Chai Thai Noodles - Oakland

The beef noodles with red chili and garlic were so delicious that I almost ate the entire bowl.

Haven't been to Chai Thai Noodle for a while, way before the pandemic. Probably 5-6 years, sister said they have $5 happy hour noodles samplers (4 kinds of noodles- see photos for the specials).

I suggested order 2 different bowls of noodles per person if you're hungry, that's only $10! The boat noodles were our favorites.

I've been coming here for 7 years. They always have been my go to for a good pad kee mao, and khao soi and it's always good. They are pretty consistent.

An Oakland staple, been around for years. Delicious food, great prices, and good service, always. They also have other locations in Hayward and Berkeley that are just as good. Try their sister restaurant, the Saap Avenue for the perfect date night spot with a full bar and delicious cocktails.

Their food is a bit subpar compared to the Chai Thai In Berkeley. Ive eaten here multiple time and everytime they have been scared and standoffish when I enter the door. Both times, either when they had people in the restaurant or not, whether I was with one other person or alone, they appear scared of my company and I seemingly because we were black. They have problems accommodating customers when it comes to meal substitutions due to their cooks not wanting to add anything to their recipe . ai will choose Berkeley from now on even though this is closer

Our local Thai place. We eat here regularly and the food is always delicious. Dine in or take out, great time either way. It's cute a cosy inside and the service is swell. I'm a particular fan of the chicken with garlic rice.

I think I found my new favorite Thai restaurant in Oakland.

Every dish that we ordered was delicious. While I enjoyed the papaya salad and Chan Pad Poo (similar to Pad Thai with crabmeat), my favorite dish was the kao soy! A creamy curry broth with chicken, egg noodles (you can swap for rice stick or wide noodles), bean sprouts, a little bit of onions, and crispy noodles for the perfect crunchy element. Honestly, it's a perfect dish. I would order it over and over again.

I decided to branch out and try a new restaurant beyond my usual mainstay places. When doing that I always examine the menu carefully and just jump in to try a spectrum of things that seem to appeal.
Getting some Thai comfort food seemed mighty good.

This restaurant is in a new apartment building at the corner of Ashby and San Pablo. It is in a first floor storefront at the south end of the building, with good signage. The entrance is off to the side in a small street front courtyard.

Parking on the side street off San Pablo was readily available.

The interior seems very cozy and intimate. When entering you're immediately confronted by a table acting as a barrier with lots of Covid safety measures in place, including a requirement to be vaccinated, with proof, to enter and eat there. Masks are also required. BRAVO!

I was just there for a pick up order so never beyond the table. Ordering online was simple and they texted me when the order was ready. So simple and my favorite way to order these days.

I got the following-
- Garlic pork spareribs
- Larb salad with chicken
- Pad Thai with chicken
- Basil fried rice with tofu and veggies

You can choose the protein or seafood to add to most dishes.

Prices are in the average range. Portions are very good and plentiful.

The ribs were small yet a good amount, but some were rather tough, chewy and full of grizzle. There was lots of tasty garlic, and a dipping sauce.

The larb had ground chicken, my added choice, and was fresh and tasty. It came with a small container of ground peanuts.

I had ordered another noodle dish beside the Pad Thai and perhaps this was it, but hard to know for sure. I found the noodles really don't travel well, and most likely best eaten at the restaurant. Unfortunately, the noodles coagulated together and made it hard to eat.

The basil fried rice was awesome and the stand out of the meal. I would gladly get it again. The rice was fragrant and delicious as were all the ingredients, along with the sweetness of the fresh basil. This dish deserves 4.5 stars.

Overall, I found the food competent, tasty, yet very mainstream and lack luster.

There was enough food for two meals for two people so the value is there.

It's basic street comfort food so expect to get exactly that, with a bit of a need to bump up a distinct flavor quotient.

I think I have to give this Chai Thai 3.5 stars. I've been to the Chai Thai in Hayward just a couple times and only did take-out once or twice during COVID from the Hayward location. It was a great experience so I was kind of expecting a similar experience for the one in Oakland. That's not to say that my experience at this location is bad. It just wasn't as great of an experience as the ones I've had at Hayward, but who knows, maybe this was a one off experience.

We placed an online order right before they open (11:30 AM), and I think the online platform defaults your pick-up time to 12:15 PM as the earliest slot to allow time to prepare and pack. The timing worked out perfectly, because it does take a bit of time to get from my location to the restaurant in Oakland.

Please note, parking around this area can get pretty hectic as there's lots of streets you can't turn into and lots of double parking on side streets. There's lots of two-way stops for the busy streets too. I circled around the area twice before I was able to find a parking spot.

Our order consisted of 1) Yellow Curry with Chicken, 2) Green Curry with Chicken, 3) Panang Crispy Chicken, and 4) for myself I ordered the Som Tum Going Yang (Papaya salad with grilled shrimp) with mild spiciness.

I wasn't the one who picked up the order, so can't comment on their COVID-19 safety measures.

First off, a couple things to note, I would think curry would normally come with rice, otherwise it's kind of just having soup. We didn't know that we had to order rice for an additional $3 each. We ended up making our own rice since we didn't know it wasn't included until we got home. On the upside, I guess this could help reduce food waste? Order only what you need I suppose. Second, the crispy layers of the chicken for the Panang curry, unfortunately, turned soggy pretty quickly. Lastly, although I ordered mild Papaya salad, they do not kid when it comes to mild. I have never though salad could be this spicy.

That's not to say my Papaya salad was bad. On the contrary, it was actually really flavorful and good. It was definitely worth the price point too. There was tons of shredded Papaya. They didn't skimp on the grilled shrimps. They also portioned their noodles perfectly, and the side of cabbage added a crunchy texture to the mix. Wish they didn't include small bits and pieces of limes with the peels in the salad though. If you can't handle and/or enjoy spice at all, I wouldn't recommend this salad to you, but if you can handle it, this is some good spicy salad. Initially, the spice is tolerable, but this spice builds!! I hadn't expected this to be a painful meal. I was sniffling and tearing up by the end. Would I order it again though? Yes, but I'll make sure to put extra mild in the special instructions next time!

I would also recommend the green curry as well. I got a sample taste of it and it's delicious! This is a creamy, but not too heavy of a curry. The eggplants goes really well with this curry because it's good at soaking up the curry flavors.

All-in-all, it was a decent meal. Great for some, not so great for others. I wouldn't mind giving it a second try when I'm around again though.

Pretty friggin good. Based on taste, this place is 5 stars hands down.

The rice was cooked perfectly and the toasted cashews and fried egg tasted like it just came off the grill. Little heavy on the oil.
I was so engulfed in it, it wasn't until I was halfway done I realized there was no pineapple in the pineapple fried rice. (Honestly it was so good, I'm not even mad)

Also got the Panang Curry with Shrimp and avocado. They give you the choice of avocado or mango, which I thought was pretty cool.
Avo was plentiful and ripe, but nothing other than shrimp to be found (I think I was supposed to come with bell peppers and some other veggie?)
Again, very delicious but not exactly what I was expecting.

I'd still recommend and would try more!