
| jo.com's Full Review: Taste of Thai |
We were recently in San Diego and took our niece and her boyfriend out to dinner. She picked the location and chose Taste of Thai. They go to this restaurant frequently, are vegetarians and know we prefer to eat vegetarian as well. This restaurant did not disappoint us.
Location and details:
Taste of Thai is located at 527 University Avenue in San Diego. Their phone number is 619-291-7525. It is located about 20 minutes from the waterfront area of San Diego. Taste of Thai’s other location is in Del Mar, CA. Their phone number is 858-793-9695 and can be found at 15770 San Andres Drive.
The restaurant is wheelchair accessible.
We met them at the restaurant. The parking lot was fairly full so my husband dropped us off while he parked. There is street parking as well. We walked in and were somewhat ignored. In fact I looked for Sophie myself, i.e. the staff standing by the door didn’t greet us, and we just walked over to their table.
On this Thursday at about 7:30PM the restaurant was busy but in general reservations are not needed. Sophie and Craig rarely go on weekends but I asked them and they said that they know it is a very popular restaurant but they have heard there is usually no wait. You can and should make reservations if you are a large crowd. The restaurant is not very large so you will want them to be able to accommodate you. There is a separate room in the back that looks like it would hold larger parties though not more than perhaps 25 people.
They are open Monday – Saturday 11:30AM-3:00PM then again 5:00PM-10:30PM and Sunday 5:00PM-10:30PM. It is a casual restaurant though appears to be really nice. We all wore jeans and fit right in. Lunch specials are offered Monday-Friday 11:30AM-3:00PM.
Taste of Thai accepts American Express, MasterCard, and Visa. The restaurant delivers and has take-out. There is also an outdoor dining area.
Service and Décor:
I really liked both the service and décor. Once we sat down, our waiter came right over and was quite attentive to us during our meal. He didn’t rush us at all. I liked that he brought our appetizers and then gave us time to eat them before bringing our main courses.
The restaurant isn’t overly decorated and there was no music on. There was a lot of talking but we didn’t have to scream to each other to be heard.
The table set up is unusual. The tables are a very pretty wood. Some sit alone in the middle of various areas of the restaurant as table of 4. The other seating arrangements are very pretty, unique couches (rather than a vinyl booth-type back) on one side with a chair on the other side of the table. I found the chairs to be unusual as well. They were small! A large person would not be comfortable sitting on a chair so if you are on the larger side, just sit on the couch so you won’t have to sit down on a chair and feel embarrassed that the sides of the chair hit you!
The Food:
We started with appetizers. We found that the dishes were large and getting 4 dishes for the 6 of us was too much. We had Fresh Spring Rolls for $5.95 which are made with rice paper stuffed with lettuce, bean sprouts, mint, vermicelli noodles & shrimp or tofu. We chose the vegetarian rolls.
These were unusual and a dish I had never had and would never get again. My husband didn’t like them either. The rice paper was wet and just weird to me. I thought they felt and tasted slimy and had a bitter yet flowery taste to them. Perhaps with shrimp rather than tofu they would have been better. I found myself eating the inside of the only.
We got traditional Spring Rolls which were good. They were lightly fried and very tasty. They are mixed with cabbage and glass noodles and served with sweet and sour sauce. I liked the fact there wasn't a heavy fried coat to them. I also found that there was no strange taste to these rolls.
We also got Mee Krob for $6.95. These are crispy noodles blended with chicken, shrimp and bean cake, garnished
with bean sprouts. We chose the vegetarian alternative with tofu rather than the chicken and shrimp. I love Mee Krob. I didn’t like this Mee Krob, though. It was swimming in soy sauce making it just about inedible to me. I really thought it tasted bad and although we brought some home I didn't eat it the next day. I do realize that west coast food is often different than east coast food but I am going on taste and unless you like a heavy slightly bitter sauce, skip this one. In all they have 12 appetizers all in this price range. The whole menu can be seen at http://www.tasteofthaisd.com/menu1.htm.
My daughter got one of the 3 soups offered for $3.50. It was a decent sized portion and she liked it a lot so that might be a good choice. The menu has asterisks letting you know what is hot and spicy. There are plenty of choices for non-spicy foods. Short of this not being a vegetarian restaurant this is as close to one as you’ll get. If you are a vegetarian you will have no problem finding food to eat here.
We each picked our own dishes as our main meal rather than sharing food. Most of us got some type of noodle or rice dish. There are 9 of them each prepared with either chicken or roast pork; beef or Thai sausage; vegetarian with or without tofu all for $7.95; Roasted duck, shrimp or squid for $8.95; and mixed seafood for $9.95.
I got the Pad Thai Noodles dish which comes with rice noodles, dried shrimp, bean sprouts, scallion, egg and ground peanuts. For $1.00 I got an extra serving of peanut sauce. I had them hold the dried shrimp (I used to feed dried shrimp to my aquarium frogs!) This dish was good but not like I am used to. In spite of this I will say I enjoyed it and it was tasty. The difference is that the food is on the plate separately. The bean sprouts are on the side for example, not mixed in with the noodles. There was very little egg but all in all for $7.95 (I got the vegetarian.) I got a large serving some of which I took home, that was tasty, cooked well and a bit unusual but not bad like I thought the Mee Krob was.
All the dishes are served with white rice and tea. Steamed brown or jasmine rice can be ordered for $1.00 extra.
You’ll find desserts such as fried banana for $2.50 and coconut ice cream for $3.75. Mints were put on our table with our check.
From the menu "We believe that the variety of exotic Thai dishes which our menu offers, together with a delicate balance of spices and main ingredients will create a sophisticated, delicious & a unique dining adventure.
Thai cuisine is light, fresh & traditionally seasoned with chili peppers and aromatic herbs. A gourmet delight for those who know & love authentic food. It also has a temper, but Thai cuisine is a pleasant contrast between the two. You can have it "spicy hot" or "spicy not." you decide. Enjoy!!
Taste of Thai is proud of our unique characteristics and intricate food preparation techniques. Each dish is prepared to order using a memorable blend of the best quality ingredients and sophisticated cooking art. The perfect harmony of Taste of Thai's secret."
Jo’s final thoughts:
In spite of Taste of Thai winning a number of awards (http://www.tasteofthaisd.com/awards.htm) this isn’t a restaurant I would hurry back to. I love Thai food and this fell short of some of the delicious Thai I have had. I will recommend it. You may like the seasonings and it is a great place if you are vegetarian. Their menu is large and there will be something for everyone – whether or not you like it will depend on your taste. As I said, it isn’t on the top of my list, but it is affordable with good prices in a nice setting.
This review is part of my series of our 3-month cross country journey this summer. Other reviews are:
Applebee's in Ohio
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky
Bella Notte This is a restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky.
Buckstaff Bathhouse This is in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Bicentennial Mall State Park in Nashville, TN
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN
Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN
Graceland in Memphis, TN
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Make sure you request spicy or non-spicy.
Best Suited For: Friends
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.