Thai Cafe Permanently Closed
Thai · 11318 Perrin Beitel, San Antonio, Texas 78217
★★★★★ 1 reviewMenu Items
Reviews
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Amazing Lunch Buffet Serving Lots of Thai Entrees. Excellent Deserts & Appetizers
I've been eating here for almost 20 years. The food has changed a bit, the restaurant changed names and owners a few times, but ultimately returned back to its original operators with a few changes. The buffet was just recently re-introduced as of last week.
I decided to make a return trip to see what had changed since the re-opening under the old name, and the reboot of the buffet.I was not disappointed.
Service
My service was good, plates were cleared instantly, my drink was kept full, but I had ordered a soft drink, and was brought a glass of water. I never corrected the waitress, and the refills kept coming.. Other than this, I had no service issues. The buffet was kept full, clean and all the food was fresh.
Flavor
As far as the flavor of the food goes, the items were very close to their original flavor I felt some of them had lost a little bit of flavor. The beef salad, which was one of my favorites in the past was a bit different. Some of the ingredients had been changed up, the type of lettuce, the sauce flavor, the proportioning of the cucumber and onion, was all a little different.
The pad thai seemed to have improved, in the past the noodles were sticky, soggy, and lacking much flavor. The pad thai now, was pretty decent, it was probably my least favorite buffet item in the past, but I actually went back for seconds this visit. The pad see ewe was about the same as in the past, and the pad woonsen was really good. Its one of the few pad woonsens I've had that is good enough it doesn't need meat.
Overall for buffet food, these items were very good. Noodles texture changes as they sit out, so I never expect Thai buffets to be excellent, but I would consider the food here to be on the upper end as far as buffets go.
Selection
The buffet selection was very similar to its original menu, but was lacking a few items. There used to be deep fried pork, cheese rolls, laab na, and a few other items that were no longer on the menu.
Overall Impression
The buffet was reasonably priced at about $17. The variety on the buffet was good, all the items were fresh and kept refilled while I was there. Flavor on everything was good to excellent. A few items fell short of what I remember them being in the past, but compared to other Thai buffets this one makes my top 5 list again.
Thai Cafe - Signage
Mushrooms, Beef Salad, Eggplant
Pad Thai - Pad Woonsen - Pad See Eew
Curry, Pad Prik
Pumpkin Soup, Coconut Tapioca (Sago)
Thai Cafe - Storefront
Sauce Bar & Fried Sides
Thai Cafe - Dining Area
— Paul