Thai Idea Vegetarian

Good food, nice place to find as a vegan. Not all meals are vegan, but most. I wish they offered delivery. Its a little pricey, not outrageous.

Amazing restaurant with amazing delicious vegan/​vegetarian food. Very good service. I’m definitely coming back there.

I haven’t eaten here yet (as far as I can remember), but I will. Have to post, however, because my wallet apparently slid out of my pocket tonight on MUNI (damn you stupid slippery Patagonia fabric!!), someone found it (after it had been depleted of the small amount of cash in it, but oh well), brought it home to their girlfriend, and she IMMEDIATELY went to the trouble of digging up my # and calling me. Then she let me walk to her apartment building rather late at night and retrieve it. Her name is pronounced Oooeee (don’t know the spelling) and she works at Thai Idea. So I am hugely thankful and recommend everybody eat at Thai idea (hey, it’s Thai, which is an inherent plus) because at least one very Good Samaritan works there.
P. S. I did go there. My wallet-​returning angel wasn’t working that day, as it turns out (she alternates between that and another area restaurant, they told me), but it was interesting, unusual, mid-​priced progressive Thai cuisine with good service and a nice atmosphere.

My fiancé and I were visiting from NJ and we stopped into Thai Idea Veg and it was delish! If it wasn’t our last night in SF we would have most definitely gone back. We started out with an order of the fresh spring rolls, it was a nice break from fried spring rolls. We also had the wing bombs which were very good. For our main dish, i had the pad-​see-​ew which was lovely. My fiancé had the pad thai, i had a few bites and it was very good. The service was very fast and attentive. Everyone was very pleasant.

Overall, a vegan/​vegetarian restaurant with very good food, fantastic service, nice atmosphere and very good value (less than $ 100 for 4, with a couple of appetizers and beer). Highly recommended!
Found Thai Idea on Unilocal.Nice, quiet atmosphere with maybe 20 tables. Very nicely done. Could be romantic if you get a corner table. Several families were there with kids but it was still pretty quiet.
The service is absolutely exceptional. About half the tables were occupied when we arrived but a surge of patrons filled them all over the next 30 minutes. We noticed that only 1 waitress was on duty (our receipt said Nan) but she was so friendly and nice and worked so hard that none of the tables lacked for anything.
The food is some of the best I’ve had. This appears to be a completely vegan menu with the exception of a couple of items that include egg but you can exclude it so that these are vegan as well. The menu may be confusing because many items can include chicken, beef, lamb, shrimp, etc, in addition to tofu or vegetables. These are all some fake form of the meats and not the actual meat. All 4 vegan entrees we had were super tasty with tons of fresh vegetables. The pumpkin curry with tofu is crazy good – diced pumpkin in a semi-​spicy, creamy broth with mushrooms, onion, peppers, tofu, green beans and other veggies. Wow! Everything else (Chicken Noodle Soup, Kee Mao, Chicken Vindaloo Curry) was equally good and did not appear to be oily or greasy.
With the high quality atmosphere, service and food, Thai Idea is a bargain. A no-​brainer for vegans or vegetarians and a fantastic choice if you just like good food.

This is among the best Thai restaurants I’ve ever eaten in. Seriously amazing. The fact that it’s vegetarian is an added bonus. I spent the day reacquainting myself with the city and stumbled upon this place for lunch. The chicken satay appetizer was good, not great. The vegan shrimp and avocado panang curry was one of the best dishes I’ve ever eaten. I also ordered the volcano beef to go which I ordered extra spicy and it was also delicious. The service wasn’t great but it didn’t bother me. Do yourself a favor and go here. You won’t be disappointed.

Thai Idea is quite simply my favorite Thai restaurant and one of my favorite vegan spots. A close friend and I drive across the city to eat here all the time because it has predictably wonderful food and an extremely friendly and accomodating staff. We have never had to wait for a table and while you’d think the parking would be hard, we have never had trouble parking in the neighborhood either. The presentation of the food is beautiful and there are no filler vegetables… you know what I mean… the inexpensive vegetables that no one wants to eat. Thai Idea doesn’t do that. :-) I have brought some meat eating friends here and they have all been impressed and the most meat and dairy knoshing of my friends said that he’d eat here all the time if he lived in SF. I just wish they had a restaurant in Oakland.

A great hidden gem in the Tenderloin.
I have been to Thai Idea a number of times and always have a great experience. The décor is beautiful, very quiet, some nice music playing, and the little waterfall in the back corner. Also, I always seem to be one of the only tables in this restaurant, so this is a good spot for a nice intimate date or catching up with friends. Everything on the menu I have tried is great, decent portions for the price, and the service is amazing. The server is quick to take your order, brings everything in a timely manner and will only check up on you as needed (again, another reason this spot would be good for a date or catching up with an old friend, etc.)
The menu has a lot of options with the «fake meat» so your non herbivore friends can pretend like they are still enjoying some chicken while us vegans/​vegetarians can feast on tofu and imitation fish dishes. The portions are just right, with an appetizer to share and one of the noodle or rice dishes you will for sure leave with a full happy tummy :).

This place was really cute inside. I was excited to try vegan Thai food and veggie meats. My food came and there was a string of hair on the plate, thank God it wasn’t on the food but still gross. Please check around the plate before bringing food to a table. The portion size was large, but I really wouldn’t enjoy my food after seeing the hair on my plate.

Really yummy thai place. I also liked the restaurant’s clean wooden décor.
I had veggies sautéed with cashews and even if it’s a really simply dish, it was just good. Pretty big portion with lots of nuts for not even $ 10. The brown rice was also out of this world!
I’m looking forward to going back and trying those amazing appetizers.

Vegan Thai iced tea? Sold. Tasty food, large portions, varied selection, nice atmosphere, and good service all won me over. Will definitely come back to check out the rest of the menu. Out-​of-​towners beware: apparently in SF you can get ticketed for not turning your wheels when parking on a hill and it’ll cost you 62!

I won’t be going back here. Dirty bathrooms sticky tables old dirty décor.
Chicken bomb is dry and tastes old. We tried a couple of the curries. Half of the bowl was a huge piece of decorative lettuce. The imitation shrimp is not worth it, it’s drop tasteless and ibis pored. The curries are nothing special and unbalanced. One was way too sweet and the other was totally overpowered by the basil. Definitely can make better curries at home.
This place feels like it might have been really good 5 years ago. No the kitchen looks pieced together and it tastes like they are serving leftovers they don’t want to throw away.
I did not see any of the positive things in other reviews.

I’ve been to SFO probably over a dozen times for work. That having been said, I’ve only been in the city once before this trip.
My wife came along with me and I’m still adhering to my vegetarian diet. On the BART, we decided to get off at the Civic Center station, or whatever it is, and I found this place on Unilocal.I wanted something spicy. We’re wandering around en route to the restaurant and the area is just a total dump. People were cat-​calling my wife. Drug deals were taking place on the street. This is stuff you don’t see in Chicago unless you really go out of your way to be in a bad area.
We get to the place and it’s situated next to a massage store. Gross. However, inside, it’s wonderfully decorated and people are quietly enjoying their dinners and talking. This place is meat free, so I ordered the pumpkin or squash curry. She asked me how spicy. I said that I wanted spicy. We also got some sodas. I was shocked how expensive one can of soda was. Yikes.
The curry was good, but not as spicy as she promised. There was some kind of chicken substitute in it. Not bad, but I could tell. Sometimes, I prefer unadulterated tofu. My wife’s pad sew something was good, but not really my type.
All in all, the prices weren’t too bad for a vegetarian restaurant and the food was pretty good. Just, be careful in the area.

Whhhhhhhhhy is the food quality at this location soo different than the one that used to be in Foster City?
:(
Seriously the food at this location was not fresh, seemed microwaved, and had a ton of oil. I mean a TON of oil… tilt the plate and it just flows out.
We were nearby checking out the theater where the original Zappos corporate office was in the Tender and having some «Tender Moments». Love all the wild things in the Tender. The owners parents even had their own Asian restaurant in the bottom wood carved area of the building. It became lunchtime and we were excited that one of our favs had a location near.
Pad Thai, crispy rolls, potato curry… we ordered all of our normal favs. Like I said previous. Soggy with oil and seemed microwaved. Oh and they have the best Thai tea.
The only reason I am giving a two star is because they had great customer service like the other location.
I will not return to this location. I wish I could just hop in the car from San Carlos and run to the Foster City location but… it’s gone… oh well!

My boyfriend — Mr. Picky with the most sensitive palette I’ve ever witnessed — summed this place up: «really cheap and really good.»
Got pad kee mao with tofu and pad basil with (veggie) chicken for dinner. The pad kee mao was spicy and delicious and full of veggies. Just how I like it! Tried the pd basil chicken and it was a nice element of savory to the meal.
For dessert we had the fried banana with ice cream. We would come back just for that. Amazing.
Also, the employees were super nice.
It’s in the loin, but whatever.
Amazing vegan food when you least expect it!

Came here for a romantic dinner in the city, and loved it.
Yes, its in a sketchy neighborhood, but the food is worth the trek. Asked for extra spicy, and boy DID WE GET SPICY — be warned when ordering.
Loved the curry dish that came with the roti — best dish by far!

Spezieller Laden!
Es ist auch veganes und vegetarisches Fleisch — also Vleisch — a la asiatisch spezialisiert.
Wir hatten verschiedenste Sachen («Ente», «Wings»…) und haben miteinander geteilt.
Mega lecker und spannend zu probieren! Hat wirklich gut geschmeckt, müsste jetzt aber nicht nochmals hin. Der Papayasat war MEGA scharf, habe danach nichts mehr geschmeckt und meine Lippen haben höllisch gebrannt!:D die Kokosnusssuppe war super! Das «Huhn» sah wirklich wie Huhn aus (die Haut!!).
Das Personal ist sehr freundlich und man kann sich jede Speise veganisieren lassen. Ambiente könnte etwas gemütlicher sein, eigent sich aber gut für den Znacht.
Einfach mal probieren — ist nämlich interessant!:)
PS. Männliche Begleitungen waren etwas erstaunt anfangs. haben aber alles brav aufgegessen und für lecker befunden.

I love me my fruits and veges but when things are purposefully vegetarian, I’m not the biggest fan.
But I’m not a meat-​lover only either and like to try new foods, so I roll into Thai Idea anyways. The interior is well decorated with a spacious ceiling and the servers are very friendly.
Upon the first look at the menu, you’d think that this was a regular Thai restaurant, all of their dishes use regular Thai dish names with meat names in the title «Volcanic Beef» «Spicy Catfish» «Lamb Curry», but then the description says vegetarian beef, vegetarian catfish, and vegetarian lamb; which makes you wonder what is vegetarian beef? or catfish?
Well it turns out the dishes are basically regular Thai dishes but with substituted meats. The dishes were actually very flavorful and all had a good presentation.
WINGS BOMB — looks like you’re eating a roasted chicken drum but tastes like you’re eating ground chicken wrapped in a tofu skin. Not bad…
PUMPKIN CURRY with BEEF — just like what you’d expect in pumpkin curry, pumpkin, great curry sauce, slightly spicy and then some beef which tastes a little like the «chicken» meat from the Wings Bomb dish.
SPICY CATFISH — this dish was actually quite surprising. The «catfish» is a deep fried meat substitute, not bad, served alongside a ton of other stir fried vegetables (carrots, onion, etc) then garnished with whole black peppers (which were still green and still on the stalk) and a lemon leaf?
The prices ranged from roughly $ 13 per dish which isn’t bad for what you’re getting.
Thai Idea is a nice sit down restaurant, good tastes, presentation, and service, a place you wouldn’t mind taking your date to.
I probably won’t be craving Thai vegetarian food anytime soon again, but I have to give this place kudos for doing what they do very well.

Can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this place yet; I’ve probably been to Thai Idea over twenty times and I’m still not sick of it! I would probably go as far as to say that this is my favorite thai food in the city. I’ve explored far and wide, but nothing beats the quality of the tofu red curry here! Thai food is my favorite and I’ve tried a LOT of places, but this is the place to go! Even though it is all vegetarian, they have imitation meats of all sorts and I’ve heard they’re pretty good from people who actually eat them. Some of my favorites here are the corn fritter, tom kha soup, pad kee mao, and red curry with tofu. They have some pretty unique dishes as well so if you’re feeling adventurous, try the volcanic beef or the vindaloo curry, both delicious as well!
Don’t be scared by the location of this place because the food is worth the trek to this sketch part of town. The service isn’t that great either, especially if you go with a large group of people but this is not the type of place you go for great service so it’s not that big of deal. Basically, go here for thai food in the city!

I really liked their wings bomb! It was piping hot, crisp and zestily sauced with basil and chopped carrots.
Do order up the pumpkin curry — especially if the season is fall! It makes it quite charming to commemorate the holidays with!
As for their pineapple fried rice, their substitute lobster and meat, was quite chewy and imitated well.
They were still packed full when we arrived on a Wednesday night at 8pm for a party of 2. Bring a small party because the dining is catered to the small crowd!
Their Singha cold beer, was nice with the food that they served up!
Service was on point and I want to try more of their other creative dishes. Until next time!

I enjoy a good vegetarian meal every now and then but my only qualm is that I often leave still feeling hungry. Well at Thai Idea, not only do I leave full and satisfied, I sometimes even have a to go box to boot.
Really loving the veggie Tom Kha soup here. It’s a wonderful balance of flavors with plenty of aromatics from the lemongrass and galangal, the tartness from the lime juice, and the richness from the coconut milk. It’s hard to beat on a chilly SF evening. The golden cauliflower appetizer goes really well with the soup too. Deep fried cauliflower florets with the tamarind dipping sauce mirrors the flavors from the soup well.
The entrees are pretty filling and satisfying. The pineapple fried rice balances sweet and savory well and the veggie «shrimp» comes one of the closest in terms of texture to real shrimp that I’ve had. Like the deep flavors in the «beef» Pad Ped and the chili green bean dishes… even more so when you consider they don’t have access to fish sauce to create that same intense salt factor. And lastly… the crispy chicken fried rice. I like fried chicken and while this definitely doesn’t look like fried chicken, it has its own charm. It kinda reminds me of a less salty version of crispy fried spam which to me is incredibly yum! All in all, so happy with the food I’ve had here.
The service is amazing sweet and attentive and the restaurant is always clean and comfortable. Love the contemporary Thai décor that makes you forget for a second that you are deep in the Tenderloin. Still, with vegetarian food that doesn’t make you miss meat, I’m willing to make the trek down to Thai Idea Vegetarian anytime.