Thai Chef

I can’t believe I’ve never tried this place prior to snow. A friend and I wanted to try someplace new in the neighborhood. We started off with the Tom Yum Soup. It had great flavor and we finished every drop. We also ordered the Basil Fried Rice, Duck Basil and a rice noodle dish that my friend says was Pad Woon Sen. This was the only miss here due to the rice noodles were overcooked and soggy/​watery. I deducted a star for that.
Service was friendly.

What luck! My elderly mother & I were headed to the Roxie to watch Casablanca on Christmas and we wanted to grab a bite first.
We knew the Mission would be slim pickings (witness a dozen folks huddled outside a nondescript Chinese joint on Valencia), so we figured we’d get more action in the Castro.
Yep we did. This place was open and the staff was SO nice and after we got there around 5:30 it started filling up with festive diners and families.
We only required «adequate,» not «fantastic,» so you can imagine our pleasant surprise when the food turned out to be WONDERFUL.
We had tom kha gai, pad see ew, green curry with brown rice and a delightful hot jasmine tea. Under $ 40 for a big feast.
So good that even though we planned to save some for leftovers, we couldn’t stop eating! They are quite skilled at veggies and every bit of broccoli & carrot was crispy and flavorful. The soup especially was bright and tasty with lots of tangy lime.
Even if it’s not a holiday and there are other restaurants to choose from, I’d totally rush back here for another amazing meal. Yum!

DISCRIMINATION ALERT!!!
I walked in this place after playing at a club in the area and the owner took one look at me and shook his head! The place was nearly empty on a Friday night (which was a red flag), and I was in disbelief that an owner would be so rude to a potential customer! At first I didn’t understand what he meant, but then in broken English he said that he would not serve me! It was obviously because of my long dreadlocks, because I was dressed very nice from my gig, and was clean and presentable. It was shocking to me because he is located in San Francisco, in the middle of an area that has a history of winning the fight against discrimination.
After I scrolled down the Unilocal list and read the latest review, I considered myself lucky not to give the jerk any of my money! Stay far far away from this rude meanie. I included another review of someone who actually ate this bigots food. Very bad karma awaits this horrible creature.
This is the review by my fellow Unilocaler who had the unfortunate experience of eating there:
Two words: rip off. I ordered the Tom Yum Soup. It cost me $ 12, plus I gave $ 3 on a TO-​GO order (too generous). When I got the soup, it was HALF WAY full. I asked if this was the large order (I ordered the large), and they said yes. I asked if they could ask the kitchen to fill it up because it’s awfully expensive for how much they give. I was given a total attitude by one of the employees and an eye roll by another. One actually said, «well what do you want me to do; you keep complaining.» I handed it to him and asked that he have them fill it up. The kitchen did, but I could tell there was animosity about it. Never again will I ever return. Learn some customer service skills and be more generous with your portions, Thai Chef, and maybe you will be a more successful restaurant.
I will add that it was 6:30 pm and the ENTIRE PLACE WAS EMPTY. I know why. Bad ju-​ju.

I hesitantly ordered delivery here because my go-​to thai delivery in the neighborhood (Rin’s) was closed.
Tom Yum soup –3 stars. Flavorful, but pricey for what you get.
Pad Thai — 0 stars. This is the worst pad thai I’ve ever tasted. No flavor, barely any meat, bland noodles. It was terrible.
Pad Si Ew — 0 stars. This is the most bland thai dish I’ve ever tasted. It’s supposed to come with broccoli, and there were only a few chopped up pieces of bitter stalk that did not taste fresh. Barely any egg or chicken. A total rip off that tasted like boiled stale water. Also, there was a piece of burnt saran wrap or something in there I gagged on.
I could not have been more disappointed with this meal. I’d have been better off squeezing sriracha sauce all over the money I paid for it with and eating the bills. I will NEVER order from here again. I have no idea how they are still in business.

Ugh, as if people don’t stereotype Thai restaurants in gay neighborhoods enough. These portions are tiny, and the smallest I’ve ever received in my many times frequenting Thai restaurants throughout the Bay Area. I ordered the Pad Thai, and I asked for it spicy. Instead, I received this child size portion of bland noodles with a disproportionate and disappointing amount of bean sprouts. Pad Thai is the one dish you cannot fuck up. Dear management, just because we’re gay doesn’t mean we starve ourselves. For $ 10.95, I received roughly half the portion of pad Thai I would receive elsewhere. For $ 7.95 in Berkeley, you can get awesome hole in the wall pad Thai at Thai Basil which will give you a filling portion of food. I shouldn’t have to order two plates of Pad Thai at 165 pounds to have a filling meal. Will not go back.

The quality has slipped a little bit here. This used to be our go to place for Thai in the Castro, but the last time we dined in, the Thom Kha soup was cold and not as flavorful as it was in the past. They also used to serve the pumpkin curry in a kabocha squash, which was very charming. That was not the case during our last visit. Service was attentive though and we will not give up on it just yet.

I tried this place for the first time for lunch recently and I felt like this was just another Thai place, nothing special, although a step above the Thai places in the area.
Pros: fairly large establishment so you don’t feel so «cramped», food to go comes out in less than 10 mins.
Cons: food seems overpriced especially for lunch (but hey it is the Castro). The quality of the food is rather bland, lacks flavor.

Two words: rip off. I ordered the Tom Yum Soup. It cost me $ 12, plus I gave $ 3 on a TO-​GO order (too generous). When I got the soup, it was HALF WAY full. I asked if this was the large order (I ordered the large), and they said yes. I asked if they could ask the kitchen to fill it up because it’s awfully expensive for how much they give. I was given a total attitude by one of the employees and an eye roll by another. One actually said, «well what do you want me to do; you keep complaining.» I handed it to him and asked that he have them fill it up. The kitchen did, but I could tell there was animosity about it. Never again will I ever return. Learn some customer service skills and be more generous with your portions, Thai Chef, and maybe you will be a more successful restaurant.
I will add that it was 6:30 pm and the ENTIRE PLACE WAS EMPTY. I know why. Bad ju-​ju.

Ambiance is nice. Our waiter was fantastic ! When I was there he was the only one … So at a busier time — he may stretched too thin but perhaps they have more staff later. The food was meh. I had the Penang curry — was very mild and quite watery — all the other thai curries I’ve had before had a thicker consistency which I prefer. Overall an OK choice I paid $ 13 including tip (didn’t get an appetizer/​dessert/​drink).

I’ve been going to Thai Chef for several years, and I’m quite happy with it. Overall I’ve had excellent, friendly service, and I’ve never had a bad dish. There have been a few small bumps when the place is very full and there’s a new waitperson, but overall, they’ve been minor. To the reviewer who claims that the food isn’t authentic Thai – I don’t have a clue about that. I’ve never been to Thailand. Thai Chef’s food is authentically good to my taste buds, it’s consistently good and fresh, and it’s served quickly.
Full disclosure: there was a time a while back when I noticed that their DPH score was low, and I avoided it for a few months. They’ve done a lot of work, and they’ve brought it up to a very satisfactory 96.
I’ve had a lot of their dishes, and those that I seem to go back to often are the tom yum soup, the beef salad (mercy, it’s good), the red curry, and the pra ram (the curry and the pra ram usually with chicken). I tend to stay away from the duck dishes, as I do at many Thai and Chinese places, because there’s never enough duck for my taste, and what there is tends to be too fatty for me.
It’s fast, it’s pleasant, the waitstaff is lovely, the food is great (try the beef salad), and the prices are reasonable.

Kinda barfy… I don’t think any of these people have been to Thailand. Granted, on my one trip there I was spoiled with authentic Thai cuisine, but I’ve had much better from other Thai restaurants. The only thing I would recommend is the chicken satay. Ordered chicken pad thai, which came with a bonus shrimp surprise in it. Rice is ok, but that’s about all I have to say. Again, I consider this very mediocre at best.

My partner and I went to Thai Chef last night and ordered the pineapple curry prawns, fresh spring rolls, and papaya salad. All were very good but the pineapple curry was a standout in being both subtly sweet and subtly spicy. The tasty combination of pineapple and curry here is really something to be tried. Delicious!

My friend adores Tom Yam seafood and knows it’s authentic taste. So he claims that this is the closest pick of how it should be. Thai restaurant menu varies and has lots of stuff, as well as specials. Thai beer is also provided and deserts. Anyway, it’s a great choice for a lunch break with light easy food.

It’s not the greatest Thai food I’ve ever had but the service is fast and friendly and the food is decent and reasonably priced. It’s a nice ambiance and you can get in and out and on with your evening in less than an hour, while still being able to have a dinner out with friends. Three people enjoyed the coconut rice, glass noodle salad, fried crab, duck curry and Thai iced tea/​coffee for $ 62, including 20% tip. Good value for the area and it wasn’t overly crowded at 8 pm on a Sunday night.

I’ve been here a handful of times over the years with a friend or two. No complaints there. Unfortunately, my most recent experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I won’t be back, especially since there are other similar choices in the neighborhood.
Four friends and I came here for dinner, expecting to eat family style. The waiter wasn’t exactly helpful with entrée choices and gauging whether or not we had ordered enough food. No sooner was the food put on the table then he asked how everything was. Considering we hadn’t even finished putting food on our plates, we couldn’t answer. We passed the food around and enjoyed most of our meal. The dishes were tasty, although the portions were on the small side.
Towards the end of dinner, the conversation turned to the meal itself and we realized that the fried duck dish had barely any meat in it it. (We were too busy during dinner to talk about it and each one of us figured that we were the only ones who hadn’t tasted it.) There was literally one small piece of meat at the bottom of the plate of fried batter. Only one person actually received any duck and the rest of us had eaten fried bits of air. I quietly pulled the waiter aside to explain the situation and ask that that dish be comped or discounted. Instead of working with me on the issue, he blamed us for not knowing how much meat would be in the dish. The situation escalated because he was extremely defensive. He walked away, spoke with another waiter at the front, then decided that the best course of action was to ignore us for a while without coming back and at the very least, bringing the bill.
A friend then took the matter to the front register. The waiter was very rude, told him that we should have ordered five dishes of the duck if we each wanted to taste the duck meat. It was ridiculous. He made the situation much worse by blaming us for trying to order family style. The other waiters argued with him as well. It was in poor form. Apparently, there wasn’t a manager on duty to smooth over the small issue that could have easily and quickly been resolved. Instead, their poor customer service lead to loosing five customers who will not be back. That can’t be good for business.

Consistency! And very good food, and it’s well priced, too!
The calamari salad is a must have, and there’s so much choice, and it’s all good!
Service and kitchen quick and on point.
Can get busy, so worth the effort!
Enjoy!

Food was ok, served promptly and hot. Not the best Thai I’ve ever had — but good.

With a blatant disregard for a serious allergy the Server, Manager, and Kitchen Staff failed three times at this business. I have a serious allergy to carrots and after clearly discussing this with my server — she smiled and repeated it back to me so I know it wasn’t a language breakdown. It was delivered not by my server with carrots all over it — something that seems easy enough to fix.
When I objected the food carrier hadn’t a clue — my server didn’t communicate my allergy properly to any staff members for when I asked for it without carrots he almost gave me a hard time. I insisted he find her and get the info. Then after a few minutes the dish is brought back without one apology by the original female server — I take one bite and realize there are still carrots in the food — they simply took off the carrots and reserved the same dish. My server eventually realized this was an error and offered me a free beer, really like that even matters if I’m swollen on my way to the ER!
At this point I had them cancel the dish — I simply couldn’t trust them to prepare it carrot free. No manager came to apologize or comp any part of the meal — a free beer was all that was offered. I demanded at this point, politely, that my dish be removed from the bill, which was met with… I will have to pay for that from the original server… really, you’re the victim here, right. What? WOW!
This blatant disregard for a serious allergy is unacceptable and if I could I would report them to the Board of Health so they may be penalized for such vulgar negligence. I seriously will never be back and warn as many people as I can!

Went there with some friends and eveyone seemed to like the food.
The service was ok and the food was solid. Not the best Thai i have ever had but indeed very good.
The Som Thum was delicious and so was the red curry. It was very fresh and tasty. OK prices too.

Do you remember that Sally Struthers infomercial back in the nineties for the International Correspondence School? She would tell you that you could earn your degree without setting foot into a classroom to start your highly lucrative career in VCR Repair, PacMan Design, Handgun Repair, and the list went on and on and on. I must have missed the one for Osha Thai Wannabe Restaurant Management. Not that I think Osha Thai is all that, but there are sure a lot of darkly lit Thai spots that have the same vibe and serve basically the same plates of food with little distinction (photo:
). That’s how I barely remember Thai Chef on 18^th near Castro, surely inspired by Sally’s sound advice.
First things first, the staff is very friendly. They’re very helpful in pointing out the 116 items (…yes, 116) on their menu not including beverages (photo:
). The $ 6.95 Thai Chef Spring Rolls were first, they always are (photo:). Jamie W. had been here before, so he knew to get the flat noodles, the Thai chow fun if you will. He ordered the $ 9.95 Pad See Eiw with Chicken that included bamboo shoots, carrots, cabbage, onions and a mystery gravy (photo:
). I went on a similar path and got the same priced Pad Thai with Pork and the usual suspects — tofu, egg, bean sprouts and green onion (photo:
). It was OK and just OK, nothing special and rather by-​the numbers, although I won’t go as far to say the cook went to correspondence school. But maybe…
FOOD — 3 stars… middling Thai dishes have flavor but lack distinction
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… presumably inspired by Osha Thai, all of them
SERVICE — 4 stars… friendly and attentive
TOTAL — 3 stars… Sally has a diploma she wants to send you