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Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Haight-Ashbury
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Hands down best thai food in the city. Everything on the menu is good, and even on a busy night, the service is consistent. Neither amazing or terrible, just a bunch of lovely ladies doing their job.
Best things on the menu: Fresh spring rolls (come early for these, they ALWAYS run out), Mango panang curry, and Pad Thai.
Everything else on the menu is delicious but those are definitely the best. THey have really good thai iced tea as well.
But don't tell too many people about this place or you'll end up having to wait for a table.
Meh. Nothing terrible, nothing special.
We had the spring rolls which were generic but tasty enough, the crispy tofu with peanut sauce (peanut sauce needed way more spice), and the red curry with veggies & tofu.
The portions were quite generous for the price. A bottle of drinkable Pinot Grigio was $18 & the service was perfect (they left us alone as we caught up on the last ten years).
I wish I could review Ploy II's food. I really do.
Tonight my roommate and I placed a takeout order at 8:20pm. We live on Ashbury... 4 blocks away. We ordered, were stoked because they took credit card (Best of Thai doesn't), and were told the food would be here in 15 minutes. Sweet.
Then 9:00 hit. We called back. Where's our food? Oh... It just finished cooking.... It'll be here in 5 minutes? Okay.
9:20. It's been an hour. We call back again. Oh the food is finally done? But the delivery guy wasn't around?
No apology whatsoever. No offer of a discount. We cancelled the order and walked to Best of Thai. I paid for the stupid ATM next door since I needed cash. From the time we ordered to the time we walked out the door, B.O.T. took 4 minutes and 17 seconds to get us our food. I timed it to prove a point.
I will never order from Ploy II again. It could be the best food in San Francisco, it's not worth it.
Food is great! LOVE THE FOOD!
But the service sucks. Thats the skinny. Nothing much more to say. I would say 75% of the time dinner takes forever and getting the attention of anyone who works there is a struggle.
But, we keep going back because of the food and the close proximity to our house.
Who thought it would be good to charge for rice?
Oh, yeah, restaurants. To make more money. Of course.
Seems like anytime I go to a Thai restaurant I can't get my fill of a nice, complimentary bowl of rice to go with the tasty curries, sauces, and other deliciously spiced items. It's like they KNOW you have to buy rice to go with their food or it's not like you're even going to have a Thai food experience.
Heck, I even need rice to go with my pad thai.
My friend also ordered pad thai and got literally twice as many noodles. My other friend always orders pad thai without sprouts -- and that makes all the difference. Then you see how much the restaurant really gives you. Sprouts, especially under the actual noodles, give the illusion of a larger quantity of food.
But that can't fool me. I'm lucky that my friend doesn't eat all that much or else I would be starving. The pad thai wasn't expensive, it was only $8, but I could get a lot more food for the same price at any other thai joint in the city -- and it is NOT hard to find another thai joint.
Same problem as Dave S. I cannot comment on the food, but don't bother trying to get a delivery from Ploy II. We called at around 8pm with a $50+ order and had an awful experience.
1) I had to call several times to order because I kept calling and being put on hold only to be totally forgotten. While it didn't feel like a big deal at first, it got kinda ridiculous when I was mid-order and asking her what the meat options were for one of the dishes...
2) She said that it would arrive in 50-55 minutes, and nothing came after 75 minutes. I was under the impression that they were on schedule since she called me to ask if I wanted rice at minute 40.
3) I call at around minute 75, and find that they are "just finishing up" and it will take another 15-20 minutes to get the dishes out. Having worked in a restaurant before, I know this means that they have just started with my order in the kitchen.
I found this to be a bit ridiculous, so I just canceled our order - they weren't even apologetic and just hung up on me. We called Thai Noodle House for a pickup instead - 5 dishes ready in 10 minutes...now that's more like it!
After reading all the reviews, they sounded pretty great!
So the girlfriend and I pick up the phone at 8pm on a nice and lazy Sunday evening and place an order for delivery. We only live a few blocks away, and it was cold and foggy, so hey, delivery please! "It will be there within an hour!" said the person on the phone.
Fantastic. Prepare taste buds for awesome.
An hour goes by. This is kind of strange.
An hour and a half goes by. Okay, now we're just being nice and we're pretty damn hungry to be this nice. So we call them up to find out where it is. "Oh, sorry! It will be there in 20 minutes."
Grrrr.
20 minutes turns into another 30. So we call them again and say that it's been 2 hours since we originally placed our order. The man on the phone was very apologetic and said they just started cooking it.
Ugh!
So we had to unfortunately cancel our order, since anyone who had wanted to eat had long ago starved to death. :-(
Maybe we'll try this place again sometime. Just make sure to always have emergency rations.
Love this place!! Best to go on a weeknight when it's not too crowded. We got a seat next to the window with a view of Haight Street which is great people watching ;) And the food is outstanding... my favorite appetizer is the spicy tofu. Best Thai food in the Haight.
Yes and yes...after making the mistake of going to Citrus Club...I went to Ploy II and all was right in the world.
Bright, light, clean, kind service and.....DELICIOUS!!
Thanks, PLOY II you are a true diamond on the Haight.
The Panang Curry is delish....KeeMao fans its on the fans as #9 Spicy Noodles.
It's nothing to write home about, but I did inhale a lot of my yellow curry so it wasn't that bad.
The restaurant is upstairs, crowded and bustling with little ladies in traditional garb. Sadia and I spilt the veggie egg rolls and the taro root appetizer. Greasy, fried, and good when you're starving.
The pad see ew was decent and the tofu yellow curry didn't have a whole ton of tofu in it, but was ok. I'd go back again if Siam Lotus wasn't open.
After being rejected from Cha Cha Cha's (1 hr. wait) we decided to come here instead, and I'm so glad.
The setting is upstairs, in what appears to be an old apartment or second floor of a house. The servers are extremely polite and adorable, and catered to everything I asked (no fish sauce, eggs, etc ...)
I've never tried fried pumpkin before, and it was amazing here! Also good was the pad thai and peanut-tofu skewers.
Hands down the best thai food I've had in SF.
extremely good, I had their pasta special and choose spaghetti with peanut sauce and chicken.
This place is not that great. The service has been less than par every time I've been, and I've given it three chances. Five minutes to take a drink order, five more to get the drinks and then running away before we could give you our food order makes it hard for me to want to tip you the 20% I always leave. The curry is mediocre, and the eggplant in it is soggy, slimy and just plain gross. Also, the green curry isn't green? Wtf.. The tea is just a tea bag in a cup of hot water, which is kind of lame. There are definitely WAY better places in the city to enjoy Thai food.
After a fairly decent meal (but nothing particularly memorable) realising we were in a hurry I handed over my debit card and asked for the bill. It appeared larger than i was expecting, but not thinking much of it added a 20% tip.
I then asked to see an itemised bill, only to see that they had over charged us for rice and there was already a gratuity charge on the bill.
They knew i did not know i was tipping twice. In my books this is as good as stealing.
Many decent places have off days, the chef is sick, the waiting staff are having really bad days... but this is much worse than that, they have dishonest business methods and should be avoided at all costs
Ploy II is legendary. I hadn't eaten here in a while and I wanted some soup so I checked out the menu. I was sold on the duck noodle soup (with special soup). I think it's a beef broth. I was Jones'n for some peanut sauce so I got the crispy tofu with peanut sauce. It came out instantly. Quite interesting though not the best peanut sauce ever. The duck noodle soup was pretty good and much better once I added some chili flakes and hot sauce to it. It wasn't as good as the spicy noodle soup I had at Thailand Restaurant, but definitely authentic and I had to try it to see what it was like.
Three stars and mainly for historical reasons. I used to LOVE this place. The duck over spinach is… Read more »
This is my favorite Thai restaurant in the city. Its reasonably priced (even on the cheap side), has a warm atmosphere and is real close to home. I'd even recommend taking a date here (not a first or second, but maybe a third) because it looks so damn cute inside and the waitresses wear these crazy cool dresses.
If you come here I recommend ordering the Mango Panang Curry with Prawns. I've had it with chicken and its just not as good. The coconut soup is also pretty damn good, though the bamboo shoots are kind of annoying.
Oh, and I liked the 18 dollar bottle of white wine a lot, but one of my friends didn't. So I guess you have to find that out for yourself...
Happy eating!
go here often as I am often in the Haight
service is usually rushed... the older lady owner, is quick to take your order but also quick to get you out...
last time they forgot about us for over an hour, seems like they are understaffed in terms of the wait staff... too few wait staff for the number of tables
food is average.. ok if you are in the area otherwise nothing beats Manoras in SOMA
One of my favorite delivery places!
I've had delivery from here at least a dozen time..probably more
In fact I just ordered from them for dinner tonight!
I love Tom Kha and theirs is excellent (though not as good as The Citrus Club *drool*).
They have a huge vegetarian and seafood selection and they will even deliver the Thai Iced Tea and the Fried Banana with Ice Cream. Rad.
Calling in your order can be a pain sometimes, but eventually you get whet you need ;-)
Oh geez I have the Tuesday blues today, so I started thinkin' about what food could possibly change my mood. Finally I made my decision and placed an order here for pick up.
As I eagerly waited for my Pad Thai, I couldn't help but appreciate the beauty of the architecture. There's just something about a Victorian flat converted into restaurant space that fascinates me. Thai themed decor are present everywhere you look and series lights hanged around the walls. It cheered me up quite a bit.
A few minutes passed, and my food was ready. The Pad Thai - pan fried rice stick noodles, with prawns, tofu, green onions, egg, ground peanuts and bean sprouts. It was so good! Noodles were smooth and silky, the tofu perfectly fried, the bean sprouts fresh and crunchy and the prawns delish. Overall portion, satisfying.
They also offer a good selection of entrees on the menu including lunch and dinner specials. Service was an "A" excellent.
I'm feeling much better now...
Note: review on delivery only.
same exact experience as Dave S.
-lazy sunday night
-live a few blocks away
-called at 8, said it would be an hour.
-called at 9:15, just started cooking.
-it's 9:40, and I'm writing this review and not eating.
if anything, they get points for consistency.
Advice: if they quote you an hour, you may want to call at the 45 min mark to remind them to start cooking. Then prepare to wait another 30...
Mmmm, crystal noodles. My current favorite Thai place.
3 stars instead of 4 because of the fact that I called yesterday to place an order, which commenced OK and then partway through the gal on the phone was all, "oh, we're not open today. Call Friday." Um, OK?
Delicious, if a bit confusing.
9pm on a Friday night there was a 20 minute wait. That is about perfect for me... any less and I am suspicious of their quality, any more and I'm ready to grab a burrito elsewhere and scrap a pleasant dinner experience.
If I somehow get very wealthy in the next few years, I am going to steal all the waitresses and install them as my personal assistants. They were all cute and rushed around carrying steaming plates of tasty like their lives depended upon it.
We ordered 4 dishes, all of which arrived alongside our wine within 10 minutes of ordering. It was kinda amazing actually: I felt like we were a nest of hungry birds serviced by 4 or 5 parents... dressed in traditional Thai garb.
The food was amazing: soup was great, pad see ew was probably the best I'd ever had, beef salad was super flavorful, as was the papaya salad.
they actually forgot to bring dish #5, which was actually a blessing in disguise because by that time we were all stuffed and didn't need an extra serving of gluttony.
Prices were great, food was awesome, waitresses were amusing. can't go wrong. except, don't get the most expensive ($18) bottle of wine... it tastes like watered down grape juice.
My wife and I are always looking for a new Thai place to check out whenever we visit the various neighborhoods around the city. We stumbled across Ploy II's front porch about 3 years ago and have made it back a total of 5 times. So far we've had the Vegitarian Egg Rolls, the Pad Thai Noodles, Pad See Eew, Panang Curry (my new favorite) and the Tom Ka Gai. We usually judge a Thai restaurant by it's Pad Thai noodles and this place has the best recipe!
The setting is almost as enjoyable as the food. The restaurant is located on the second floor of a two story flat which has been converted to a full service restaurant. The dining room sits in the front of the flat located in the double parlor. There isn't much elbow room, but despite the cramped quarters, you will dine comfortably. All in all, this place has all the charm you could hope for in the Haight, and will definitely satisfy your need for some Pad Thai! Seriously, it's delicious.
Fantastic!
Look for the sign... head upstairs... order the mango curry... leave happy!
Some of the best Thai food I've ever had!
they have the absolute best vegetarian selection I've ever seen in a Thai restaurant, not to mention a hell of a thai iced tea! The portions are huge, so much so that i've unfortunately had to omit dessert each and every time I've come, and all of their dishes are so completely unique that its a completely different experience each and every time I've come; very refreshing.
Now about the Service: Although it doesnt look like much from the outside, this place happens to be my favorite lunch & dinner spot on Haight. Not only do they captivate a very authentic thai atmosphere during dinner with the traditional costumes worn by the waiters and waitresses, they also deliver great customer service! The wait-staff are extremely sweet!
I deffinitely reccomend coming here if your ever in the neighborhood and craving some Thai :]
RE: delievery
read good reviews of the place on yelp, got the heads up that delivery might be slow, but still underestimated how long it would take. would have been better if they just would have said it'll take more than 2hrs and we could've planned around it. i expect the food will be at least aight (if/when it ever arrives), but check yourself before you request delivery.
I like Thai food and this is one restaurant I return to. One thing that always trips me out is that you have to walk upstairs to get to the restaurant. There aren't too many places to get food on the upper level.
I love the fresh ingredients and the home cooked feel to the food. There is a great variety offered. I order the spicy noodles and Thai fried rice. The Pad Thai is delectable.
I just have to time my excursion here as parking can get nuts.
Ploy II is one of those places whose names I know well but whose location I could never really nail down. It's in the Haight, right? Or maybe it's in the Inner Sunset? On 16th Street? No, on 8th Avenue. No, wait, that's Thai Time.
Anyway, when I finally came here for the first time, it was a total trip. First because I thought it was way on the other end of the Upper Haight. It's actually near Citrus Club, which is strange because I always used to walk right by Citrus Club and wonder what the other Thai place was that people said was nearby. Well, duh, it's Ploy II.
I love the fact that this place used to be someone's flat. I have no idea how long it's been since the last residents moved out, but I like the fact that it looks 79 percent identical to where I live. Except for the slapped-on wood paneling. And the poorly made and lettered signs. And the smells. And the delicious food cooking in the kitchen.
The food is really good. The service is also good. I wish they had figured out a way to allow people to sit in every single little room, but if wishes were fishes, the seas would be full. Or something like that.
Can I give a 4.5?
Pro's:
-Seriously delicious food; We got the spicy tofu appetizer, which was yummy but not really spicy, the cucumber salad, which was amazing- whatever those thinly sliced cucumbers were dressed in was delicious, silver noodle salad, which had some a depth and range of various but harmonious flavors, red pumpkin beef curry, which was yummy, and green lipped spicy mussels. They were amazing. Husband's comment "Ew, mussels have lips?". He hates seafood.
-Hilarious decor. A flat that was probably last decorated as a flat in the late 70's. Lots of XMAS lights and strings of tinsel. Lots of Thai stuff.
-Varied clientele from Asians, to hot tranny messes, to prepsters, to skaters, and more. Good people watching for sure.
Con's:
-Service is a wee bit slow, but not so bad that I wouldn't go back.
-If you are with a party of more than 4, you had best not go here. Too crowded.
-Hard to maneuver around in here because there are a ton of tables and it isn't that big. Watch out or you might get bowled down by a lady in traditional Thai get-up carrying a massive plate of sizzling and steaming food.
Seriously folks, the food is amazing. Like, I had ordered a lot with the intention of taking some home and taking it to work for lunch. I ate it. ALL of it. If I were at home, I would have licked the plate, the flavors were so amazing.
The service is decent, bummer that some other reviewers had bad service. It certainly wasn't amazing but it was passable for sure.
I thought the food was just terrible; but I guess that's what I get for not looking at dish recommendations on yelp.
We had some duck soup and a pork dish with peanut sauce over veggies. The soup was just like pieces of duck in beef broth, not that good at all. The pork wasn't that tender and there was way to many veggies. Peanut sauce is one my favorite things in the world, and I didn't even think it went well on this dish.
On top of it all, we ordered bowl of rice to share between two people. The server came and put a little bit of rice on each plate, and then charged us both for rice. $1.50 each for a handful of rice is a bit much.
I guess overall the food is cheap, so I'll give it 2 stars instead of 1, but I wouldn't come back unless I was stumbling around haight drunk and desperately looking for food.
I have been coming to this place for years and its still holding its top marks! I actually believe that this place developed my love for Thai food!
The food is very good, the portions are generous and the prices are very reasonable, in fact, I dont think they have raised their prices much over the years.
I like that this restaurant is located in what used to be someone's house. You feel so welcome going up the stairs, like you are coming to a friend's place for dinner. All the servers are dressed in traditional Thai garments, are really nice, attentive and pretty.
I like to sit at the window table and watch Haight street traffic go by. Ploy II, you never let me down!
I was absolutely floored by the Mango Panang Curry. Get it. All else is secondary - yet still delicious.
Stopped in recently while wandering the Haight. Got a nice table by the window.
Ordered:
Deep Fried Wonton's (6 crispy tasty wonton's filled with spring onions, and a sweet and sour dipping sauce). Good opening appetizer.
Mango Panang Curry with Chicken. Absolutely amazing and unique blend of flavors. I've never had anything quite like it before. The mango added a smooth and sweet flavor to the panang. Superb.
Pad See Ew with Beef. This came after the Mango Panang Curry. Still good, but after the majesty of MPC, nothing could compare.
Service was good, food arrived as it was finished, which I personally prefer. Good location, nice atmosphere. Definitely would come back.
I love ploy II. I live right across the street, which is why we discovered it. It's upstairs and is an old Victorian flat converted into a restaurant. How much more charming can it be?
Their prices are reasonable (about $7 for pad thai and $8-$10 for curries). Their spicy pumpkin curry is outstanding. One order of curry and rice with an appetizer is plenty for 2 people. I recommend the sweet and spicy tofu appetizer. The service is also good. The waitresses usually wear Thai style dresses and are very attentive.
I think it is way better than Siam Lotus, which is right across the street. If you are in upper Haight and want Thai food, definitely pick Ploy II.
Damn they can fry up some tasty tofu! We ordered the spicy tofu appetizer and it was delicious, not very spicy but still yummy! I had the praram with tofu, I was impressed with how many veggies came with this dish. Their peanut sauce was also very good. My bf had the spicy tofu combination, it was also loaded with veggies and definitely was spicy this time. We ordered for delivery and was quoted at 45 mins, it was here in ~20 and very hot! I was also able to order a thai iced tea to-go! I really wanted the spring rolls but they were sold out by 6:30 :/
It felt a little strange walking upstairs into this restaurant. It was as if I were entering someone's home.
I was delighted to find some excellent Thai food inside. Larb and pad see ew were great, as was the service. If I remember correctly, the prices were quite reasonable. I have no complaints about Ploy II.
My step-dad found a huge fly frozen in an ice cube. After he had finished his drink.
Yummy, authentic Thai food. The servers are sweet, and they are always wearing pretty Thai dresses. It's fun and cozy upstairs, eating dinner on the 2nd floor of the house and w/ the authentic decor, the whole experience is really fun. Their prices are pretty average, and you can get a bottle of wine for under $20, or a carafe of house wine for under $15.
If you're looking for brown rice, they have that, too.
Ooh, it's all so yummy! I am hungry just thinking about Ploy II.
Hitting this Thai restaurant after happy hour and an Open Bar party sounded like a great idea at the time. Its a nice restaurant, basically someones old flat. The food is really good, but the service is poor.
Took the wait staff awhile to gather orders, and it was hard to get their attention at times. The Peanut Sauce is amazing, but I felt the Green Curry was a little bland.
All in all, a great local restaurant to go to, tucked in the Haight and hard to find so you can avoid the tourists. The service isn't the best, so I will most likely get it to go next time.
SPICY TOFU APPETIZER!!!!!
Crunchy deep fried tofu cubes with a tasty sweet and spicy sauce. Seriously. Try the spicy tofu appetizer, you make never think of tofu the same. Many other good dishes. Very nice people.
My favorite in San Francisco. I do have a bias but I love this place. This is first place im headed if i want thai in sf.
I love the authentic decor in this place, even though I've never actually sat down and eaten there, every time I go to pick up my togo order I always notice how adorable the interior is. The food is delicious and the service has been great. My favorite dishes are the pumpkin curry and pineapple fried rice. This place is a must if you like Thai food!
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