PhinThong Restaurant

Decent food and prices for a quick hole in the wall lunch kinda place. Wouldn’t bring a Thai first timer or a date here. Not the best décor or service and they use Thai basil (that anise flavored leaf) LIBERALLY! I ask for it without. You will walk in, get a menu, seat yourself (only about 5 tables), and package your own leftovers but they are quick and the portions are generous especially for lunchtime at a Thai place since they usually give smaller portions then.

Weekend, tired, borborygmi hits in the midst of banal activities, like returning a movie (yep, some folks are using the free Movie Pass from BB). See this place and give it a whirl.
The Thai BBQ chicken — pass! Tasteless and looked unappetizing, as the quarter chicken was falling apart and didnt sport that nice chicken «tan» from baste with marinade with the tan grill marks. Man, crestfallen was I.
The pork pad kee mao, however, I really dug. Flavorful with that spicy bite, tons of veg, and very well cooked flat, rice noodles without being too sogged/​melty, or too raw. Portion was exellent – quite enjoyed the 3! meals I got out of it. Yummy.
So, in summation, sounds like ordering from here is def a bit of roulette mimicry… best wishes at this ‘casino’!!
PS the last poke had to do with proximity to the San Pablo casino and across from Doctors MC. In a dive strip mall that boasts starbread and a WIC market.

Living in SF really makes people mean. After a while, the transplants are ill tempered, grouchy, impatient, and everything is really expensive. Just now I was looking up sushi places because I’m slightly depressed and trying to fill the void in my heart with carbohydrates. I come across reviews for nasty downtown establishments where people are praising $ 12 lunch bento boxes. Foolish.
The most unbearable injustices are the high prices for food from third world countries. If food was this expensive in that country, people would be eating dirt. Why are SF city folk so willing to fork over huge sums of money for food that costs 50¢ off the back of a three wheel motorcycle? Because we have been brainwashed!
And we are vulnerable.
Such was my family and the BF. There is a nursing home nearby and we were visiting my grandmother who is not doing well. No one in my immediate family is a doctor. I have cousins who are doctors but they are either 9 months pregnant or living in New Jersey playing House, MD. Seriously, baby cancer doctor extrodinaire.
This was the closest place for a family gathering that did not smell like death. But it did smell like fish sauce. Pungent odiferous fish sauce. I was too distracted to notice until the next day I wondered where this sea cow salad came from.
We ordered the pad see ew, the yellow curry with pork, the house special noodle soup and the sea cow salad. The salad was foul. Do not touch except to destroy. The rest of the food was unremarkable. But so long as I am in a vulnerable state of mind, I will continue to obediently swallow the poison pill that I am being fed.
I miss my grandmother. We all miss her. And she’s not entirely gone yet.

The only thing I will eat here is the Kao Piak. Everything else in this restaurant is disgusting and overpriced. The service is super slow even though I am the only one in the restaurant. The staff is not very friendly. They don’t greet you let alone smile at you.
On top of that they tried to charge me 30 cent extra when I asked for extra pepper or lime to go. SERIOUSLY? WTF!!!

Out and about on business and a coworker wanted to try this place out.
To make a long story short, the food was bland and distasteful to the eyes. It wasn’t spicy (I asked for it to be spicy), it was super sweet, but there was no overall seasoning.
Our server was some Thai girl that obviously did not want to be there, but her mom makes her work to keep her out of trouble. With that said, the service sucked.
The only reason this place got two stars is because, I ordered a Thai tea (it was probably a powder mix) but somehow it hit the spot.
I guess I didn’t get food poisoning — so that’s cool.

Aiyooooooooooooo…
That was pretty much how i felt after the bf and I dined at PhinThong…
Our findings: Bad ventilation inside the restaurant; super slow service; Overly sweetened Thai Ice Tea; SUPER CHEWY Squids (a great workout for your jaw!); Watery Curry with leftover duck?!
AIYOOoooooOooo…

If you are looking for ambiance this is not the place. Located in a San Pablo strip mall, they have tried to dress it up a little but it needs a lot more work to make it a really nice place to eat in. Like curtains so the local crazies won’t press their faces against the glass watching you eat.
But, the food is tasty and I definitely recommend it as a take out place. The larb is excellent and the hot and spicy fish is a beautifully presented dish. Their thai iced tea is some of the best I’ve had. Our waiter did not speak enough english to answer basic questions about the menu, but the whole staff was very nice and the service was good.