The Baan Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in San Anselmo

My family and I decided to take a day trip to this side of the bay since we have never really explored these parts. As we got closer to 5pm, we wanted to search for some great dinner. Hence I see mad reviews here and immediately had to check this place out.

You definitely want to make a reservation here. This place is very small with limited seating, especially in large groups. When I tried to make reservations through Yelp, the earliest time was 6:45pm, so I thought if I come here early, I may seat early.

Sure enough, we got seated after waiting for 20 minutes, around 6:15pm. The server was nice to thank us for waiting patiently and provided us menus and water.

After a bit of waiting, we finally placed our order. I will start with my least to most favorites.

Funny enough, my least favorites were both appetizers.

Roti Green Curry. Not familiar with this style of Roti, but this was deep-fried. Super crunchy and flaky which I love, paired with a nice drippy/watery green curry that has flavor and personality. My only downside is that after the first bite, it was rather heavy. You see this has a thickness of a Taiwanese Scallion Pancake, and therefore, carries the oil it was deep-fried in. After a while, you can taste the oiliness of the roti, which leaves a bit of a bad aftertaste I am not too fond of

Papaya salad. First bite without the leafy greens had A TON of fish sauce. I immediately could tell this was a strong and salty type of salad. A good thing is that they gave lots of leafy greens, which I highly recommend having each bite. But after getting used to it, we grew fond of the papaya salad. It got....addicting, especially with the peanut sauce they serve it on top. Yes please! More of that peanut sauce!

Now onto the main course! At this point, we were hovering between "Not Bad" to "Pretty Good" until we were served...

Fire Cook Beef. Oh man. I love this sauce. This immediately changed our minds. We now suddenly thought "man this place is fantastic now". The beef is not spicy (to us) but the peppery, savory black sauce this comes with the beef flank and the coconut rice makes it a fantastic pairing. My only complaint is that the non-fatty pieces were pretty tough and dry, so if they used a slightly better part of the cow, like sirloin, this would've been epic.

Angel Wing in Panang Curry. My goodness. They debone the entire wing and shoulder part of the chicken and stuff it with glass noodles and vegetables, which is covered in this amazing, strong curry sauce. This MUST be eaten with rice because it elevates each other so well, and without rice, it was rather salty. Still, the chicken is easy to split apart and eaten with rice each bite.

My most favorite dish of all: Lychee Roast Duck Curry. Strange bedfellows somehow made one of the most perfect Thai curry dishes I have ever eaten. The sauce itself is perfect: savory, duck-flavored soup that can be eaten by itself or sauced on rice. The duck used is very close to Cantonese-style Roast Duck, so the skin has some crunch to it if you get a piece quick enough. And the best of all, the lychee has this explosion of sweetness that dances with the savory curry soup. Clashing, yet harmonic. Quite a new, indescribable experience I have ever come across in a curry dish, that it feels refreshing each bite. I could this alone, if I could.

Overall, very nice staff with amazing...

I cannot comment on the quality of their food because I never got a chance to taste it. The reason for my review is due to the snotty, rude, and downright mean non-service of the woman who wouldn't seat us because we arrived literally ONE MINUTE after their posted seating time.

Coming from Stinson Beach with two very hungry small children, we made an impromptu decision to visit Baan Thai because my four-year-old daughter really wanted Tom Yum soup (she was chilly) and my nine-year-old son really wanted drunken noodles. Rushing to get here, we had difficulty finding parking in the area near the restaurant, so we had to park a minute up the hill. We walked into the restaurant at 8:31 pm, one minute past their seating time (which to be fair is listed on their website), but... c'mon, really? Not only that, it was my birthday and I had two very hungry small children with me, and I told all of this the woman (manager?) at the register, but not only didn't she care, she actually smirked and said in a rude tone, "Maybe you should make a reservation next time."

Now, I have worked in the hospitality industry for many years, both as a server and supervisor. NEVER would I turn someone away ON THEIR BIRTHDAY WITH TWO HUNGRY SMALL CHILDREN simply for walking in one minute late. But not only didn't she care, she actually seemed to express PLEASURE in turning us away. What kind of human being does this? And they have the nerve to say on their website that they they are proud to serve their 'BELOVED San Anselmo residents?!' What a farce. I will NEVER patronize this establishment, and I hope whoever reads this doesn't as well. Let them go out of business and make way for people who actually CARE about...

In 2022 if you’re still serving unseasoned, plain tofu, you’re getting a low rating (and I know I speak for others). One of the blandest meals ever—or should I say, whitest meals I’ve had in a long time. This wasn’t really Thai food, it was white American food pretending to be Thai in order to cater to Marin’s plain palate. There is a lack of creativity or authenticity in the menu.

The spring rolls with plain, firm tofu were depressing. The noodles that were supposedly vegetarian tasted like they had been boiled in the same water as prawns. It’s disappointing as an ethical vegan to taste residue of dead animal. Our noodles and “spicy” fried rice had barely any seasoning, so I had to add heaps of hot sauce to bring any kind of flavor to them.

As a vegan customer, it’s sad that there was no effort to offer dignified vegan dishes. Thailand has many Buddhists, so vegetarian food is a part of a standard Thai diet, and it is flavorful and creative. And with plant-based eating on the rise here, it’s important to offer customers menu options that have as much effort put into them as the animal-based ones so everyone can enjoy them, even omnivorous customers. I can appreciate they labeled some items with a vegan icon and have a 3-item-long vegetarian menu, but it was inconsistent as we found most of the menu items “could” be made “vegan”. I hope they change with the times. We will not be returning...