White Shallot

We've now been to this restaurant twice. I believe the menu changed significantly between both visits. I can't for the life of me remember what the menu was like or what we ate the first time. I know it must have been good because my wife had been asking to come back for some time. I think it was a fairly standard Thai menu. On our second visit, the menu seemed much more modern and innovative. We have no cultural ties to Thailand or experience traveling there, so we aren't able to determine with any authority what constitutes authentic Thai cuisine, but the menu now has a bunch of trendy section and item names which suggest twists on classics you would find at other Thai restaurants. Even so, nothing we ordered tasted like fusion. It all felt authentically Thai. The menu sections were themed around different regions of Thailand. Again, I can't say from experience, but it really feels like they pulled off a very authentic, regionally diverse Thai menu in an otherwise familiar American Thai restaurant setting. So how was the food? It was excellent, some of the best I've had in a while. A lot of ingredients are rather rare in American cuisine of any ethnic background. For example, the dish I ordered had young peppercorns, which blew me away. I'm so used to eating around the peppercorns in Chinese cuisine, but the young peppercorns were very mild in flavor and cooked quite nicely, to the point that I was able to eat them as part of the dish. My wife was making fun of me for enjoying them so much because she was convinced they were just there to flavor the sauces, but they really tasted quite nice, and I had never seen them used in any menu of any kind in my life. The dish also had crispy pork belly, and it was cooked to such perfection that it honestly matches the best restaurants I've ever been to. I've never been to a Michelin-starred restaurant, so it's hard for me to say what qualifies, but this is how I imagine those places tasting. Their new menu was that good. The quality of the food makes the less-than-perfect parts of the experience that much more noticeable. We called in advance to check if they were open on Christmas Eve, and their automated menu was full of dead ends that didn't answer our questions or get us to a real person. Their Yelp waiting list didn't work from the app remotely, so we had to drive there just to verify they were open and get on the waiting list from their tablet. The wait service was good, but not outstanding. Sides of rice seem way too expensive, $4 for a small bowl. I don't even care that their main menu items are a bit pricey (it is post-pandemic Bay Area, after all, and the food is worth it), but to pay fairly high prices for something like curry and then to have to pay $4 just to add a small bowl of rice to mix with it feels a bit wrong. Most Thai restaurants either include rice or charge around $2 for it, making it a reasonable optional upcharge for those who want it, but $4 is enough that a lot of people are going to forego the rice they want and have a subpar experience with otherwise really delicious food. One last thing which is more of a tech flaw but still hurts the experience is that parties of 5+ are automatically charged gratuity, but then the checkout prompt asks for gratuity without clarifying that it has already been included in the price. You just have to be very cautious of not double-paying gratuity. We will certainly be back, as there are so many interesting items on the new menu we want to try. But this restaurant just barely snatches greatness from the jaws of perfection, and I am really hoping they can smooth out the rough edges because the food and atmosphere really are second to none.

I came here on a Sunday night by joining the waitlist and we were seated immediately! Good: - Nice upscale but not overly fancy ambiance! - The tom yum fried rice was super unique! I liked how it was sweet and sour - I liked the pad Thai here - Portion sizes are large! - We got the meatballs, and the fish meatball was my favorite, super chewy and tasty Bad: - Took a while for the food to arrive - Mango sticky rice mango was a little unripe Overall the food here was about what I expected, maybe a little bit better than average.

This Thai restaurant is quite busy. Even so, we were seated in less than 10 minutes. The service is friendly, the food is tasty (and spicy :D). The portions are relatively small for a higher price. The sticky mango rice has indigo rice, which is interesting. I’m curious to try the other desserts in the future 😄 Came back here again, got the coco loco dessert and more tasty food. The dessert was really interesting with a lot of tropical fruits in a beautiful silver bowl.

A friend took us here and said it's one of her favorite restaurant in the area. Came on a Tuesday evening and there were some people waiting. We put our name on the list and took a walk around the parking lot🚗 (Nothing special around the parking lot but just didn't want to stand there while we wait I guess😂). Got a table for 6 after around half an hour of wait. I got the Khao Kha Mu (stewed pork knuckle over rice with Chinese broccoli, pickled lettuce, boiled egg, spicy citrus sauce). The texture of the pork knuckle was really nice and I loved the taste as well. I'm not Thai so I don't wanna say it tasted authentic or anything like that because how would I know‍🤷🏻‍♀️ But I liked it and that's what matters right🤪 My order came pretty fast but one of my friend's order took way longer than everyone else's order to arrive (about a 20 minute difference ⏱️), they said there was only one chef in the kitchen at that time, which is understandable. The environment was clean and the staff were friendly, constantly checked in with us to make sure everything was going alright 👍🏻

omg. i tried must be thai for the first time and have never looked back. i ordered these two dishes: - pad prik moo krob [roasted pork w/bell pepper, jalapeno, thai eggplant, green bean, and fresh basil] -tom yum soup [prawns and mushrooms flavored with lemongrass and green onions] these two dishes ive tried are sooooo delicious and would 10/10 recommend for yall to try! not only should you try these two items but the rest of their menu is equally as appetizing based on the items my friends' tried/my observations around the restaurant. the flavors of these dishes are so unique and are so different from any thai places ive been to in the past! the vibe and ambiance of this spot are so fun and lively. though it leans more casual - it still holds a more intimate vibe in my opinion since their storefront is a bit tighter and it can be quite busy! so there might be a bit of wait time but it's so worth the wait. tips: - lots of parking available - join their waitlist on their website along with previewing the menu/ordering online - catering available - perfect for friends/co-workers/family/dates