Oraan Thai, Geary/2nd Avenue, San Francisco

Regional Dining Discussions SF Bay Area, NorCal, Tahoe
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I’ve been wanting Pad Thai and a favorite restaurant closed a few years ago (Steiner/Waller).

A friend and I tried Oraan Thai (new, 4 months old, great reviews).

The restaurant is clean, relaxing vibe, servers are extremely sweet, kind.

Unfortunately, only one dish out of 3 ordered was good. We loved the Crispy Eggplant.

The Tom Kha soup was way sweet. They said no sugar was added so their coconut milk must be very sweet. Chicken breast pieces were tough.

The pad Thai came with 2 river prawns, hard to extract from shells; as soon as the dish hit the table I could see the noodles were a gluey mess.

I’ve never attempted to make this dish but I think if I tried, on even a first try, I wouldn’t do a worse job. It too, was overly sweet.

So, we won’t return.

Can anyone recommend Thai places in SF or Peninsula?

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Lers Ros is fantastic, though the branch in Larkin takes some courage to visit at any time of the day. It’s downtown SF - nuff said.

I’ve had a spectacular raw shrimp salad there, and very good duck laab & grilled pork shoulder. Nothing was overly sweet, but be warned: they don’t tone down the heat. Can’t say anything about their pad Thai, however, as I rarely ever order it.

http://lersros.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LERS_ROS_Dinner_Menu.pdf

There’s a couple other branches, one in the Mission and one in Hayes Valley.

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Small world!
I had this ’ Crispy Pork Belly Pad Thai ’ here in Toronto yesterday. Best rendition I have come across here in Canada. Lots of smokey, aromatic ’ wok-hay’ goodness. Thick, amazingly

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tasty Tamarind sauce

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Funky Elephant

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For real good Thai including Pad Thai we have found Isarn Garden in San Mateo to be one of the best places in the Bay Area (beside Kin Khao which is its own league)

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I forgot to mention: the soup had whole raw shallots. ****

Is that customary? Quite a shock to my mouth.

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I forgot to post photos:

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It’s actually in San Carlos I believe, but agree about it being really good & so do some of my Thai friends… Their Thai sausage & Crispy Rice Ball Salad are very yum! 1050 El Camino Real, San Carlos, CA 94070

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Our Bay Area family has been going to Khan Toke at 5937 Geary for 40 years. That’s where I had my last meal in San Francisco on my last visit. They all live outside the city, and that’s where we would often meet.

https://www.khantokethaisf.com/

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