side street thai kitchen / north park | san diego, ca

Why yes, it’s another review for a restaurant in North Park! This time my mission was to introduce Jake and the kids to “real” Thai food and we hit up Side Street Thai Kitchen. Jake’s only previous experience with Thai food was at ra-ka-de-ka which I did not consider to be “real” Thai food. If you only have 3 levels of heat available, then sorry, you’re not real Thai food.

After looking over the menu for a bit, we all decided what we wanted to eat. Jake’s youngest son insisted that he only want to eat wontons, rice and noodles and that’s it. We ordered a side of plain rice for him, a side of plain noodles and this appetizer below:

Crispy Triangles ($6.95) – “Crispy wontons stuffed with curried-potato, shrimp, and crab meat, served with Thai spicy and sweet sauce.” We ordered these for Jake’s son and he was nice enough to share with us. Kind of a twist on the regular crab rangoon wontons you see in Chinese restaurants – these had a nice flavor and were crispy and crunchy. The thai spicy-sweet sauce is a thinner, more see-through sauce with hints of orange flavor in the sauce. I really like it!

Jake stayed in his comfort level and ordered the Orange Chicken ($10.95), but at a level 5 (out of 10) spiciness. He gave me a bite to eat and one bite wasn’t spicy enough to really show through but after he ate all of his chicken, he definitely felt the heat. Jake thought this was one of the best orange chicken dishes he’s ever had. The batter isn’t too thick or heavy and the chicken pieces had a really nice crispy crunch. Jake wants to go back and see if he can handle a level 6!

This is Jake’s daughter’s Wonton Soup with roast pork slices (don’t have the exact pricing down for this one). I didn’t have any of this, but his daughter freakin’ loved this dish and kept talking about it all night.


I also stayed within my comfort zone and ordered the Beef Pad Thai ($9.95). I usually get chicken or shrimp but for some reason I was really jonesing for some beef and this totally hit the spot. I got a measly level 2 spiciness, but I am a wimp and I just like a little amount of heat. I loved the amount of crushed peanuts on top, it was enough to get into many bites of food and the noodles and sauce were sweet, slightly spicy, and very good.

Here’s a funny story that happened at dinner that night. Jake’s son, for some reason, wanted to try the spicy chili sauce. Now, this stuff is HOT. Just looking at it you know it can burn, all red with tons of red pepper flakes poking around in the sauce. Jake warned him it was really hot and he proceeded to take a big spoonful and rub it all over the top of his rice. He took a bite of the rice + chili sauce and then immediately started drinking water and then stuffed his sweater sleeve into his mouth to try and stop the burn. Ohhh, poor kid. Lesson learned.

All in all we all enjoyed our night out for some Thai food in North Park and now Jake and the kids know they like Thai! Mission accomplished.

Side Street Thai Kitchen
3025 University Ave
( Between 30th St. & Ray St. )
San Diego, CA 92104
Phone: (619) 228-9208

Street Side Thai Kitchen on Urbanspoon


8 thoughts on “side street thai kitchen / north park | san diego, ca

  1. Orange Chicken and Wonton Soup has nothing to do with Thai cuisine but is Chinese cuisine and spicyness doesn’t define Thai food. Ra-ka-de-ka is very westernized Thai food but has actually more to do with Thai food than this restaurant. Try Sab-e-lee for some reasonable authentic Thai in SD

  2. Okay, I guess I should have stated that they didn’t actually get “real” Thai food, but they wanted to get what they got and it was a bit different than what they usually order, so in that sense they tried something new. I am by no means an expert on various cuisines but am happy when others try new things, even if they’re only slightly different. Thanks for the suggestion on Sab-e-Lee – I’ve heard of it before but I thought it was another type of cuisine for some reason!

  3. hi mary – the sab e lee in santee is owned by the original owner of the first sab e lee (in linda vista on ulric). they have more variety in their menu as well. my fave is the issan sausage and the pine cone fish (santee location).

    i’ve been thinking oftrying this thai place. one of my friends just ate there and liked it. plus it’s near heaven sent! and urban solace! (hey, those biscuits….)

    by the way, my daughter and i were at plaza bonita today and were trying to find that gelato place you blogged about, paciugo. they must have closed becuase even tho’ they were on the directory, we could not find it where it was supposed to be. #$%@! it’s a shame – they sure didn’t last long.

  4. hey cc – thanks for the info on sab e lee. the only time i ever go to santee is to get donuts… which reminds me, i have never blogged about the donut place before. damn. side street thai is good in my opinion – we totally went to heaven sent afterwards and splurged on desserts. totally worth it.

    that’s a total bummer the gelato place is closed! too bad. i wonder if this other gelato place i really like is still there… it’s in little italy. i’ll have to check it out and blog about it if it’s still there for more gelato options.

  5. hi mary – is that donut shop in santee called Mary’s? I remember someone did a post on it. you have to drive past mary’s to get to sab e lee. you guys should def try it out. there’s dishes on there that you won’t find at other places.

    is that gelato place in little italy called pappalecco? it’s not on the main drag, india. i think it’s on state and cedar. sux about paciugo. i guess gelato didn’t work out in national city.

  6. hi cc – haha, yes, you are right on both counts. i had to look up pappalecco though since i didn’t know the name of that place but after looking at photos of it that is it. they had some kind of milk and white chocolate gelato that i LOVED. aw. now i want gelato. darlene did a post about mary’s donuts and i’ve been a couple of times and taken photos but i’ve been waiting until they have my favorite donut to do a post. maybe i will visit again this weekend…

  7. Pappalecco is still around in Little Italy and they also open a new location in Hillcrest. Their gelato is one of the better ones in SD. The best gelato currently in SD is Chocolat. They have two locations – one in the Gaslamp which is great for a late night snack after the clubs and Hillcrest. Both Pappalecco and Chocolat tend to be better on the non-fruit based gelato.

  8. hi mary, that’s right, it was darlene’s post! well next time you go to mary’s donuts, just head a tiny bit east on that same road and you’ll find sab e lee the owner is supernice and he always remembers his customers too.

    the guys who own pappalecco are flirts too! 🙂

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