Reviews for Hot or Not Thai in San Diego, CA
I normally don't write reviews but I loved this place! We got drunken noodles, pad thai, panang curry & green curry - sooo... flavorful and good prices! Read more
Favorite Thai place in PB. Large portions (and they don't skimp on the meat), perfect spice levels (medium is actually medium),... and great and fast service. Both the pad see ew and drunken noodles were great. Read more
Thai food in general has become kind of tasteless to me. I'm not totally sure what happened but every Thai restaurant I go to, I... get panang curry. For all the places I've tried, none have been the same type of curry I had in Thailand. In Thailand, the currywas thick and rich. Now the only places I can seem to get this type of curry is either in a Korean place or Chinese. But itseems that all the Thai places are set on this thin watery curry. Which is OK but it's just not what I want. Other than that, Iwas told to sit anywhere. I asked to sit on the bar outside. It was wet from the rain earlier but I didn't realize until I satdown. So my long sleeves of high quality dress shirt got soaked in dirty rain water. My fault. I should have been paying betterattention but I just figured it would have been wiped down. I guess it wasn't a priority but the rain had stopped for awhile sowas this the first time rain has done this? The server didn't tell me it might be wet?? Anyways. It was just ok. I ordered thechicken panang with spice level 8?? Which was another funny thing. They have a spice level scale from 1 to 10 but only evennumbers?? Lol... why not just do 1 through 6 without skipping any numbers?? Just chuckled to myself. The level 8 was spicy, Thaistyle spicy. Not bad. But, I never know when I place is gonna do falang level spicy or Thai spicy and again, the server didn'treally warn or indicate. No offense though, she was nice and all but just not very experienced. Which is what tips are for. Idon't give a tip for a smile, I can get that just from saying hello. Tips are for someone that can make you feel welcome andcomfortable. I wasn't. There are now a million Thai restaurants in the states. I can go to any of them and get the same dish.The only thing that will really set them apart (especially since they all seem to make the same watery style curry) is theservice. I hate to unload this here but after being a head chef for years of my life, it really i Read more
A cold day is a good day for Thai. The search for a warm meal landed us at the doors of Hot or Not Thai. Parking may be a bit... tricky for future visits (no real designated parking area), but there are opportunities for street parking (just pay attentionto street signage). The food here is exactly what I have been looking for in a Thai restaurant. I ordered the Shrimp Pad Thaiand Beef Panang Curry. Mild. Perfect amount of bite. Absolute heaven, both dishes. Curry was creamy yet spicy, meat was tender.Noodles perfect texture. Prices maybe slightly on the higher side, but portions are generous (besides, they also offer lunchspecials for a budget). Five stars. But not just for the food, but for the service. Thank you for the meal reccomendations andawesome hospitality. This place is a total jewel. Read more
Well I guess there's a first time for everything. This is the first time I've edited a review to drop my rating down. We had a... friend visiting from out of town and he wanted some Thai food. We told him we should go here, as it was one of our favoritesthrough San Diego and I really wanted some Khao Soi. They were not packed when we came in. But we were sat at a dirty table.They only asked for our drinks 10mins later when they wanted to take our order. We ordered 2 dishes at level 1 spice, 1 at level2 and 1 at level 5. We waited for about 20min before they brought out the first plate which was the lamb curry that my friendordered. They gave him a spoon and a knife with it but not a fork. They also brought out all the rice. Another 5 minutes passand then they bring out the beef curry. No silverware was brought. They made no mention of the Tom Kha that we had asked toshare as an appetizer. My husband asked for forks for everyone. The waitress only brought out one. We had to ask for each forkon a separate occasion. The beef was not the right cut and chewy from being way overcooked. We were finally told that the soupwould be out soon because they had to make a new batch because it was made too spicy. When the soup finally did arrive, we werenot happy. We waited for 30mins for the soup to come out and the coconut milk was separating from the water like the leftoversdo when you reheat it. It was just the milk, a little bit of overcooked chicken, and standard white mushrooms that were stillraw and crunchy. No cilantro, no red onion, no oil on top. Then my khao soi finally came out. I was not expecting much after thetom kha and I was not proven wrong. The chicken legs were way overcooked and dry to the point it was crumbling apart in mymouth. And the sauce was hotter then when I normally order a 2. There were 2 other tables that had sent back food and when theyleft they did not take their leftovers at all and the plates were still pretty full so I know we weren' Read more
Hands down one of the best Thai restaurants I?ve been too and I?ve been to a lot! had the green Thai curry along with spring... rolls and a mango rice desert which was soooo good. If I ever make it back to San Diego, you can bet I?ll be making it down tothis restaurant. Read more
This place is absolutely INSANE! I swear, the food here was better than the Thai I had IN THAILAND. They use top notch quality... food and you really taste the love in each dish. I had the Khao Soi noodles and my friend had the Pad Kee Mao with beef. Bothwere ridiculously flavorful. The meat was so moist and tender, my only complaint was that the plate wasn't bigger! Definitelythe best new spot in all of San Diego... Have come back two times since and got the pad Thai, the garlic wings and the lambmassaman. Do yourself a favor and order the lamb massaman. Truly an authentic and unique Thai dish! Read more
Was referred by someone who craves for real and authentic cultural tastes. Of course I had to try it out! There is plenty of... street parking and the restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. We opted to sit indoors where table space is very limited.This place had a lot of take-out orders and it only confirmed that this was the spot to be at! The service was friendly andkind. Our hostess was very accommodating and treated as friends. The food was outstanding and the presentation of it wasbeautifully done! If you like traditional Thai food and thrive on supporting small businesses that pride themselves on qualityof food and service, then you MUST try Hot or Not Thai! Read more