Papa Thang — Restaurant in Amsterdam

I had the true pleasure of dining here for dinner. This place may be just slightly off the beaten path, but trust me it is absolutely worth it.

It’s called “Street Food Bistro,” but if this is street food, I’d like to know which street this is from! The food may be inspired by the street, but it’s leagues beyond that.

The celestial food is phenomenal:

1. Ribs: Finger licking. That’s it. As a health care professional, I do not recommend licking your fingers, but that’s exactly what I did.

2. Burned eggplant: It’s not really burned. It’s smoked. Flavorful and umami. I would order this again for sure. Also, this is a wonderful vegetarian option.

3. Grilled Napa: Also slightly charred. It presents smoky with a drizzling of savory oil. We all enjoyed this vegetarian option as well.

4. Octopus: A good octopus is extremely hard to cook. I order octopus everywhere I go, and this was the best I’ve ever had. I had to ask the chef how he prepared it. He says he has to cook it for exactly 1 hour and 5 minutes. It was truly fantastic, perfectly salted and seasoned. The texture was probably the best I’ve ever had for octopus. It reminded me of the pulpo I had in Sicily. This was so delicious I ended up ordering a second helping.

5. Bitterballs: Soft on the inside and an amazing crunch on the outside. Pairs excellently with the onion topping.

6. Pho: The beef pho was so delicious we asked for a second order. I wouldn’t change a thing here.

7. The mackerel: This is another dish we order a second serving of. So so good. Highly recommend you try this one.

8. Carpaccio: Tastes exactly as described. This is a must try item. It’s done so well.

9. Sea Bass with tamarind sauce: The fish pairs nicely with the rice. It has a rich and complex flavor with a bit of saltiness, sourness, and both crispy and soft textures. I would order this again if I coulda stuff more food in me.

10. Banh Xeo: I eat Banh Xeo regularly. It’s one of my favorite dishes. This is a solid dish and I would not hesitate to order this dish again. They did such a good job with the charred pork.

11. Yucca fries: Fried in a way that they’re crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Served with a spring onion aioli. This was a fan favorite!

12. We ordered 4 desserts: My favorite was the coconut and mango pudding as well as the sesame balls with ice cream. The banana bread cake was another highlight. My wife loved the goat cheese cheesecake: the melding of orange zest and cheese cake married superbly. We unfortunately ended up eating all four desserts. We couldn’t help ourselves.

People, give this place your full attention. You can...

Papa Thang offers a fusion menu of Vietnamese flavours with a lot of twists. The dishes come in small portion for tasting so you need to order a few to fill your stomach. So if you are familiar with big portions and original Vietnamese tastes, you will be surprised.

The spare ribs is the highlight, it is really flavourful and even have charred mark that resembles the grilled pork chop in Vietnamese ‘Cơm sườn’. We ordered rice to have along and they paired well.

The mackerel sashimi is refreshing for an appetizer but too small for a main dish.

The ‘Banh xeo’ has an excellent crispy skin. The dipping sauce is spot on with all necessary flavor. The beef filling was however quite dry and could have been cooked a bit less. Pork slices and prawns are better protein.

I ordered the Goat cheese cheesecake and found it surprisingly good. The rosemary taste goes well with the heavy goat milk taste. The cracked pepper was however not tasted clearly.

One strange thing about the design is the use of joss papers as plate cloths. Usually they are burnt for offering. I would suggest a different materials for the decoration purpose.

Lastly the cost is a bit on the high side in comparison with the portion sizes. I would prefer...

Before I get started: I have eaten at over 20 fine dining restaurants and was very very excited to go to Papa Thang, because I love Thai Food when its thought differently than pad thai. Soooo.. first of all, the food itself is decent. The ingredients taste fresh and the preparation is somewhat special. The roasted cabbage for example was outstanding BUT most dishes were not mindblowing. The notion that its streetfood merged with fine dining might be reflected in the menu, i.e. the selection of dishes, but everything else is straight up ridiculous. The portions are hilariously tiny for what you pay. Expect tapas, not meals. We paid 180€ for 4 people and tbh Papa Thang turned out to be the kind of experience that people who never had a good fine dining experience make fun of. Besides, the service is slow. We had a table at 6:45, left at 9 and took the desserts home with us because it took them 45 mins to bring us the desserts. The desserts were a joke too, I have had much better desserts and I am willing to pay a lot but the portions were for little kids. Also, the drinks were mediocre at best.

Overall, Service and Atmosphere were not it and we won’t go back again. I...