Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep USA Buddhist Temple

The Bottom Line Up Front:
This is not a restaurant or farmers market but rather a Buddhist temple — or rather the site of a future temple. Organizers are raising funds to build a larger facility by hosting a Thai food market of sorts from Sunday morning to about 3 p.m. Select dishes and drinks from a variety of Thai food vendors, get a glimpse of Buddhism, and enjoy the great outdoors all at the same time.

The Setup:
Similar to a state fair, you exchange your cash for tokens then use those tokens to pay the food vendors. Don't worry, there's no funky conversion rate to trick you like at some carnivals. Here a Jackson gets you a $20 token, a Hamilton gets you a $10 token, etc.

The Food:
It's not a huge place like the 626 Night Market; maybe 6 to 9 vendors total — but there's more than enough to either get your Thai food fix or to explore different offerings if you're new to Southeast Asian cuisine.

My wife got the boat noodles, which was standard. A solid amount was given, but the taste just didn't wow us. Still, she was satisfied with it.

I wanted something unique and this Thai-American fusion stall kept catching my eye after I kept walking around indicisively for 10 minutes. So, I ordered the BBQ wings with Thai chili sauce and Thai-seasoned french fries. There were only 3 wings, but they were substantial in size and quite moist and tender. The seasoning was pretty understated, and I was hoping for more flavors. The fries took 15 minutes longer than expected and were still not super crispy. And like the wings, it lacked strong flavors. Overall, they were fine but a little underwhelming. I ended up dipping them in the wings sauce, and that elevated them quite a bit.

Together, my wife and I shared mango sticky rice, which came in a big portion. We ended up eating it the next day and it was still tasty. The mangos were nice and ripe, while the coconut drizzle on the rice was mildly sweet — a perfect balance.

The Cost:
All told, we spent $40 — $10 for the boat noodles, $15 for the BBQ wings, $5 for the fries, and $10 for the mango sticky rice. At first, I thought that was kinda expensive for just above-average food, but then I remembered that if we had purchased the same things at a sit-down restaurant, we'd probably be paying $60 to $80 these days. So this was an affordable alternative. The best part? It's a donation to a worthy charity.

The Setting:
All of the vendor stalls and seating are outdoors. Picture handmade picnic tables and you get the idea. There's a good amount of seating, but if you get there after 12 p.m., it might be hard to get an open table with some tree shade.

The Parking:
The site is located along Chino Hills Parkway, tucked behind a row of trees and residential neighborhoods. If you don't slow down to spot Rustic Drive or the tiny sign the organizers posted at the intersection, you'll easily drive by without realizing it. Also, if you don't come well before noon, the paved parking lot gets filled up quickly, as does the very limited street parking.

The Conclusion:
If you go in looking for top-of-the-line Thai food, you'll be disappointed. But if you go in looking for a fun outdoor dining experience and to support a good cause, you'll enjoy this market as much as I did.

Love this temple. Very peaceful environment and tasty food 🙏

Visiting from NoCa and being Zen Buddhist it was good fortune to learn of this Wat. Our Sunday visit was delightful with good food and a very happy atmosphere among the attendees. I wish I could have learned more about the tradition and practice.

Be careful with those skewers. Both of my kids ate them yesterday, and they both threw up during the night

It’s a cool temple. As far as the food stalls are concerned, bring friends because you’ll be waiting at least an hour for some of them unless you come early

Love this place. Its been a while since i have been here. Actully been living in Thiland for a few years. I missed the food so i came here. Sooo good!

Beautiful, must see

This Thai temple has food stalls every Sunday. You exchange your cash for tokens, walk around to different stalls, and grab whatever looks good. If you don't use all your tokens, you can swap them back for money.

Parking is a dirt lot but there's plenty of space, and they have picnic benches where you can sit and eat.

Peaceful and rejuvenating. Amazing fresh thai food...nice people...

Magestic place, worth knowing, one of the most impressive places with very good energy and spirituality

Post covid they’ve been doing construction and reorganizing the street vendor style food shops to better serve the community. Good food, a nice place to visit on the weekends. During the week days it’s more quiet and if you go there for the purpose of spiritual practice, that is the best time.My dad and I used to play Thai music there during the weekends when people showed up to buy Thai street vendor style food. Sometimes there were performances from the Thai students to commemorate Thai religious holidays. Worth checking out. The lead monk came from Wat Thai North Hollywood to start this place up.

Thai street food every Sunday from 10AM - 2 PM. Take your pick, from boat noodles to Somtum, mango and sticky rice dessert and plenty more.

Love all the shade here. This is a pretty Buddhist temple and they celebrate Thai New Year here too.

There are very good Thai food on Sunday

There is a market on Sunday, selling some Thai raw and cooked food. The freshly fried oysters and mussels were a bit confusing and the presentation was not good. Crispy rice salad has a good taste and texture, but you should try to pay attention to hygiene when cooking.