Bangkok Spices Thai

Bangkok Spices Thai Restaurant
2832 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
(619) 281-1111

I'm lucky to live in North Park as there's a zillion restaurants within walking distance. One of the newer places down the block from me is Bangkok Spices Thai. The building it's in used to be Ramona's (a Mexican food joint) and somewhere in its past, I'm pretty sure it was a Pizza Hut (back when Pizza Hut was in a hut-like building).

The food is good though not my favorite. They have the standard Thai fair we come to expect from a Thai restaurant. The bulk of the menu is dedicated to curries and other dishes that vary in price by what you want in them. For vegetarians, they offer the option of veggies, tofu, mock duck or mock chicken. For everyone else, they offer beef, duck, chicken and seafood. Prices range from $7-8 for veggies or mock meat to $10-12 for beef or seafood.

They have a few more appetizers than the average place (appetizers are a bit pricey so I generally stay away from them). If I'm going to splurge I usually spend the money on dessert. Dessert is generally fresh mango and sticky rice. The two go perfectly together and it can easily be split between 2 or 3 people. It's very sweet so a little goes a long way.

My favorite dishes (ones that are very representative of the tastes of Thai cuisine) are Panang Curry and Pra Ram. Panang curry is one of the sweeter curries. It consists of red bell peppers and carrots in a coconut base. I prefer this dish with mock duck but it'd be great with tofu as well. They'll ask you how spicy on a scale from 1 to 10 you'd like your dish. This affects how much chili powder they'll add and in some cases (like this place) it'll affect how many slices of chili peppers they'll add. This place skews a little spicier than most so I usually stick with a 4 or 5. Be careful while eating as the chili peppers look benign (almost like bell peppers). They're known to be some of the hottest peppers on Earth (right up there with hanbaneros). Some people that can stand the spiciest Mexican food still have trouble with Thai spiciness. The peppers are just a bit different and the oils burn the tongue in different ways. I don't know the science behind it, but if you're up for it, try both peppers and you'll notice the difference. Alternatively, you can read a bit about Thai chili peppers here: http://www.happynews.com/living/cooking/thai-chili-pepper.htm

Pra ram is a unique dish as it offers a sauce unlike anything else. It's a peanut based sauce and it's a little different wherever you go (which is one of the reasons I get it at a new place I'm trying for the first time). If it's bad, it'll taste like peanut butter. The consistency should be medium...not too thick or too thin. It sometimes has small bits of peanut in it, but otherwise is quite smooth. It's sometimes poured on a bed of broccoli and other times spinach. I prefer spinach. It works well with cubes of tofu.

There's a couple other Thai restaurants that I'd like to mention:

California Thai Cafe
9550 Black Mountain Rd Ste A
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 566-5021
http://californiathaicafe.com/

I love this place because it's usually very slow and it's small so the service is very good. The food is really good though the ambiance is non-existent, but I don't really care about that. This place is adjacent to the Little India area, so if you're stuffed after eating, it's fun to stroll through the KER market next door and look at all the yummy spices you've never heard of.

Sawaddy Thai Restaurant
8935 Towne Centre Dr Ste 115, San Diego, CA 92122
(858) 535-1668

This place has a lot of bad reviews on Yahoo, but I've only once had an issue with it. I asked for mock duck and they ended up serving me REAL duck. We vegetarians always fear that, but I'm willing to forgive. They haven't had that issue since. Nevertheless, there's a TON of Thai places in San Diego, so you have plenty of choices.

Unlisted Thai Place
on Clairemont Blvd. near the 15

Sorry, this place is too new apparently. I can't find it in the listings on Yahoo. There's a ton of new development right across the street from Sunny Donuts on the east end of Clairmont Mesa Blvd. They have the usual suspects there (Rubios, Starbucks, etc.) but what you won't expect is a little Thai place among them. They have great ambiance, very good service and it still won't break the bank. You pay a little premium for decor, but it's not bad. I'm sure this place does great business at lunch with all the businesses around, but it must be difficult to bring in a night crowd...you just don't think of that area for dinner. Plus, they have a wine bar and tv showing whatever sports game is going on...so I think they're a bit conflicted on what their target demo is...given where they're located. It's like they think they're in the Gaslamp district or something.