Saap Ver Damn Good! Thai street food — Restaurant in San Francisco

First Impressions: A trendy restaurant in the nice part of the design district. Seems well-reviewed, and might sate the evening's appetite for spice. Be warned, everything went downhill from there.

Took a gamble and thought, a Thai restaurant couldn't go wrong with anything Tom Yum related.

Oh, boy was I wrong. Our waiter seemed impatient all throughout the experience. Mentioned to him that it was our first time. Unfortunately, we couldn't understand what he was saying due to his thick accent. Nor did he seem interested in explaining the suggestions further. So heck, I just went with my gut choice i.e. the "Spicy Tom Yum Noodles". He asked about the spice level but ignored my question about what the differences meant. Impatiently, he recited the spice levels again. So I said, "Medium" on a hunch.

( I understand that spice levels are subjective. But surely, would it be so hard as to provide a sample of what those levels mean? I can't be the only customer to have asked that question. -- The restaurant wasn't even busy at the time. )

We also ordered the "Crispy Larb Wonton". In disbelief, I thought our night couldn't get any worst. This $9.95 dish (not including tax) was 90% fried stale dough. It wasn't even crispy, it was rock hard and tasted like it was yesterday's batch reheated. There was hardly any filling in it and not even edible.

When my noodles arrived, it obliterated my tastebuds. This was again inedible. I never had trouble eating hot foods but this was like fire in my mouth for a supposed "medium" level of spice. I promptly told the waiter about the issue which I said, "This is very spicy for medium please tell the kitchen that the remaining orders be lowered in spice level.". The waiter nodded and went on his way. He didn't offer to replace my dish nor seem to understand the gravity of the problem.

I kept my cool and reassured myself that perhaps the next dish wouldn't be as bad. Sadly the "Spicy Seafood Fried Rice" was a disaster. The squid was under cooked and overall it was blazing hot with spice. The overwhelming heat was so significant that we couldn't taste any other flavors.

Did the waiter tell the kitchen of our earlier request to adjust the spice level? We'll never know, we weren't even checked-up on. I took a bathroom break and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Only to be disappointed yet again, but this time by the absurdly disgusting state of the bathrooms!

That evening was an utter disappointment and I felt sorry for my friend who joined me in this sad expensive experience, as it was I who made the choice for eating here.

I vow never to come here again.

I dislike leaving bad ratings but I walked out of here infuriated. And while I was leaving, I noticed that all the tables didn't have food. Instead, most ordered alcoholic drinks which made sense! People didn't come here...

Was excited to try this place but man what a let down. I would rather go to my neighborhood Thai takeout down the street for more authentic Thai food.

First let’s talk food. My husband ordered what the menu described as a stir fry noodle with pork. It came out covered in loads and loads of gravy?? Very confusing. I ordered the stewed pork leg rice plate, a little too sweet and very gelatinous with the actual meat being too dry/over cooked. Not horrible but it gets 2 stars given the price. Also I saw the waitress literally use her bare hands to grab a cilantro leaf to plop it onto my plate before serving - no ty.

Service is what this place really lacked. Everyone looked like they were forced to work there. I asked for some popular dishes and the waitress pointed at a few items. I then asked if there’s anything not spicy and she just could not give any recommendations. Strange but ok. The part that really put a sour taste in our mouths is that we walked in with a can of half empty Coke Zero, and the waitress informed us mid way through that outside drinks are not allowed. Ok, fair enough, but what did you want us to do at this point? Either way, we continued with our meal. What really bothered us was when two non-Asian diners sat at the table next to us, holding smoothies from an outside establishment, and nobody batted an eye or said anything to them. What’s up with this double standard? When we asked for the check, they plopped down the bill with a blank expression, then picked up our card with an equally blank expression. Need to say less, after paying $50 just for two entrees, we will not...

Good food but a little bit too salty in some dishes in my opinion. Good atmosphere. I like the decorations filled with the famous old films even my parents were surprised and praised them. I really liked the little metal cup , it made the feeling of being in Thailand.

Since I'm not from SF. I'm not so sure what SF was. I asked the waiter which he kindly explained to me. However, my friend who was a local later explained that what he said was not entirely true. So, I wasn't sure if he withheld the information thinking we were all tourists.

In general, I don't like the fact that being charged 'SF mandate' , I understand if wanting to improve employees' health benefits and so on, but that shouldn't be from customers' expenses. Employer should be the one taken care of it instead. Also, mine was charged 3%, it seemed to me that this percentage is a random made up number based on one's opinion. why percentage, what it is being based on, if I ordered more food, then I would have to pay more?. Moreover, the SF mandate was added along food orders. Taxes and tips are calculated afterward. Again, this should come from the employer...