Amphawa Thai Noodle House — Restaurant in San Francisco

Whenever I travel away from home, I always search out Thai restaurants that, hopefully, serve authentic Thai cuisine. How do I nose out these places? I ask local Thais where they would go besides their own kitchen to get the best Thai food. Being Thai myself and speaking Thai, I'm hoping that they would give me the real low down. Well, I was directed to Amphawa. It didn't disappoint. Although, not as good as mom's cooking, which no place is, it's pretty darn good. There are dishes you would not find in most Thai restaurants. Unique dishes that I haven't seen elsewhere. For example, the fresh spring rolls (Po Pia Sod) are a rare find. The sauce was both sweet and savory with the nutty undertone that is common with satay sauce. The crunch from the vegetables and the sweetness of the Chinese sausages inside provide a flavor explosion with every bite. Another rate dish is Gow See Mee. This is a Thai twist of Chinese style noodles. I love the fresh bamboo shoots and mushroom in the dish. The gravy was the perfect consistency and reminded me of comfort food. While I wish the noodles were a touch crunchier when the dish was served, the flavor was spot on Add a touch of chili vinegar and it freshens up the dish. I definitely recommend this place and I'm going back to try other dishes before...

Food was ok. Pineapple fried rice had no salt and I asked for soy sauce and the server sitting at the other table gladly came and brought it to me. Later when I needed a box my server again was sitting, and the other server brought me the box. My boyfriend ordered a soup that smelled very funky to me, he did not like the service as I described it above it was very mediocre if not inattentive, and was asked why he did not leave a 15% tip. As someone coming from the restaurant business from Europe and the Middle East I’m not aware of the US restaurant service but i have to say I got disappointed. I was surprised for asking the 15% tip as mandatory. Now that could be cultural, but it is certainly not okay to ask for tips in that manner. Instead of asking if they made our dinner wrong or anything else they asked us if we are aware that in SF we should leave a 15% tip for the service. Well if you asked I would say that the soup was not up to our standards. Thank you for the food but we won’t be returning...

We enjoyed the excellent food at this intimate Thai restaurant. We were a party of nine for lunch on a Friday - we didn't make a reservation but arrived right at noon as they opened. They put together 4 tables for us in the center of the small space (there are a few booths around the edge of the room too) and were very welcoming. The food was delicious - we ordered many appetizers and all were very good. The Angel wings were a standout, as was the Roti. For entrees the Pad Kee-Mao was perfect, as was the Pad Thai and the Tom Kha Gai soup was very good too. The service was friendly and fast, and the food was lovely. They were doing a thriving take out business while we were there too. We were able to park right out front - there is street parking nearby. We'll be back -...