The Orient Thai — Restaurant in San Diego

This place is a secret hide away with amazingly authentic Thai food.

We have a knack for finding off the beaten path spots with traditional (read fantastic) dishes. This one might just rank top for Thai in SD.

Located next to a yoga spot, and a Taco shop, sharing a parking lot with 7-11, you would not see this place as the Mecca it is. (Did you see there is a parking lot, in PB!?! It's unheard of!) But since you got this far in my review, you trust me right?! So yes, next to a convenience store but once you walk thru the front entrance you are transported via all the senses to a quaint , family run restaurant deep in the heart of bustling streets of Thailand.

The decor is ornate and purposeful. A mix of quirky English signage and Thai language, buddhas and shrines adorn the walls. Deep rich colors, shiny bits mixed with natural wood decor, it is truly eye catching.

We eat a lot of Thai food, so we felt like we knew what to expect. But our goal in 2022 is to branch out of our typical choices, so while we were still at Thai, we forced ourselves to order something different than our standard fair. We were SO GLAD we did!

The rice paper wraps were soft and pliable, obviously made fresh! Our first entree was the Panang Curry with chicken, it was delicate and delish! I literally drank the sauce like soup! Added the Hot Basil with beef, which was over the top great. Fresh crunch on the veggies, perfect cut on the meat, and overall flavor was deep and rich without being too heavy.

We had to wrap with the mango sticky rice, because, did you even go to Thai food is you didn't order the sticky rice!?! The mangos were perfect, not overly ripe but sweet, my only suggestion was to use less sticky rice ;) but it's not really a bad thing to get a giant portion of that yummy gooey sweetness!

This place is a gem, a perfect little spot. Give it a try, you won't be sorry!

Pro tip: eat at the restaurant! they seem to be using delivery services which overly complicate their ordering system. Other reviews mention similar issues but in person, the customer service...

Very good food at a good price. I didn’t take any pictures unfortunately but it looked very appetizing, and the taste was just as great as the appearance. A friend and I went to this restaurant, we had Tom Kha, Pad Krapao Muu (Pork), Pad Thai Gai (Chicken), I got a sweet Thai Tea and we got an order of Mango Sticky Rice. All of these dishes were very good. Having lived in Thailand a majority of last year, I am pretty well versed with thai cuisine and this certainly took me back to my time there so in my opinion, if you are looking for a good thai restaurant…..this would be a good choice. The staff was very friendly and hospitable. Mim was the person who greeted us and who we had the pleasure of speaking to for all of our needs today, she was very friendly, attentive and provided service with a friendly thai smile.

It’s good to note that the restaurant offers indoor and outdoor seating. My friend takes her dog everywhere and this place was able to accommodate us with the outdoor seating option. The restroom is very clean and well maintained and the only real downfall to this place is a shortage of parking as it shares a small lot with the Taco shop and 7 Eleven. Excellent meal today. I would certainly return if I am...

I and my husband searched A LOT of menus and read A LOT of reviews before settling to come to this place. I’ve been very lucky to eat some incredible Thai food from all over the world. This is a good thing, but it’s also made me incredibly picky. I had the vegetarian green curry with medium spice. The dish had multiple FRESH vegetables cooked to perfection! The curry blend seemed to be homemade. I’ve never tried a blend quite like it. It was superb!!! My husband had the drunken noodles. I typically don’t like drunken noodles for several reasons, but this one I couldn’t quit eating! Lots of fresh vegetables as well and not saturated with oil. We also had an appetizer (I forgot the name). They were avacado and cream cheese wontons. Super unique. They did not disappoint! 😋 The restaurant was clean and decorated really fun. The service was excellent!!! I will definitely be coming back every time I come to San Diego. Thanks for the great food and...