Sala Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Fremont

Overall: 4.4/5

Came here for Sunday lunch right when they opened at noon so we got seated right away for a party of 7. They have QR codes on the table for you to order online if you want but also provided menus in case you want to order with the waitresses. The menu is pretty extensive but since we were a big group, we ordered all different items to share family style. The place started to get crowded by the time we put in our order online and there was a line by the time we left.

Roti Canai ($6.95): The roti was flat, flakey, & tasted like a green onion pancake without the green onion. It came with a curry sauce that wasn't too strong since it had a more watery consistency than regular curry. It was good but not worth it. The portion is small too.

Golden Tofu ($7.95): The tofu looks pretty normal but the way they fry it kept the tofu soft inside. But the best part of the dish was actually the peanut sauce. It was delicious so you just have to get the tofu coated in it.

Crab Fried Rice ($18.95): This fried rice is so good in multiple ways. The first is by itself. The seasoning is light but there's enough taste from the ingredients like the crab and oil that it gives the fried rice just enough flavor. The second way we ate the rice was with the crispy fish and its sauce. The third way was with the duck curry. Both the 2nd and 3rd way give you a depth of umami that just complements the fried rice.

Crispy Fish With Sweet Garlic Sauce ($17.95): This is their special dish and a must have! We got two orders for the table since they give huge pieces of fish but small quantity. The fish is really crispy - fried to perfection. The sauce is also amazing. You have to drizzle it on the fish and the fried rice *chef's kiss

Duck Curry ($16.95): I'm really bummed that Thai restaurants don't give rice with curry dishes anymore. We ate this with the crab fried rice instead. The duck was very tender and the curry was packed full of flavors. I didn't think it was salty but my family thought it was a bit. I do think the prices for Thai curry is pretty steep for the small portion size though.

Pad Thai With Chicken ($14.95): This is good if you eat it before the crispy fish and duck curry because those dishes are really umami so it will change your palette taste for the pad thai afterwards. The pad Thai is not a specialty here and we had better at other Thai restaurants so you can skip this item.

Basil Chicken Entree ($14.95): My brother got this since he's on a strict diet but it was not good. The chicken was kinda bland at the beginning since it hasn't had time to soak up the sauce but after 20 minutes, the chicken was very salty. The bell pepper was a bit undercooked...

First and foremost, Sala That's food is awesome - they get 5 star for this. Before the pandemic, we used to eat here all the time.

This rating is for my experience just now, a Friday night, ordering take out via Uber Eats, during COVID-19.

We ordered a couple dishes to be picked up between 6:30 and 7:00. Uber Eats said that estimated pick up was 5:55. This was too early so we called in to make sure our order went through correctly. They then told is that the food would be ready by 6:30.

With all other restaurants, this was a piece of cake. You go in, pickup (and pay), and leave. Thinking this would be a 5 minute ordeal, I left my jacket at home, even though it was a chilly 45°F outside.

When I get there at around 6:32, I'm surprised to see a line of about 10. At first I thought the line might be for ordering, but to be sure I asked the person in the back of the line. To my dismay, I was told the line was for pickup.

As I stood in line in the cold, I messaged my wife and asked her if the Uber app said the food was ready. The estimated pickup time was now 6:50. People were anxious - some had to be places, some we're picking up for hungry kids, and it was freezing cold outside with a breeze.

For some reason, Sala Thai has a horrible system. There is one single line for people who are picking up for a phone order, for those ordering in person, and for those who prepaid using Uber, etc. There were no signs or any indication on what to do. People would be walking to the front of the line, groups of people would be walking out. Some of these who went straight to the front were apparently people who ordered in person, and they stated that the cashiers told them to cut the line 30 minutes after ordering. This just made people mad and frustrated, because there was no indication of this.

I saw at least two instances where the order wasn't totally put together, so the cashiers had to go back and make a Thai tea before coming back to the front.

So even though Uber says my food is ready now, there are still 5 people in front of me. If they could've just served me, I would've been in and out since I didn't have to pay.

Maybe they got really swamped, but it's almost a year into the pandemic, and they really should've sorted these things out. Unless you have the time, my suggestion for now is to avoid Sala Thai during dinner hours. Bring a jacket if...

This has been a locals favorite for a long time and i can see why! A pretty extensive menu with almost no faults in any of its dishes! From the beef BBQ to their curry to their fish and tom yum soup, it seems everything they do here has a lot of flavor and taste and even a little bit of spice if you even ask for it! At the time we came around 6:00 p.m. there wasn't too many people sitting down, however by the time it was 7:00 there was a quite a little line starting to form up. As the people started to gather and fill in the tables, service started to slow down considerably. Such as some dishes not coming out at the same time or even the fact some of the white rice and water even ran out midway through the meal and waited at least 10 mins for them to appear. However, the wait is definitely worth it, especially for the beef BBQ and even the duck Curry that I tried which had a lot of flavor in both of them! Even the deep fried fish was also really good with bamboo that was a little bit spicy. Keep in mind most of the menu items are all served family style so I highly suggest that you either maybe get 3-5 bowls of white rice to complement your meal but at $4 its a tall task. I can understand the prices on some of the other menu items but every item tastes super fragrant and even a little sweet at times for both and their seasoned very well! The pineapple fried rice was also really amazing as well! Service, when they did appear, was pretty straightforward and I was very glad they were transparent about what was going on with any sort of delays as well as checking up on us once in a while. The decorations are pretty muted inside, however I think it looks like they have some sort of soundproofing around either near the windows or maybe on the roof due to some special looking foam, I thought that was pretty nice but it also contributed how well nicely laid out. The entire area is with the thai decorations and Buddhist areas around! Overall its not as bad thai restaurant in this centre area of Fremont, especially if you have a bigger group. However, they do charge a 14% service charge for 4 or more people so do adjust your tip...