Neecha Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Oakland

Friday December 23, 2022, had a delicious lunch at Neecha Thai cuisine in Oakland today with my bro. Fast courteous service and tasty Thai food which is comparable to the authentic Thai food I get when we vacay in Bangkok, Chang Mai & Phuket.. authentic flavors that is true to Thailand. Thai dishes are sweet, salty, spicy or sour. On the menu, there are many dishes with thick noodles, vegetables, lettuce, and chicken, lamb, shrimp, or beef. Some dishes are more rice geared or contain fruits such as pineapple or papaya. Each dish highlights the region of Thailand it’s from. My brother is a regular here so he orders dishes not on the menu. That’s the kind of special treatment you get when you’re a regular customer and get to be friends with the hard working chef there and the back of the house staffers. So we order a Thai version of Bánh cuốn, a Vietnamese entree, which is made from a thin, wide sheet of fermented rice batter filled with a mixture of cooked seasoned ground pork, minced wood ear mushroom, and minced shallots.. in their dish, they used organic free range chicken instead of pork which is healthier. The flavors are on mark, the silky rice batter flour sheets akin to fettuccine but bigger is soft on the palate & a slight chewy texture but damn tasty with the accompaniment of the mushrooms, marinated ground chicken meat, bean sprouts, light sweet soy sauce & herbs in the dish. Highly recommended. At the end of the meal, our server gave us a surprise gift of ginger bread man .. a very sweet ending to a fantastic meal. Every customer got one actually. Nice touch Neecha Thai Cuisine! Keep up the great service and tasty good eats. You just earned yourself another loyal customer. I’m looking forward to ordering some 😋 seafood Pad Thai next visit 👍 Overall rating: 9.8/10 | Food 9.9/10| Service 10/10 | Ambiance 9.8/10 | Would I recommend to family & friends: for sure! Tim at Snowpals DOT...

Unfortunately, I need to share this disappointing experience.

When my girlfriend and I arrived at Neecha Thai, I made it very clear to our server that I have a severe allergy to onions. For every item we inquired about, the first question I asked was, “Does this contain onions, or can it be made without them?” I was thorough and direct about my dietary restriction.

We ordered spring rolls and two other dishes. I ate the first two bites of the spring rolls with the sauce. On the third bite—without sauce—I immediately noticed a strong onion taste. My mouth and throat began to itch and tighten, and I realized something was very wrong.

I immediately spit the food out. The servers quickly came over after noticing I was in distress. I informed them that I tasted onion, and that I needed to leave immediately to take allergy medication.

The staff apologized and admitted they had “pulled out” the onions from the spring rolls but didn’t realize the onion oil could still cause a reaction. They removed the spring rolls from our bill, but we were forced to leave and could not finish our meal.

Frankly, the entire bill should have been comped. I had a severe allergic reaction because the staff did not take my allergy seriously, despite my clear and repeated warnings.

It’s incredibly frustrating that onion allergies are often dismissed or not treated with the same seriousness as other food allergies like peanuts. Food allergies are a medical condition, and restaurants need to acknowledge that.

If your kitchen cannot safely accommodate a guest’s allergy—be honest and upfront. Train your staff properly, know your ingredients, and if needed, let the customer know you can’t guarantee a safe meal.

My experience could have been much worse, and that’s...

I’m super bummed to downgrade my review. But after the experience I had there last night I must. As a long time patron, I immediately noticed upon entering that the waitstaff and cooks were new. Did the previous owners sell?

Anyway, the food and the service were unacceptable. Our food came out in the wrong order and very far apart. We got the appetizer (fresh rolls that are excellent) right away. But then one person’s entree came, 10 minutes later the soup came. 10 minutes later and the second person’s entree came. 5 minutes later, mine came. The pad see yew which I had always rated as the best around was bland. The immortal stirfry was ok but the portion was much smaller than it used to be. The hot and sour soup tasted like it came from a can. The Mee Kow was just ok. I do want to give them another chance but I won’t try again for awhile.

Thanks, Neecha Thai for the memories.

Old review:

Neecha Thai is a beacon of goodness in a time where other restaurants are gouging you while serving you tiny portions of mediocre food. Neecha stuffs their Tom Kha soup full of trumpet mushrooms and their eggplant stirfry is the best! Highly recommend Neecha Thai for a delicious dinner at a...