Farmhouse Kitchen Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Oakland

Today was my FIRST time and LAST time eating at this restaurant.

Today I took my three younger siblings and best friend to San Francisco. After 6 hours of touring, we decided on Thai food and drove to this restaurant because I had ordered take out before. During that short amount of time I waited for my take out, I was so amazed with their beautiful decorations. After eating their delicious food, I was more impressed to the point where I wanted to dine here with my family and friends in the future. Before we got there, we called ahead to check if there was any waitlist. The person who answered the phone told us we could walk in. When we got there around 6:20 pm, the waitress in the front kindly asked for how many people and led us to our table.

When the waitress for our table came to ask for our orders, the way she asked with her tone immediately came off as oddly rude but I pushed it aside because I thought it must've been nothing. But I am a VERY observant person and throughout our stay, I started to notice that she was treating the other customers much better in terms of checking on them, her tone, and the way she acted. When my youngest sister wanted to order, we tried to catch our waitress's attention by raising our hands. I completely understand that she was busy and might've not seen us so my best friend, two younger sisters, and I took turns raising our hands. When my best friend managed to catch her attention, our waitress came over. My best friend told her that we wanted to order another dish and get another straw. After she gave us a straw and took our order, my best friend turned to ask my younger siblings if they would like to order any more and when we turned back to look, our waitress was already walking off. I felt that she was so rude. My best friend later told me that this was her last time eating there and that she'd tell me the reasons when we left. I felt that she didn't want to make it a big deal but I questioned her and encouraged her to tell me. I'd like to say that my best friend and I are very easy customers and we are not the type of people to give trouble to our servers. After I guessed some reasons, my best friend agreed and explained her feelings on how our waitress was treating us unfairly. Compared to the customers on our left who came after us, we heard her tone and saw how she treated them with so much more respect. She'd check on them and even asked if they wanted any water refills. When we were about to leave, we even heard our waitress asking them if they wanted any desserts when she didn't ask or check on us. When we paid $232 for our dine in, we decided to tip her only 3% because her poor customer service. To be honest, I didn't want to tip her at all. Since the customers in the restaurant were having a good time, we decide not to confront or give any trouble. After we left the restaurant, my best friend, younger siblings, and I all shared our views on how rude the waitress was towards us. I was even shocked that my younger siblings felt that.

Although the food was amazing, the poor customer service we experienced brought the whole experience down. This was my THREE YOUNGER SIBLINGS' FIRST TIME at this restaurant and I feel so sad that they did not have any fond experience. I regret praising of how beautiful this restaurant was to my siblings and even bringing them here. We could've ate anywhere else, but we were looking forward to eating here. Never again. Whenever we remember or mention this restaurant, it will be of...

Tonight we came in to the Oakland location, a restaurant we frequent and LOVE, but this time around were terribly disappointed.

I ordered for our table, 3 starters, 4 entrees and 1 Pad See Yew

The food came out SO quickly which was great ----- but it was the samosa appetizers along with the short rib entree and the noodles. The speed, although nice, was also startling and questionable... short rib should take much longer to prepare than a few minutes.

I mentioned to the food runner that we would like our appetizers first please.

The server then comes to the table and said that I ordered everything family style and that is why the food is coming out. I clarified that your menu has a starter section and an entree section —- and starters should come first, hence it's title --- "Starter"

She then continued to correct me and repeat herself, "You ordered family style"

My husband and I are long term industry veterans --- he is a Michelin Star chef. We were seated at the table with 30 year career servers. It is absolutely ridiculous that our server insisted that family style meant that EVERYTHING come out at the same time.

Starters come first… I should not have to clarify that. And to have the lack of grace and continue to try to put the blame on me is downright insulting.

Not only should starters come first —- but without pacing our table would have been quickly overloaded and we were already a party of 5 at a table meant for 4. With drinks and share plates it would have been too much had all the entrees and starters come in one wave.

When the entrees came it felt like it was the original entrees that were fired but held for 20 minutes while we ate our starters. The food was cold... Other reviews have mentioned this.

We tried to let it go but then when we ordered dessert our mother asked if she could just have coconut ice cream. Our server said that coconut ice cream comes with the Thaigiving coconut shaved ice. I asked “Can she have the coconut on it’s own? Our server continues to insist “Yes but it is suggested" —- Clearly we heard her upsell and we did not want it. Be gracious and let it go.

I wish we had the receipt so we could tell you this server’s name —- they really ruined our dinner. And after years of supporting you —- now question why we ever did. Did this restaurant get so big that it now doesn't have the time to train it's employees? That shortcuts are being taken?

We love the owner’s story of how he worked so hard and built this majestic, beautiful beast of a restaurant but are just bummed at this situation. It is unfortunate and upsetting.

When a server blames guests for their own lack of understanding of how their restaurant menu works (and how EVERY restaurant menu works) is absolutely unacceptable.

I am certain you can track down what table we were assigned to —- and the server who ran our section. 745pm party of 5, Friday 2/11

I hope I can speak with the owner. I emailed the manager but truly I just want to talk with this man whose vision we completely bought into and raved about to everyone we knew for years. And not just as some public response to this review, but through a private and direct communication. I left my phone number in the email sent tonight to thai@farmhouse oak.

It's sad to think we may never come back, and could start actively wishing for an end to...

This place is not only beautiful but they actually serve really good Thai dishes. They elevate the flavors by adding a unique twist to it via presentation, adding different elements, etc.. without losing it's authentic Thai taste. We made reservations for 4 on a Monday for 12pm, arrived a bit earlier than expected and got seated right away. Restaurant was almost empty when we arrived but it quickly got filled up to the brim once we left.

We each got the weekday set which comes with tom yum soup, two piece of appetizer, and entree for $28. It's quite pricey given the entrée is a bit smaller than if you were to order it separately. However I did not regret. I really enjoyed the tom yum soup - it had a good amount of sour, sweet, spicy, and savory. Be careful, it has fish sauce and it's not entirely vegetarian. Mines came with several chunks of Thai chili which I LOVE since I asked for medium spicy. One of the best tom yum soup I've had! I'm craving it at the moment. They don't take away the spicy element and make it weaker for the broader population, which is good! I got the fried chicken and vegetarian roll which were OK. Thought the fried chicken didn't have much flavor. I got the pad see ew for entree and it tasted different than other pad see ew I've had - it almost taste like pad kee mao. It's still good, a bit too oily for my taste and the noodles got soggy eventually. I think next time I'll order just the entree and do it family style.

The decor and ambiance is really beautiful, so I'd come back for date night or special events. If you want some hole in the wall comfort Thai foods, this place may not be for you, but I do recommend trying it out and dining in. It's located right along the bay in Jack London square and they have a patio outside that's dog friendly. Will definitely be back here with my husband and the dog for date night once...