Charming Siam Restaurant

Food is good. But I’m giving them two stars for poor customer service during their lunch buffet. I had to wait 45 mins just to get some pad thai. And the amount they made was so small it was gone after three people went up to get some! It’s as if they don’t want to make too much in an effort to not have to throw away food. Oh and there are not very good buffet selections. It’s very small. I ended up having to order off the regular menu.

I came here with my mom after about a year away. For an all-​you-​can-​eat buffet there were not that many choices and the owners are so tight with portion control that they only put out a couple of servings at a time. there was literally a couple of scoops of fried rice and three drumsticks. Each time the chafing dish would empty the cook would bring out more. I understand this may help with inventory, but it takes away from the experience. I noticed there were signs for dishes that were still not out yet. The papaya salad, for example, took about an hour to actually appear in the buffet. When it arrived it was the worst papaya salad I’ve ever had. It didn’t taste anything like papaya salad. The only dish I really liked was the drunken noodle, but they ran out of green chiles (what?!), which is what really made the flavor pop. Just about the only compliment I can think to give is the meat portions are quite good. At some buffets you really have to dig around to find a piece of chicken, but here there are nice big slices.

I’m finally getting around to a review of this place weeks after I visited it because I wanted to put the horrible memory out of my mind.
I saw the four-​star rating on Unilocal a couple of months ago and brought my girlfriend here because we love Thai food, and it was close to home.
Unfortunately, the quality of food reminded me of a high school culinary arts class. It was less than mediocre. The peanut sauce tasted bland and watery, not what I was expecting as a Thai cuisine aficionado. The vegetables, meat, everything was completely bland. We had food sent back because we ordered a «5» on the spicy scale, requested an «8», and we still couldn’t detect any heat whatsoever. We actually had to request red pepper flakes to dust all over the food.
This was disappointing because most Thai places I’ve been to have been at least a three-​star establishment, with many being 4’s approaching 5’s.
Also, service was lacking, but that seems to be more the rule than the exception nowadays. Maybe this bad experience had something to do with the workers there being young females.
Maybe this wasn’t too far off from «Introduction to Thai Cuisine» day in high school culinary arts class.

Food-​wise it’s 3-​stars. Everything else is closer to 2 stars. The opening hours on their homepage and on Unilocal don’t seem to be correct since we have been standing in front of closed doors before when it’s supposedly open. This is very frustrating to say the least.
Gave them another shot, however getting take-​out food at 11:30am took 40 minutes (20 minutes was mentioned) There was no apology and no drink was offered. The charge for take out was a little over $ 40 for three people which I find overpriced for what we received. The Massaman Curry had mostly potatoes in it (and less chicken) with potatoes that should have been cooked longer. For the price (and waiting time) we would have expected more.

The food was good and constantly restocked fresh. Not a bad buffet for the price for all that you can eat, $ 12.51 with aThai Tea. The staff service was excellent each time I’ve been there. Good for a quick lunch. I would recommend.

I thought the flavors would be mediocre because of its inexpensive cost of $ 7.99 for the lunch special but in this case, I was happy to be wrong.
The fried rice and pineapple curry with chicken were good.
But my favorite was the green curry + white rice and pad thai (so flavorful)
I like having options/​variety/​buffets with drinks included/​stamp cards. so thus I am indeed a fan.

I always get the same thing here… but it deserves five stars. The lunch specials are awesome. Haven’t had the buffet yet though but everything for lunch is well priced.
What I get is the cashew chicken lunch special with fried rice. Their fried rice is TO DIE FOR. Best fried rice I’ve ever had. It’s so soft and moist… The pickiest eater would love it. It’s phenomenal. I love that they ask you the level of spicy-​ness. They do this with almost all of their entrees. I pick a 3 out of 5 and it’s perfect. The egg drop soup is pretty damn good too.
5 stars for the fried rice. Decent service — they keep your glass full so that’s what I care about. Good lunch prices. This is a great place to try if you haven’t already! If you are a big fried rice lover like me… This is a MUST TRY. Seriously. Even if that’s all you order, it’s worth it. AMAZING.
–Annie

So, I am giving this place 3 stars, based ONLY on the food.
The servers here are all very young with little serving experience. After you’ve come to the table I’m at 5 times to see if I’m ready to order and I’m still not ready, maybe you should back off a bit. (I usually don’t take this long to order, but I was catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time, I also explained this to our server)
Once we ordered everything was fine, food came and it was good. I had the Pad Thai, and so did my friend. They were both very good, with the right amount of spicy.
Now, my problem is this: The kitchen has glass, so you can see inside, there is parts that are frosted over so you can’t see everything.
Well, about ¾ way through our meal I see water hit the glass. I think to myself «Okay that isn’t TOO weird», I know some restaurants get kind of crazy when they clean the kitchen. Then it starts, what I’m assuming was either the head chef, or owner has a total meltdown. Screaming, throwing plates, there were literally noodles stuck to the glass. (see picture)
It gets REAL awkward in the dining room. Then the server is cleaning up and at one point, she is walking out of the kitchen and said chef throws a bowl at her! It barely missed her! I felt so bad, and so awkward all at the same time. I wanted to get the hell out of there ASAP, but I was also scared to go because I was scared the chef would have actually hurt her!
Poor thing! But seriously, no job is worth that BS.
I probably wont be back…

A group of us stopped by the Charming Siam Restaurant for a late lunch because of their AYCE $ 7.99 buffet. The restaurant is located in a strip mall and is a small joint.
The lunch AYCE buffet is limited and included:
1. Small Salad Bar — Included papaya & seawee salad.
2. Cold Shrimp Appetizers
3. Three types of soups — Vege Tom Kha, Hot & Sour, Egg Flower
4. Pad Thai with Chicken
5. Pad See Ew with Chicken
6. Thai Fried with Chicken
7. Yellow Curry with Eggplant & Potatoes
8. Chicken Drumsticks
9. Sweet & Sour Chicken
10. Marinated Fish Fillets
11. Steamed Rice
12. Pineapple & Tangerines — Canned
13. Tapioca Pudding
14. Choice of Drink — Sweet Iced Tea, Lemonade. or Arnold Palmer
The Good:
+ CHEAP Lunch price tag which includes a drink
+ Pad Thai — Nicely seasoned and cooked… delish!
+ Thai Fried Rice — Perfectly prepared with the right amount of heat for me… spicy!
The Bad:
— Service was slow. I didn’t like the sweet ice tea and I waited a long time for my water.
— All the dishes except for the pad thai and fried rice lacked seasoning and were not tasty.
— Entrees were not replenished often. Everyone would rush to the buffet area when they saw the server coming out of the kitchen with a tray of food. It was like a race, lol.
I would had given the restaurant 2 stars but their fried rice was a meal in itself and was so delish. Therefore, my lunch ayce experience was A-​OK. 3 Stars.

A solid 4 stars
I went here with my girlfriend after looking for some where to eat around Oceanside. It is about 5 miles from the beach and probably dont punch the address into Google Maps to find the place — search by the name. It is set back in a shopping center across from the gas station.
The food was so tasty. The exotic prawns were great.
I think the meal was $ 46 plus tip for 2 for 2 starters and 2 mains including a large beer. Great value and very nice food.

Lunch buffet is available for $ 7.99 which includes a beverage (lemonade, ice tea, or Arnold Palmer). For 8 bones the food is actually good. They serve pad thai, fried rice, a few curry dishes (totaling 10 hot dishes), 3 types of soup, BBQ chicken, Shrimp, and BASIC desert. The service is fast which promotes their busy lunchtime. Definitely worth it for inexpensive lunch and decent food. The dinner buffet is $ 10 bones.

Unlimited pad thai and unlimited Arnold Palmer’s during their buffet hours. What more could any self respecting man ask for. Of course there are some other stellar dishes that they put out there like their yummy soups, curry dishes, and various meats and sea food.
The servers there are super attentive and nice, always making sure that your drink is topped off and that the plates are cleared off the table. They greet you with a smile and allow you to relax after the meal.

A dinner Thai buffet??! Yes! On of that its filled with a variety of dishes from noodles, curries, and stir frys. I love the noodle dishes and also the stir frys. Who am I kidding, I love it all. Plus, the give you a stamp card so after 9 trips you get one free!
The only downside to this is if you go too late and it’s not busy they stop making fresh food. I asked once if more fish would be coming out and got a straight up «NO». I would say get there before 8:30 to be safe. Also, the dinner buffet is only offered M-​thurs nights.

10.99 all you can eat good Thai food! Not only good, but great! They have a variety of food ranging from salad to soup to salty food to dessert, such as drunken noodles, basil fried rice, fish, stir fry chicken, tom yum, salad bar, fruits, sago desserts… Look, they come in small trays and the staff refill the trays often, that’s when you know it’s made fresh for each batch!
A tea is included in the price, but not the iced Thai tea. You get that for an extra $ 3 but well worth the price because it’s good tea!
Service is great! They are very attentive to our needs.
There aren’t many tables in the restaurant, but they have couch seat on one side and we all had a good meal with some good laughs.
GREAT PLACE FOR THAI BUFFET! Will be back!!!

I like to come here for their lunch buffet. For $ 7.99, or $ 8.61 after tax, you can eat as much as you wish and it comes with a drink (Thai tea, lemonade, and Arnold Palmer — a mix of Thai tea and lemonade) that has free refills. They don’t have a lot of options like the buffets in luxury hotels, but they offer white and fried rice, (usually) drunken noodles and pad Thai noodles, two types of curry, and two types of dishes (vegetables and/​or meat). On top of that, you get 3 kinds of soup, salad, papaya salad, and dessert. Since they only offer this lunch buffet special during the weekdays, how much can you really eat in your ~1 hr lunch break if you are working nearby? For me, I get full already after trying a bit of everything, and I am not really a light eater.
The food is actually quite good despite the low price. The staff is very nice and polite, and the restaurant is very clean. I haven’t tried anything from their regular menu yet, but I am sure the quality will not disappoint me.
If you are around the area, I strongly recommend this place. Give it a try! How much can you lose for a $ 7.99 lunch that you can stuff your belly as much as you can?

Excellent little place! I have a usual thai restaurant on my rotation, but Charming Siam was convenient for me the other day so I stopped in to get some carry out — which was ready in less than ten minutes. Like Traci W said, they have plenty of vegetarian options on the menu. My go to thai dish is drunken noodles and this time I went for the shrimp. The dish tasted great, but could have had a couple more shrimps in it for how much noodles there were. I also ordered their summer rolls (fresh rolls, whatever) — I like how spicy their awesome — I mean peanut– sauce is.
If I were to continue living in the area, Charming Siam would be a new one on the rotation!

This place was such a pleasant surprise! Boyfriend and I were looking to nom near the Vista Boomers after a few rounds of mini golf on the way back to SD after EDC. This place hit the spot!
They have an $ 8 lunch buffet and $ 10 dinner buffet and we had dinner on Monday. The place wasn’t packed but our servers were very attentive to filling our drinks and clearing our plates.
When we walked in, we were asked buffet or menu, and we took a quick look at the buffet and chose it. The buffet comes with lemonade, iced tea, or an Arnold Palmer; we both chose lemonade and it was good, not too sweet like a lot of restaurant lemonades can be.
They had fried rice, steamed rice, curries, soups, and noodles.
The pineapple curry with tofu was so bomb and just hot enough. It had a similar tangy taste to the other curry and the coconut soup that I really liked, and went very well with rice.
The drunken noodles weren’t very warm (they put fire under all the foods about 20 minutes into us eating so then everything was warm). I didn’t like them all that much but my boyfriend did and I’d never had them before, so maybe I just don’t like drunken noodles
.
The yellow curry (I think it was yellow, it had chicken in it) was really tasty, just kind of lukewarm at the beginning of the meal like the drunken noodles.
I didn’t try the fried rice, but the steamed rice was the way I like it, kind of sticky but not like in balls.
They had stuff to make basic salads and fresh shrimp, both of which were tasty and seemed super fresh. They also had egg rolls which I didn’t try.
SOUPS. OMG THE SOUPS. Lemongrass with tomatoes, so light and fruity and perfect. Boyfriend said the egg flower was great. Both of us would have married the coconut soup if we could have. It was super hot but so worth the wait for it to cool down. It was fruity and tangy and creamy and like an orgasm in your mouth with every spoonful.
They had fresh fruit, a rice pudding thing, and a not-the-best-I’ve-ever-had-but-not-bad-at-all chocolate cake for dessert, pre-​cut into tiny pieces that boyfriend and I shared one of because we had coconut soup for «dessert».
At $ 9.99 this buffet is a steal, especially for that soup. If you can’t tell, I really liked it.
The lighting in this place is kind of dim and not in the romantic way. It was super clean and inviting, décor-​wise. Honestly though, the food was so ridiculously worth it, I would come here ALL THE TIME if I didn’t live all the way down in Hillcrest.

This place is not fancy but the servers are nice. Compared to other places in the area it was not the best but not bad. The prices were a little high too compared to other local Thai places. What I ordered:
Siam Special Thai Rice — Chicken, Crab meat, and Beef. 11.99
Spring Rolls — 5.99
The place was clean at least, Parking was a little tight due to a sports bar being next door. I guess there is some sort of Buffet also. We received free soup and salad with our meal that was part of the buffet.

I love their drunken noodles! Definitely hits the spot! Delicious!
Their waitstaff are pleasant and attentive.
However, I’ve tried the buffet and ordering take out and I recommend ordering to go.
I know $ 7 with free ice tea for a buffet is enticing but it’s not worth the troubles. If you decide to go wear your running shoes! Why? Once an item is placed on the buffet area you have to rush to get your share otherwise you’re stuck waiting (10 – 15 mins) on more food to be prepared, cooks aren’t constantly cooking so there is plenty of wait in between, and their isn’t a wide variety to choose from (they don’t even offer fried rice only white jasmine rice)
P. S. My Thai Tea with boba tasted like dish soap.

Oceanside has a surprising amount of Thai food restaurants in comparison to most parts of San Diego. With that being said, without going all the way to San Diego it’s as good as it gets. A whole page of different fried rice options like Pineapple fried rice. What really drew me in was the noodles, whether flat, glass, rice, they were great. Just the right amount of sauce that the plate was left clean without left oversauce pooling in the bottom. I tried the Pad Se Ew with chicken and the meat was excellent, but not overpowering and another noodle dish and they were excellent. Their spice scale is 1 – 5 and we got a 3 and 4 and thought they were extremely mild and should have gone with the 5. I have a feeling the scale is really 1 – 10, but on a 1 – 10 scale i normally get a 5 – 6 which is more than most of my friends get so.
We tried the Everything sampler which has sweet potato, shrimp wraps, egg rolls, gyoza and fried tofu. Everything on there was amazing except the sweet potato battering held quite a bit of oil and was more donut like than I wanted. They almost looked like empanada’s. I would have julien’d the potatoes and the battered. The gyoza was superb and the 2 sauces were some of the best I’ve ever had, one was more of a ginger based and the other was more vinegar sweet, but the portions of the sauce were small, barely enough for the sampler.
Some other thoughts were the glasses have a cool thumb knotch, the lighting is perfect. I went on a fairly busy night from what I could tell becuase a single waitress and single cook took a little longer than i expected. The only real problem is it sits in a notoriously overlooked location that has seen 4 – 5 business’s come and go in the past decade and has sat vacant for long periods. Coffee shop, music shop, and a few restaurants that did not make it, so it worries me becuase this place is great. I plan to try alot more of their extensive selection. I heard rumor of an all you can eat lunchtime buffet.
Charming Siam, Ocean Thai, Rin Talay, Thai Garden, Thai Table in that order.
Now if they only sold beer. They have Singha advertised on the tablesign, but not on the menu.