Chang Thai: Thai/Lao Cuisine in San Pablo

Here, and the next two, are photos from a recent visit (7/2/18). Above: Rice Ball Salad, with fermented pork.

Squid Salad.

Tom Kha, Thai Coconut Soup.

Squid Salad, spicier version. Squid cooked to perfection.

Khao Soi with chicken and egg noodles.

Khao Soi. Very rich coconut-based broth.

Papaya Salad, Thai style. 

While waiting for traffic on 80 to die down, Robin & I went to Chang Thai the other day. We just had a couple of dishes, and this first one, above & below, is about as perfect as a Squid Salad could be. The squid was clearly fresh, and cooked to the ideal texture. Thinly sliced carrots, red bells, red onions, cilantro, mint, tomato and ginger accompanied the squid, dressed in a lime juice and fermented fish sauce dressing which was both bright and balanced.

Pad Kee Mao, aka Drunken Noodles. Pan-fried wide noodles with vegetables, we chose chicken for the protein. Not the char on the noodle below: no doubt the sauce caramelizing and reducing in the pan, it gave the noodle a slightly crunchy mouthfeel, in nice contrast to the noodle's inherent soft buoyancy. A couple of simple dishes, really, when you think about it, but also more than the sum of its parts. Chang Thai is definitely one of the few restaurants around operating at the top of their game, and still providing great value.

About a month ago, Robin & I started discovering these Thai/Laotian restaurants in Contra Costa County, mainly in El Sobrante, Richmond and San Pablo. We'd been to Chang Thai once before and were quite astonished in a good way. We had their Thai Spicy Sausages, which, if memory serves, we paired with their Lam Tok, and something else we can't quite remember, though I think it was their Thai Basil with rice dish. Nothing we've had yet tastes like your standard Bangkok-style Thai cuisine. The sausages, so vivid a memory from our first visit, are definitely a Laotian touch, sour pork infused with lemongrass.

Tom Kha. A very, very intense version of the classic Thai dish, a coconut milk soup with mushrooms, scallion, galangal (a type of ginger common in SE Asian cuisine), lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and cilantro. I've never tasted this flavor, greater than the sum of its parts. Amazing.

Overhead shot of the Chicken Larb, another Thai standard, but this one with Lao accents, such as the roasted rice powder which adds a new texture to a dish already brimming with contrasting mouth feel. Delicious.

Pad Kee Mao: pan-fried flat noodles with onion, tomato, red bells, cabbage, thai basil, Chinese broccoli & pretty sure we chose chicken. Same exact dish that closed our meal at Sue's Kitchen a few nights ago. Both versions just amazing, but very different in key respects. This one had a lot more vegetables, which we appreciated, cooked perfectly. Perhaps needless to say, not only was this dinner masterfully rendered, but inexpensive too (each dish less than $8). 

Chang Thai Cuisine

2229 Dover Ave.

San Pablo, CA

510-235-9999

Sue's Kitchen: Exquisite Thai/Lao Cuisine in El Sobrante

Drunken Noodles with chicken. Just went to Sue's Kitchen last night (10/8), the cuisine exalted, the hospitable family vibe still the golden x-factor. The key to their Drunken Noodle dish is the precise interplay of chile, basil and the sauce with the char on the red bells, onions and noodles.

Panang Curry with beef. Pretty sure we hadn't tried this before, and it would be just as good in a vegan context. Sue's has an extensive selection of vegan choices, and their curries taste like they are all coconut-based. Probably some fermented fish sauce in some dishes though.

Yum Pla Meuk. And maybe our absolute favorite, the squid salad, from the first bite to the last it hits you: lemongrass, green onion, lime, chile, cilantro, mint, perfectly cooked squid over lettuce. 

Just got back from eating at Sue's Kitchen for the 5th time. Tried some new stuff, all of which was great, including these, Thai Iced Coffee.

Two shots of their Seaweed Seafood Salad. Seaweed "noodles" with shrimp, calamari, chile, lemongrass, cilantro, fish sauce, lettuce.

Green Curry with Chicken & Rice--eggplant, basil, bamboo, red bells, green curry paste in coconut milk. Ever have one of those experiences where when the sauce hits your sweet spot, your eyes roll into the back of your head, producing otherworldly bliss? That's it.

Pad Thai with chicken. Sauce tangier than usual, texture more buoyant due to the give of the noodles. Wonderful stuff. Yet another take on a classic, made in a new way. 

We returned to Sue's Kitchen last night (3/26) for the 3rd time, and tried a couple of new dishes.

These three are shots of the Yum Pla Meuk (Calamari salad). Calamari: perfectly cooked, served with crisp fresh lettuce, mint, cilantro, red and green onion, chili pepper & lemongrass. The sauce clinging to the calamari is the key, brilliant balance of lime juice, homemade sweet chili paste, and what tastes like a splash of fermented fish sauce. Balanced interplay of aroma, flavor and texture. 

Two shots of Larb Kai, similar to the previous dish, save with the ground chicken mixed with rice powder. I've had many versions of this dish, this one has more depth, with a nuanced Umami flavor to the chicken that suggests use of in-house chicken stock.

Finally, our favorite dish at Sue's Kitchen, Pad Kee Mao, or Drunken Noodles, this version with beef, basil leaves, mixed vegetables (this time: onion, cabbage, & yellow bell pepper) and chili garlic sauce. I can't think of a flat noodle dish that's impressed me so consistently. The chef knows the timing, how to make the sauce, cook the meat and vegetables to perfection before adding the al dente noodles to the mix. I can tell these aren't necessarily the best ingredients money can buy (this is definitely not Kobe Beef), but that's not where the magic is. The magic is in the perfect touch and learned, skilled instinct, something you can't get to by reading a recipe. 

I am completely smitten. I am hesitant to tell you about my secret place, but it is far from secret, and only have a handful of people read my blog anyway. So instead let me praise Sue's Kitchen and speak the whole truth about this sublime fare and the golden vibration of welcoming extended to friend, family and stranger all darkening their door. There's few culinary experiences I can recall to match what I discovered tonight.

These first two shots are of the Nam Kao, deep fried rice ball mixed with sour pork, cilantro, green onion, ground peanuts, and lime juice served with lettuce a mint leaves ($7.95), the dish I first experienced at Chao Thai in Oakland, and we've been trying its myriad versions at Thai & Lao restaurants throughout the Bay Area since. This is, as far as I'm concerned, my favorite version yet. 

We decided upon a second salad, the Nuer Num Thoke, grilled beef slice mixed with mint leaves, cilantro, green onion, chili peppers, lemongrass and lime juice served over lettuce ($7.95). The lemongrass sauce imbues the beef deeply (I'm assuming they've marinated it in a lemongrass for some time, judging from the intensity). Another masterful dish, in terms of contrasting & complementary texture & flavor. Complex yet balanced. Extraordinarily healthy.

Above are two shots of Pad Kee Mao, flat noodle stir-fried with chicken breast, basil, red bell peppers, onion and a chili garlic sauce ($7.95). But mainly, a plate of noodles. It looks simple, but it is far from it. I have never had a dish more finely nuanced. This is a far cry from the Bangkok-style Thai dishes I've had most of my adult life. Until I returned here a few years ago, what used to stand out for me is how much Bay Area Thai restaurants differ from Central Texas equivalents: less spice, but much better vegetables and fish. However, Austin eventually got Madam Mam's, then Sap's, bringing a whole different style of Thai cuisine to light. And now, there's a whole host of Thai/Lao restaurants throughout the East Bay and elsewhere that are impressive on their own terms. Sue's Kitchen is, without a doubt, the best of these that I've experienced.

Sue's Kitchen

510-222-2312

448 Valley View Rd. Suite H

El Sobrante, CA 94803

LA Trip VII: Salinas Valley, up Highway One to Half Moon Bay

Near the end of this final stretch, we got stuck in a three hour traffic jam in Half Moon Bay, of all places. We spent 16 hours on the road Monday.

Off to our west we could see the ridge line that marked the eastern reaches of Big Sur, apparently reachable through windy small roads. Off to our east, Pinnacles National Park.

Beautiful ridge formed by glaciers dead ahead. In this shot to the right, and in the one below, you can see grey trees, following the Salinas River, many presumably dead from the Drought.

Shots above near Castroville, where we stopped at a produce stand.

Davenport.

Pescadero Beach, I think.

Click on this and just to the left of the center of the horizon you might be able to make out the lighthouse in the distance.