Foodies Wrong About Phuphing Thai - Film at 11:00
Written: Jun 01 '03 (Updated Jun 01 '03)
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Pros: Delicious Thai food.
Cons: Doesn't live up to the hype.
The Bottom Line: Best Thai food in the East Bay? Not quite. Not quite bad either.
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| megugrrrl's Full Review: Phuping Thai Cuisine |
Everyone in San Francisco knows Thep Phenom - the overpriced Thai food "phenom"enon (roll eyes now) that manages to elicit squeals of delight from a certain friend I have. Recently a relative of Thep Phenom migrated to the East Bay, which had excited my foodie friends all over again. I've been to Phuping Thai (yes, I believe it's "puping", seriously) several times now, and have been disappointed over and over. Don't get me wrong, the food's great, but not worthy of all the attention and praise it has been getting. (Besides, for city eats, I'm partial to Bangkok 16 and Dusit Thai.)
Phuping Thai also happens to be in the Pacific East Mall - where the 99 Ranch is.
Starters
I'm a big admirer of meekrob, and was thrilled they offered it. FYI meekrob looks very easy to prepare - it's a pile of deep fried rice noodles with some sweet sauce and bits of tofu - but I recently learned there are around 20 ingredients in the sauce alone and is a pain to prepare. So where is this going? Nowhere really, because the meekrob at Phuping isn't that exciting. It lacks complexity. My husband claims it isn't sweet enough, I just think it's flat. The sam krob, which sounds a lot like meekrob, isn't any more exciting. Deep fried spears of taro arranged on a worn out wooden goblet just didn't do it for us. Not even with that lime sauce.
My favorite starter was the Tom Yum soup. Sour, savory, strong.
Like Thep Phenom, they also serve crunchity deep fried quail, which is good. It's served with a peppery lime sauce, which is even better.
Appetizers hover around the $8 mark.
Entrees
Again, I was expecting a little bit more. The food at Phuping is generally on the sweet side, which I love, but still my eyes never rolled back in delight. The green curry is fragrant and packed with flavor, veggies are thrown in for extra texture. The roasted duck red curry was gamey, and true to duck, oily.
The pad thai here is embarrassingly subpar, and reminds me of ketchup (or catsup).
Expect to pay a couple bucks extra for everything at Phuping Thai.
Still the food, in general, is decent.
Desserts
Sweet rice with fresh mango always saves a meal. Just make sure you save room for it, as sweet rice is a lot heavier on the belly than you think. There are other standbys like coconut ice cream.
Interior and Service
A little razzly dazzly, but nothing too tacky. Framed restaurant reviews and a large mural comes back to my memory. There's space for around 30 or so diners. The service is excellent, even when obviously understaffed.
In All
Phuping Thai is a great Thai restaurant in the East Bay. It's got a great wine selection (which is maybe why this place showed up on everyone's radar.) It's not the best, but good. Iffy for repeat visits because of the slightly higher prices and drive to Richmond.
Recommended:
Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
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Epinions.com ID:
megugrrrl
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Oakland
Reviews written: 151
Trusted by: 318 members
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