Enjoying authentic Laotian food at Vientiane Cafe. Living in the Bay Area has its perks & this is…read moreone of them. This cafe seems to be mostly women operated from the waitress' & chef & preparation crew. I appreciate the nicely decorated & remolded interior. This setting gives a nice warm & inviting atmosphere. Appetizer: #6 Sai Ooa(1 Lao sausage) $5.50- grilled pork, garlic,onion,lemongrass,Thai chili & lemon leaves. By popular consensus we orders this & we were not disappointed. Although to me it felt like it was fried not grilled, nonetheless still addictively delicious. #9 Nam Khao $14.95 deep fried rice bits w/mixed gd.pork,coconut,gd , fermented pork, cilantro, gd.onion in a special sauce then they serve it w/a basket full of lettuce leaves & cilant Orders: -Mok Pa $9 (steamed fish)-catfish nugget, lemongrass, dill,onion,garlic,egg,kaffir leaves w/Lao sauce cooked in a leaf. This dish is easily eaten w/a spoon bc it is very soft & scoopable. I thought this paired better w/the lettuce leaf & cilantro. This was a very aromatic lemongrass & kaffir leaf infused dish. I really enjoyed it. Dessert: -Fried Banana w/Ice Cream $7.50- the perfectly fried banana without a mushy interior was addictively delicious & to balance the warmth of the banana you can dip it in vanilla ice cream. Absolutely worth the treat! Look forward to returning to a clean, modern, family run restaurant in Oakland. With so many new dishes I've never seen, it was hard to choose

place is just ok and busy during lunch time. staffs and service are just ok. will say the foods…read morelike home foods and taste: * tum tang: it is just ok. i expect more cucumber even though it is shredded and will say prefer having hard texture of cucumber * angel wings: it is mediocre but sauce tends to sweet * lad nah: it is just ok but sauce is a bit salty for my taste buds overall, taste is just ok and prices are average. three stars at this time...

Chai Thai Noodles is an amazing Thai restaurant near Lake Merritt in Oakland. My friends told me…read moreabout this place many years ago, we were lucky to find out about it. They serve many authentic Thai and Lao dishes with lots of depth and rich flavors. My favorite dish here is Prig King, a green bean dish served with your protein of choice in a spicy sauce. It pairs well with any rice dish, and fun to share when you're ordering a few entrees. Their rolls, curries and papaya salads are also great choices! The customer service is good, they constantly check in on you and refill your water without interruption. The decor is nice, with a fair amount of seating during lunch hours. They have locations in Berkeley and Hayward as well. Chai Thai is a great spot to have Thai food if you're near the 880. Be prepared to explore their menu, and you'll be happy if you love spice! You'll find out why they keep the locals happy!

Most excellent and i highly recommend their tofu veggie dish…read more Best customer service. Just a nice family owned place.

Veggie Pho was amazing. Super fresh, bright vegetables. Tasty broth. I would definitely come back…read morehere again. Vietnamese coffee was good too.

Dined here for lunch during a weekday right before noon and was seated quickly. However, by…read more12:30pm, there wasn't any empty tables left, including the few tables outside. There was 1 waitress taking orders and bringing food. Kudos to her for providing service to everyone. I ordered the veggie pho, which isn't my usual at similar restaurats. The bowl was definitely filled with veggies, but something in the broth left me very thirsty afterwards and eventually sluggish. Could the culprit be MSG?! Lots of parking in this plaza. Prices are competitive for the area. I'm open to trying them again, but probably not get the same entree.

I've intended to check out WaWa Thai for some time now, whenever I stop in at the Food Mill (which…read moreis right next door). Finally, my son and I met for lunch here and am I ever glad we did. First of all, the restaurant itself might look like a hole in the wall from the outside, but, don't be fooled! Stepping inside, I found a bright and cheery (about 5 table?) dining room with a small additional alcove room where a couple of tables were filled with ladies who lunch. The hostess/wait person was so friendly and welcoming, bringing us a nice cold bottle of water right away. Then, the menu. We went with the lunch specials. II ordered the classic pad Thai with shrimp. The shrimp (about 4) were plump and not overcooked, the rest of the items that we all know from a traditional pad Thai were all fresh, the plate well composed. A real winner. The special included a side so we both had the Tom Kha with chicken. It did not disappoint, what with a savory coconut broth, and red onion balanced off the mushrooms, lemon grass, galangal. The chicken was generously portioned. My son had the pad se ew with pork belly. This dish also was a standout, with crispy edged pork belly and tender meat being the star of the show. The flat noodles also had a nice chewy, neither underdone nor overdone but just right. It was laced with a soy sauce and some sweetness running in the background. We also had a crisp salad with a balanced dressing (sweet and sour tasting). All for $15.99 (that's the base price, shrimp and pork belly are extra). We will definitely go back to try the curries. The drunken noodles and the roti also beckon.

I ordered broken rice salad, papaya salad, boat noddle soup & vegetable soup. I ordered Togo, and…read morethey were so nice to include complimentary drinks. I love supporting small businesses. I was lucky to find parking one block away. I shared with a few friends at home, and we loved everything we ate. The broken rice had sausage which was a nice surprise. I love my boat noodle soup, perfect balance of rich flavors and not spicy. Papaya salad was suppose to be mild, but it tastes spicier than that. I also enjoyed the Thai tea, was not too much milk. It was made perfect.

Very friendly service, delicious/authentic food, reasonable prices…read more I like the lamps inside too - it's a vibe! I came with two friends on Saturday night for dinner around 7. They were able to accommodate us, walk-in, but it was poppin'! Everyone loved their food. Standouts were papaya salad, egg rolls, nam khao, drunken noodles. Wish I could eat more lol to try more but portions were great too. Gotta come back and try more of the menu! I have nothing bad to say besides there's only one bathroom stall per gender. Highly recommend if you're in the area craving Lao/Thai food.

Wow, i heard the rumors but finally got to try this place out!! If you eat around the Bay Area,…read moreeverybody knows of Bhan Mae Vane! Only took me so long to finally try it out! The inside is busy busy busy! Lots of people like to come by for lunch and it can get pretty loud inside. It's not really big inside, but luckily we were able to grab a table when we came by. Not sure how busy they get at night time, but I came during a Sunday lunch time and was able to be seated and there were plenty of seats. Parking isn't the easiest to find though, it's only street parking from what I could see and not too much of it. I had the chance to try out the Tom Yum, Green Curry, Laab Seen, Mok Pla, Pad Kee Mao, and Lao Sausages. I felt a bit split about the food, i think some dishes were VERY good but a few could have been a bit better flavor wise for the price point. -The Tom yum soup was good but a little on the saltier side, the bowl was sizable emougj for about 5 people with seconds for all. -Green Curry was pretty good! Hot and yummy, I really likes the veggie variety inside -Laab Seen was pretttyy good, i definitely don't think many places have the different beef cuts in the same laab -Mok Pla was very good! I wish there was more vegetable variety, the amount of veggies you get kind of overwhelm the amount of fish you get. It was very good but it can be hard to ratio the meat to veggies -Pad Kee Mao(Drunken Noodles) yummyyyy!! I honestly think this was probably my favorite kf the dishes i got. I think the serving size was smaller than I had hoped for but it tasted really good nonetheless. -Lao Sausages were really packed on the plate!! You get a lot for what you pay for, most places only give you a few pieces and charge you an entree price. I wish there was more tomato sauce (jaew) but the flavor of the sausages were decent, i think they could have been more savory Overall, the food was all great! Alameda has a lot of great food options but even with all those options, Bhan Mae Vane dominates the food list! Even outside of Alameda, it is one of the more popular Thai/Lao places for a reason. The service is good, most of the food came out relatively fast like 10-15 minutes. The Mok Pla took the longest, probably around 30 minutes but not sure if that is standard. Anyways, for the most part I really enjoyed the experience here. I think anyone who is a hardcore Thai/Laotian food fan would be satisfied coming here :)

First Star- Great Atmosphere 2nd Star - Amazing and genuine…read moredishes 3rd Star - Great service and an attention to detail that makes it feel so homey 4th Star - Icon of Laurel Village and has been a great spot to go to since I was a kid 5th Star - I will definitely come back over and over again for as long as possible

Oakland got some good good food! I came here for dinner with a buddy who lives in the area. He…read morerecommended this spot and dam was it good. I got the beef skewer and totally recommend it. 10/10 the flavor was on point and just the right amount of tender and juiciness. Their version of pad thai was great as well. But man... I just can't forget about the skewer. I came back the next day to buy 2 skewers for takeout lol Highly recommend for some solid Cambodian food in area!!

Party I went to was catered by this restaurant and I tasted an explosion of gastronomic flavors in…read moremy mouth! I couldn't get over the fried rice with almonds n basil. I had never tasted anything so wonderful..I tried picking out all the basil coz it wasn't regular basil! Then the eggplant topped with meat and snap peas with tofu and again with the basil! I think its lemon basil and the flavors were amazing!! This is a place to try and delight your palate!! I will have to go there and try and eat and order to take home! Thank you Aileen and Jr for getting food from there! Went home and tried to replicate the rice. Fantastic flavors! I highly recommend their food!

Been coming here for years before they relocated their Oakland Chinatown location here…read more The food here is consistently fabulous! The 528 (deep fried chicken wings), 317 (spinach with beef), 424 (eggplant with shrimp and pork), 746 (duck curry) are our favorites. Decided to try something new so we got the 745 (fish curry) and 855 (vegetarian duck with vermicelli)-which were both great as well! Perfect to polish off dinner with fried banana ice cream. The owner is also very nice and customer service here is always excellent! They do tend to get busy and there can be a wait during popular times, so be prepared to possibly wait. Even on a Tuesday afternoon, they can be packed!

Came here on Saturday evening around 7pm ish, party of 6. It was walking distance from an escape…read moreroom near 19th street so we stumbled upon it from convenience. We all split all the specialty cocktails and I got the Khao Pad Kang Kiew (rice with eggplant and chicken topped with a fried egg). Dishes are $20-23 ish each. We were seated at the 6 person table in the back of the restaurant near the bathroom. My favorite drinks were their take on a hard thai iced tea, the lavender mojito, a take on an espresso martini. There was also this spicy drink that had thai chilis in it that is VERY spicy lol. Pros: - the rice dish was DELICIOUS and also huge haha. Came with cucumbers to cut the peppery flavor if needed. - All the cocktails were pretty different and it was fun to try all of them. They were all beautiful to look at and tasty (lots of coconut and Thai inspiration). - Service was pretty good - Has "typical" thai dishes like pad thai and pad see ew, and also more rare ones that are hard to find - Close to many bars and other establishments, so perfect if you want to eat here as a first, second, or third location of your outing haha Cons: - The air flow in the back wasn't amazing so I did feel like it got stuffy/hot - Parking can be tough in this area so I recommend BARTing Another reason to love Oakland!

I originally planned on rating Pintoh Thai 5 stars for their finger licking good pad kemao, but the…read morelast time I visited, the servers literally forgot about my table multiple times. We had to re-place our orders because they were never sent to the kitchen and lost, we had to flag down servers otherwise we were sitting there confused for 20+ minutes as they hustled and bustled around us, it was just bizarre. And it was a bit embarrassing as I'd lauded this place to my guest and we proceeded to get snubbed by every server during dinner time. Alas, the pad kemao was still delicious but I don't know if I'd suffer that kind of service again for a meal. And no, nothing was comped or discounted. Ambiance-wise, the restaurant is cute and near a busy area of downtown Oakland so it's easy to get to by BART or by car. I might give them another chance if I'm ever in the area already, but I won't be going out of my way to visit again.