Khao San Thai Kitchen - Salinas

This is a very small restaurant. My experience started off on the wrong foot. You should know they don't have restrooms for customers. No music. No water. Only bottled Costco water for $2.50 each. Table service happens after you order at the counter. The person who rang me up brought the food to the table and checked in on me regularly. The floors, windows, and tables were clean. The windows are lined with bright multicolor neon lights. I ordered spring rolls, panang curry, a side of rice and a water for $30 (20231019). The pandemic and inflation have me all messed up on value for eating out but it felt expensive to me. So how was the food? The spring rolls were good. Not standout great but certainly good, stuffed with fresh, crisp ingredients. The generous serving of peanut sauce in a plastic container on the side was better than others I've had with fresh crushed peanuts on top. The panang curry with chicken was pretty tasty. I got level 3 spice and it was just enough to kick it up a notch but not overpowering. I probably could have gone with a 4 but didn't want to risk it. The curry sauce was the perfect consistency, not too thick, not too runny. The chicken meat was great, no gristle and tender. The veggies were good, not soggy. So the food basically counteracts the atmosphere. In other words, get it to go.

The orange chicken was absolutely disgusting, over cooked more like crunchy chicken. My first visit there and my last visit. If the traffic wasn’t so heavy I would’ve taken it back. Service: Take out Meal type: Dinner Price per person: $10–20 Food: 1 Service: 2 Atmosphere: 2 Recommended dishes: Orange Chicken

So many good reviews for this place. Maybe I got a bad batch of food today but I got the yellow curry and chicken pad kra pao, it was not good. The flavors are really weird, unlike the usual thai food I've eaten in LA or San Jose. There was a weird bitterness in the curry and maybe too much fish oil or fermented bamboo shoots in the pad kra pao. I do appreciate that the spice level is on point. Sometimes you say mild and it is still spicy as heck.

Food is very good. No longer need to go out of town for good Thai food Service: Dine in Meal type: Lunch Price per person: $10–20 Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 3 Recommended dishes: Pineapple Curry

Friendly service and only waited about 15 minutes. The food was super yummy and I'll definitely be retuning to try their other items