Thai Garden — Restaurant in Oceanside

I have to admit that Thai food is not my first thought when I get hungry, it’s often not my 3rd or 4th or 5th thought either. When you eat out as much as I do even the usual’s get stale. Oceanside does seem to have a few spots, but I’ll be honest I’ve eaten Thai food while travelling way more than I have locally and I’ve lived here most of my life, so maybe that’s saying something (sanamluang LA, pok pok pdx, thai BBQ vegas/norcal/long beach)

I have a fondness of the more aromatic bouquet from the Indian style currry’s, basically the coconut is something I rarely crave in curry and only eat it once or twice a year. I tend to get the Pad See Ew because I really like the sweet soy sauce the way it really coats the noodles mixed with beef is my jam. I try not to be snobby about Pad Thai or north vs. southern cooking. I like the papaya salad here because lets face it that sauce is so fresh and wonderful and they do not skimp on it here like some places. I love using that on rice with BBQ beef. I’m not a fan of the sate here, I find the chicken dry and just straight curry powder for seasoning, heavy on the turmeric. Peanut sauce is pretty mild and doesn’t really have that bold roasted kick, flash vinaigrette cucumbers were also mild, no bite.

Mild is pretty weak, medium is mild, spicy is where you want to be. If you order with any hesitation they seem to pull punches, but if you boldly proclaim your want, they’ll adhere to my above translation. Their rice portion is decently generous and I only recommend sticky rice for some dishes. Their appetizers could be more varied and honestly more appetizing. The thai tea comes with a regular straw to go and not a pointed one to pierce the seal. They do a lot of to go because the service is sometimes lacking follow up and when it’s busy it’s really slow, they have signs warning you that the kitchen is small and leads to wait times. You seem to get better service when you order a beer. I like to sit at the middle tables and not he booth for better visibility to the staff. I’ll often times hit up this shopping center when I have family in town as some want pho, thai, Mexican, sushi and I can do it all at once, just make the calls, and pick all of it up. This is more my fall back and probably a small reason it’s not my first...

The food was fine. Not excellent, but tasty and fully acceptable. Prices much better than average, so value for the money is quite good. The biggest problem I had was that we called in our order, and called it in fairly early, as we had a time crunch, and wanted to minimize the wait at the restaurant. We called about half an hour before anticipated pick up time, they said it would take about 15 minutes. I said we'd be there in about 25. We get there in just over 30 minutes. There's nobody in the front of the house at all, except a customer waiting for a food pickup.

I say 'hello?' towards the back room, and I see some movement, but no response. A couple minutes later, a man comes out of the back with an order. It's for the man waiting. I catch the employees eye, and ask about my order. I think the employee says 'starting,' but it's mumbled. A few minutes later, the food comes out, which is about 10 minutes after I enter the restaurant, and about 35-40 minutes after the food was ordered. This is on an order that they said would take about 15 minutes.

During the time I'm waiting, a party of 2 enters the restaurant, and stands waiting near the door. The employee doesn't acknowledge them in any way. They wait for several minutes, and finally approach the checkout counter at the rear of the dining area where the 2 of us are waiting for food orders are. They inquire about ordering, and are told fairly politely they can sit anywhere, and the employee will come to them.

So if you're in any kind of hurry, this might not be your best bet. It might also have been an off day, or not their best front of house employee. If you're not in any kind of hurry, and are close by, it's decent food at a better than...

I have been eating here for over 5yrs and have a level of patience due to the owners general kindness and a understanding that it takes a long time to get your food. There are times when I order pick-up and choose to eat in this is never been an issue previously and I've always been given adequate rice. I ordered 3 entrees 2 currys and a pad Thai and I was given a small ammout of rice. When I asked my waitress who could not seem to understand the concept of being given inadequate portions for 2 meals as I was with a guest advised it would 1.50 for rice when I said fine a little troll from the back demanding a tip and 12 cents for tax.... Here is the kicker aside from being rude unprofessional and unintelligible as golems mother spoke no English then DEMANDED A TIP.... YES DEMANDED A TIP. I of course laughed in her face said I will give her nothing and to fetch my rice... In my life I have never had someone so small minded and selfish to throw a fit over a paying customer asking for a service that they also paid for .... I will never eat here again who came here with will never eat there again and everyone that brings up Thai I will make sure to tell this story of the worst Customer service I ever experienced. I left my food there with a additional 13 cents ... I have a feeling the 1st 12 wont...