Green Papaya Deli

business is closed.
Thank you Green Papaya for introducing me to your raw fish larb.
Ventured to Sticky Rice Café (heard your chef is there now).

So sad that this place is closed for good. One of the best thai/​laos food in the bay area that I’ve had. Thank you to the family for making me feel so welcomed every time I came in

I came the other day excited for a nice, big bowl of kao poon and noticed that the store was barred up. When I peeked inside, it was empty.
Then it hit me, Green Papaya was closed. Forever.
I took a moment to remember the great food and service that largely made the last two years in the bay area so enjoyable (I love Lao food and don’t get it much). It is with great sadness that I must update this review to report their closure.
Anyone have recommendations for other lao places? The ones in Berkeley aren’t too good, I haven’t tried Vientian (but the pics don’t look too appealing), and there’s a few others in the area I’ll have to try.

Closed up shop for good.

They are closing at the end of the month. Do yourself a favor and go get yourself some yummy and inexpensive Laotian food. DO IT NOW!!!

came in here with a friend, the place seem to be empty as always, but the reason i always came back because their food is pretty good here. Well, not today.
i had a kao poon, the soup was quite salty, the flavor wasn’t special or anything, just a bit salty and creamy of coconut.
i also ordered a fish larb raw, they serve some kind of cold white fish season with lot of mint, chili, scallion and a good hint of citrid, it was quite good while it still cold.
my acquaintance was having some kind of frie rice, and she thought it was a bit salty too.
quite disappointed, i remember this place used to be quite good

I got the #16 kao piag (aka khao piak sen) which is Lao Rice Noodle Soup.
The deep bowl didn’t look like much more than a bowl of broth with toppings of fried shallots, scallions & fresh ground pepper (
).
Tasty thick viscosity broth had some sour notes. The translucent, thick noodles (
) are similar to Vietnamese Banh Canh made from tapioca flour mixed with rice flour. These were nice and chewy. It could have had more of the poached chicken which was hiding at the bottom of the bowl.
Speaking of the bottom of the bowl, the depth made eating awkward the further into the bowl you got.
Friendly server. Will be back to try more of the menu.

Disclaimer: I would have given this place one star, but the food was honestly the most authentic I’ve had in Cali.
Here are the reasons for my bad review:
1. Bad attitude of the young woman who took our order. Did not feel welcome whatsoever.
2. S.L.O.W.E.S.T service. We ordered take-​out, and it took 45 minutes to get our food. It was not busy (we were the only customers)
3. Pad Thai noodles were… not right. Not aweful, but not right either. Almost tasted rancid/​off.
4. Serving size was small, and they were stingy with the veggies.
And worst of all…
5. There was not peanut sauce.
Beyond that, the food is delicious. The pad kee mao noodles (drunken spicy noodles) were perfect and spicy. We also got the red curry, which I would come back for. Damn good. Great even.
If I do come back, I will call-​in for take out, that way I won’t have to deal with the prissy pierced princess/​waitress. The chef’s food is bomb, but stick with the non-​gringo dishes.

My friend and I were looking for a Thai place for a late lunch/​early dinner over the weekend and this was the only place that’s open during the time we wanted food. It’s both our 1^st time eating here so we didn’t know what to expect. Though i’ll admit the food here has a pretty authentic taste to it but the quality of the food wasn’t that good.
I ordered my usual Thai dish (Pad Kee Mao) and i’ve definitely had better Pad Kee Mao at other Thai places. They cooked this dish with tons of oil so i wasn’t feeling that at all. We also order the papaya salad which is SUPER spicy! I do like the fact they give extra noodles on the side so you’re able to soak those in the sauce and enjoy them.
I don’t know if it’s the spices i consumed during this meal or their food weren’t that clean but my stomach was NOT agreeing with what i had.
i’ll skip this place if i am ever in the area again and wants thai food.

When my party of two entered around 8pm we should have noticed that the two large groups already seated had no food yet, and come back another time. As it turned out, my partner and I (and another group of two at a nearby table) waited an hour and fifteen minutes for our simple orders. I know, we should have just left but we live nearby and had nothing better to do.
We waited and waited, listening to sporadic sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen and ominous long pauses when the cook was helping serve the food to other people.
We ordered the chicken larb with sticky rice and pad thai. The larb came out first with a plate of leafy veggies, but we found out they were now out of rice for the night. The chicken larb was CRAZY delicious, very flavorful with crunchy chopped lemongrass. We asked for «medium» and it was actually quite spicy which was perfect for us.
We wolfed down the larb because we were starving but then found ourselves waiting again for the pad thai. When it finally came, the egg was pleasantly crunchy on the edges and the dish overall was tasty but too greasy. It had a thick, syrupy/​oily sauce on it, not great.
The place was a bit unkempt, dirty dishes on tables, a small cockroach on the floor but it is basically a hole in the wall and late in the evening.
In the end head lady/​cook came out and brought us a coconut drink and apologized for the wait which was very sweet.
I’ll probably try it again but I feel like there are better hole in the wall options out there.

The COMPASS: A bit tricky for the uninitiated, Green Papaya Deli makes some unique and zesty dishes, with Thai and Lao infused flavors and spices in a homestyle vibe (the gingham table cloths says it all). 3.5 stars
The RETRACTABLE TELESCOPE: Onward to new territory! Actually, eating at Green Papaya is much like going to your Asian friend’s parent’s house for dinner: a cozy spot, built for comfort rather than spectacle, and our host, Jen, is a sweet gal who helped us with food recommendations. Her choices? Spot on.
The food is abundantly flavorful and comforting. The Lao sausage packs such a punch that you’ll have to brace yourself before taking your next bite (then scarf it down with lots of jasmine rice). The duck salad lettuce wrap was less intense, yet savory. They only give you one romaine heart to wrap with, so as you eat, the lettuce leaves gradually shrink over time and before you know it, you’ll be eating duck salad out of your hands. Last and never least, we ordered a fried fish: lightly battered, skillfully fried and drizzled with a mysterious dark and spicy sauce. The boneless fish bites hit you with a BANG of spicy impact, then melts in your mouth (scarf down with lots of sticky rice and repeat).
They have many more items on the menu and the photos taped to the storefront made a good reference. Next time we gotta try the fish in banana leaf that everyone’s raving about!

First time here. Walked-​in to a confusing looking restaurant. Empty. Did not know where the hostess/​cashier was at. There was a small door slightly open towards the back where the kitchen was at. Walked over and waited to see if someone would come help me. Indeed someone came out; took my order to go.
I ordered papaya salad (medium spice level), beef larb (half raw/​cooked, wanted spicy level) and lao sausage. As I waited, I was surprised and noticed there was another dining room on the other side of the ramp/​wall. I thought it was a small place but it’s pretty big actually. They brought my bill and noticed 4 items. It’s wrong but no biggie. They add in sticky rice $ 2, which I did not order. Told them to take it off. For 3 dishes, came to about $ 21. Not bad. Cheap compare to Chai Thai Noodles. This place accept credit/​debit cards with a minimum of $ 15 with .80 cent fee.
Came home and ate. Very traditional & authentic. Reminds of my parents cooking. I enjoyed the food, however, I also noticed they messed up on my order. I asked for the papaya salad to be medium and boy oh boy, it was muy fiero super hot spicy!!! I really wanted it medium :(runny nose every single time I took a bite of it. I can handle hot and spicy but not as spicy as how they made it. And the beef larb turned out to be medium when I asked to be spicy. The lao sausage was ok. Had better.
Overall, I would come back again for the prices & good ol’ home cooking. Hopefully they won’t messed up my order next time.

Amazing!
Just like home !
authentic and delicious.

LAO GOES POW!
I lived in Thailand, not Laos, but when you live in Thailand you get plenty of Lao-​style (Isaan) food. And this place serves up strongly flavored, heavily spiced, and spicy Lao cuisine like I’ve had no where else in the US!
I’ve had:
SAI AOW (spicy, lemograss-​scented sausage): A definite winner — bold, spicy, and served with a lime juice dipping sauce.
CHICKEN LARB (a minced meat salad thingie): Good, strongly flavored, made with even a little bit of minced gizzard, I think!
MOKE GAI (curried chicken baked in a banana leaf): Very yummy and savory — again, bold flavors the likes of which you won’t often taste out here.
SOM TAM (papaya salad): Their own version (made with noodles and seafood) will knock you on your ass. It’s spicy!
PAD KEEMAO (literally «drunk Noodles,» typically made from wide rice noodles stirfried with peppers, basil, and a kick): this was an oddball version of the typical Thai variant, mild and bound with an enjoyable tomato-​ey sauce.
STICKY RICE: A real Laotian place serves sticky rice! A must-​order when you get this food.
Definitely worth returning to try more, focusing on the Lao dishes. Next: the «moke pa» — curried fish in banana leaves. They often appear to be out!

*DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT* let the exterior of this awesome eatery fool you…
(It’s in a less desirable part of International Blvd, near Lake Merritt.)
GPD’s interior is casual yet chic. It’s customer service is very friendly and not overbearing. Their prices are fair. But the best part of this newly discovered gem is…
THEIR FOOD! I tried their Laotian seafood papaya salad and their tofu pad see ew. Both were incredible, with emphasis on the former. Seriously, you’ve got to at least try that one on your visit. My mouth org’ed (and many a time!).
Their menu is divided into two parts: Thai and Laos foods. I’m stoked to try the rest of their selections.
DO yourself a FAVOR and go try this place (if you love SE Asian foods).
… 5 stars, all the way. Keep it up Green Papaya!

A friend took me here. I didn’t know what to expect but needless to say, I was very impressed… and very full. We ordered the raw beef larb, green papaya salad, banana leaf wrapped steamed fish, organ soup, and sticky rice.
We had… a…feast! We got a side of chilis and munched on that while taking in copious amount of food… I paid dearly for all the Thai chillis I ate later but it didn’t matter, the food was so good I would go back to this restaurant at the stroke of midnight even with various drive by’s and gang warfare — it seemed like a shady East Oakland neighborhood, sue me I’m from Sac.
It’s a local favorite and I can see why.

I heard this place had some good ass papaya salad — so I grabbed my Dude and came here.
This place is really SMALL and from the looks of it, we thought they were closed because it was so empty. We sat down and were given menus.
We ordered the GP Papaya Salad with Baby Crabs, Beef Soup for him, Kao Poun for me (and then found out it wasn’t available anymore. so I got the Chicken Soup instead), and the fried chicken wings.
The papaya salad was HUGE! It was very colorful and smelled right. It was pretty good and hella spicy! I really enjoyed my chicken soup — I just like that lemongrass flavor and the chicken wasn’t dry, so it was pretty tasty. The fried chicken was OK — it must have been deep fried in some dirty ass oil because there were black spots all over it. (See picture)
Service wise — it wasn’t the best. He ordered hot tea and didn’t get it until the very end. This place doesn’t have a tray of sauce on the table to add extra flavor to your food! After getting all our food, the waitress LEFT! As in like, she left for the day! Then maybe after another 15 minutes after that or so, the cook left! We were left by ourselves and it felt awkward. but whatever, we kept eating.
I’d probably come back to try other stuff. and maybe order it to-​go. MAYBE.

Tried this place out based on Unilocal reviews, think i set my expectations too high. I asked all my dishes to be mildly hot, but they came out intensely hot! I could barely taste the food. Curry that was ordered was really watered down. Also ordered sticky rice, which was dry and hard in some areas. don’t think i’ll be returning for the food.
Service was good though.

I came here primarily to try the papaya salad. Being alone and fearing the portion sizes would be large, I only had it (the «G.P.» version for $ 9) and some rice.
It was definitely the mother of papaya salads in simple terms of having a large variety of ingredients (papaya, cabbage, cucumber, green beans, tomatoes, shrimp, squid, noodles, peanuts, …), but it was (a) a little too tangy, even for Laotian style, and (b) way too spicy, even though I had ordered it medium.
I’d give it 4*, but the $ 15 credit card minimum wasn’t made clear, and they weren’t able to make an exception for my $ 12 bill, even though I would have tipped the difference if they had been more accommodating (instead of having me run to the liquor store ATM next door).

Went here the other day and the food was ok, really cheap too. We had the
Moke Pa (Steamed Fish wrapped in Banana Leaves) — Very good, great flavor would go again maybe for just this.
Sticky rice to go with the Moke Pa, it was a little old and we actually found a few dime size pieces of dry hard rice stuck together.
Pad Mee Lao a little on the oily side for just noodles and chicken.
Chicken wings– Taste like good friend wings that’s all.
Green Papaya salad not the G. P but number one instead– it was good, nice and spicy and they actually put more chilies on the side which was a nice touch since I’m the super spicy monster and not the GF so much. Service was good, small family run place. I don’t want to knock it but if i was to compare to places in Oakland and nearby like champa, i would have to give them 2.5 stars but since you can’t do half’s here they get 3 :-)