Lao Table — Restaurant in San Francisco

I was pretty psyched up to try this latest offering from the Osha team. While it didn't quite live up to my expectations I enjoyed the food and had a pleasant experience.

I came here on a Friday around noon for a candidate lunch, so we were a group of about 5. We arrived at about 12:15 and I had every intention of leaving by 1pm to make it back to the office. While this has been an issue at other places, the Osha that used to be here was quick and I was hoping now Lao Table would be as well. We decided to go family style and share a ton of things.

Fresh spring rolls - 3 stars. Pork sausage and mint in a fresh rice paper wrapper, served with peanut dip. I had a hard time tasting much beyond the mint and rice paper, there was very little pork flavor, and the peanut dip was more of a watery/sticky substance than your standard peanut sauce. I probably wouldn't order these again.

Chicken satay - 4 stars. Your standard satay, curried chicken on a stick with peanut sauce. The peanut sauce was properly thick and creamy and the chicken was nicely done. Nothing mindblowing but a solid offer.

Moo nam pla - 3 stars. Fried pork belly with chili-lime dip. The pork belly had good flavor but some pieces were crispy, some were a bit soggy. The chili-lime dip had a bit of a kick, but otherwise, this dish was fairly boring, especially for $14.

Crispy sticky rice salad - 5 stars. Spicy crispy sticky rice with pork sausage and herbs. Fantastic dish. Not something I would have ordered myself, as I'm not a fan of rice, but I ended up loving this. Crispy and comforting and spicy. Chunks of sausage and whole peanuts plus mint, basil, and other herbs on the side. This is a must order.

"Tum marg hoong" papaya salad - 2 stars. I was hoping this would be awesome, it sounded so good, but it fell short in real life. The description had spicy papaya salad with boiled egg, pork sausage loaf, pork cracklin', hopper prawns, anchovies, and sticky rice. I thought this might all come together, but instead, it was a bowl of standard papaya salad with everything else on the side. The egg was overboiled, the pork sausage loaf looked like mystery meat and tasted about as good, the prawns were plain as day, and the sticky rice was really rice noodles. I don't even know where the supposed anchovies were. Honestly, this dish sat almost untouched.

Basil chicken - 4 stars. Chicken, chili, garlic, basil, and a fried egg over rice. The dish was hearty but still light and brought all the familiarity of your usual basil chicken. Again, nothing mindblowing but still solid.

So overall, I'd say it was pretty hit or miss. I'd go back to try other things, as the menu is quite extensive, and the goods were good. The service was great and without placing a rush on the order we had eaten, paid, and left before 1pm. I wish this had been a five star experience, but I look forward to seeing what else is in...

Absolutely delightful! I came to Lao Table for my anniversary dinner, and it 100% did not disappoint. The food was delicious, the ambiance was beautiful, and the service was super friendly.

We shared the vegetable crispy rolls, red curry with tofu, and khaw kai noodles, all of which were fantastic. We started with the vegetable crispy rolls, which, as the name implies, were packed with veggies (and flavor) and were perfectly crispy. The outer shell was fried to perfection, and the super thin, crispy, flaky shell beautifully contrasted vs. the well-spiced and soft filling. To add to the contrast, the rolls were also served with lettuce, rice noodles, and a variety of herbs that you can use to assemble a lettuce wrap. The crunchy, uber-fresh lettuce and fragrant herbs added a great new dimension to the rolls. It was served with a sweet, sour, and spicy chili sauce (typically also served with peanuts, but I'm allergic), which was a great pairing.

For entrees, we split the red curry and khaw kai noodles. The curry was tasty and absolutely packed with veggies, although I think it was a little less flavorful and less packed with tofu than I had expected. The khaw kai noodles, however, were absolutely phenomenal; the noodles were a beautiful harmony of sweet, salty, and sour flavors, and I loved the added char from the wok. They were pretty generous with the prawns, and I loved the added accoutrements: crispy garlic, bean sprouts, and sliced egg.

The space was also lovely -- not overly fancy (so maybe not most folks' cup of tea for a date or anniversary dinner, but it worked well for us) but still beautiful. I loved the giant lanterns and golden leaves hanging from the ceiling, and the space felt intimate but not overly crowded. The servers were super friendly and helpful, although they seemed to still be working through a few kinks in communication between the front and back-end of the house. I have a severe peanut allergy that our server (who was lovely) noted down, but the kitchen did not notice. Thankfully the peanuts in the first item (vegetable spring rolls) were extremely obvious, so we were able...

One star for not good service.. One star off for not satisfying our tastebuds. Three star for presentation and vibe. . Presentation on food is very nice. I mean that's the main point that drew my attention to going there. . Everything was plated really well on fancy boards, plates and etc. Food presentation is perfect for social media. . Food taste - the taste and flavors is missing, i am not satisfy. Everything was lacking some flavors. . Garden fish 70 bucks - the satay chicken skewers were over done and missing satay flavor, no dipping sauce for the satay chicken skewers. . The chicken wings on the garden fish plate was flavorless, at least marinate it. . The beef jerky was hard and not savory or spicy and was just plain. . The fish was fried to perfection but without the dipping sauce it would of been bland. Requested prit nam pla and never showed up til the end, like more than 20 mins. Fail. . Papaya salad with garden fish - should have asked customer if wanted thai or Lao style or if wanted it spicy. But no options was offered. . Service -requested prit nam pla and didnt show up til 20 mins later when meal was almost finished. Kept on forgetting the ordered beers that wasnt on happy hour. Even forgot put friends.dinner meal while ordering. Water was left empty and no extra napkins was provided. Service was not the best for a fancy resto and the price they are charging. . The crispy fried rice was very good and was at least more reasonable. This is a must get. . Tha calamari is good. Loved the dipping sauce. . Thai red curry chicken- there was a good amount of chicken white meat, but flavor wasnt just there. The curry was terrible. Dont recomend. . Overall this place doesn't not satisfy our sophisticated south east Asian taste bud. It was more thai than Lao, lao style is more flavorful, saucy, strong, and satisfy all the flavors such as spicy, bitter, sour, salty, however it was missing all the...