Pattaya Thai Cuisine

I am always on the lookout for good Thai restaurants. They are hard to come by in San Jose, which is more of a chain restaurant type of city. Luckily, I work around the Mountain View/Sunnyvale/Palo Alto area, where there is a wide variety of ethnic restaurants. Not the typical Vietnamese/Mexican places you would find in San Jose, but there are actually quite a lot of Indian, Korean, and some Middle Eastern places to eat--all of which I plan to sample in the coming year I am there.

Today, I had the fortunate opportunity of eating at Pattaya Thai Cuisine with my coworker. At first glance, it's not quite the place that would attract you inside. It is located (attached?) to a bowling alley and when we arrived around lunch time, the parking lot was empty. This was not a good sign, considering all the office buildings in the surrounding area. When we stepped inside, the first thing you notice isn't the bright red/gold decor but rather, the musky stench old sneakers. My coworker commented, "Well, it smells like a bowling alley." Aside from us, there was only one other table seated with customers. Normally, these first impression assessments correlate with food quality, but I was really surprised by the delicious food they served.

Before our food came out, we were served a small bowl of soup. I don't know exactly what type of Thai soup this was, but it was SO INCREDIBLY GOOD. It had a bit of a curry taste to it, but also gave the mild impression of a sweet/sour soup. I can't define what it was because it was such an unusual combination of flavors, but my gosh. It was one of the best new foods I've eaten in a long time.

My main dish was pineapple fried rice. The serving size was huge, definitely a family size dish. I've only had good pineapple fried rice at Thai House in Berkeley and this rivals it. This version was a bit different. It was sweeter and I would have preferred if it was a bit spicy, but that's just me. I eat Sriracha sauce with just about anything, so my tastebuds are somewhat flawed in that respect. I finished eating the leftovers just right now, scarfing the whole thing down. Still good.

The best part? Pattaya is only a two minute drive from my office. Though a bit pricier than I'm used to paying for Thai food, this place will definitely become a go-to spot whenever those Thai food cravings come about.

Pattaya Thai Cuisine
4329 El Camino Real 
Palo Alto, CA 94306