Finally had the chance to dine-in here at Bird & Buffalo which has been on the Michelin Guide since 2022!
As soon as you enter, you’re greeted by cozy yet rustic Southeast Asian vibes. The dining area is pretty dense, but the staff makes sure that you feel welcome and comfortable. We were seated directly next to the register/where the staff tend to stand and it gave us a great view of the entire restaurant. The restaurant was pretty quiet, but there were only about 3 other tables seated at the time.
The menu was straight forward but there was one item they had posted on the back wall that wasn’t on the menu: Kao Piak Sen $17. We were told that this was essentially ‘Lao Chicken Noodle Soup,’ so of course we had to order it. We also ordered the classic Somtum (Papaya Salad) Thai style $15.95 + added salted crab $2 to it. One thing that really caught our eye was the Roti and Stewed Beef in Peanut-Red Curry $11.95. The menu notated that it is served ‘taco style’ so we wanted to see how it was executed. We made a request to have all of our food be served at the same time, but the papaya salad came out super quick. The other two dishes did come out at the same time, which was perfect!
The Somtum portion was huge, we even had leftovers. It was a refreshing first bite with a pretty intense kick as you continue to eat it. Definitely ask to adjust the spice level if you’re not good with spice! The salted crab add-in was delicious, fun to eat, and perfectly sweet + savory.
Next up: we dug into the Kao Piak Sen. The chicken was ridiculously tender, the noodles were so bouncy, and the dish itself was very comforting, but I did wish it had just a teeny bit more flavor. Even with the added chili oil, it just needed a touch more of salt.
Finally, we tried the Roti with Beef Curry. This was our favorite bite of the night and an absolute must order! It was served like an extra large taco, so, since we were sharing, we folded it and sliced it into two. The only thing we really had to slice was the roti, the beef itself just cut like softened butter. The sauce had seeped all the way through the meat so each bite was full of that sweet and creamy peanut red curry! I wish we had started with it, since it was room temp by the time we tried it—I bet it’s even more incredible hot. Next time, I’m ordering my own and digging in right away. The roti was just a bit oily, but that richness worked with the fresh veggies and curried beef.
It is located in an extremely walkable and bus-able location, but there’s plenty of street parking nearby. If you’re lucky, you can snag a parking spot in the small lot attached to the restaurant, but I believe it is shared with the business next to it. I parked on the street a few blocks away since I just always feel safer with my car in the residential parts in the Temescal area.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Wilai Gosonvich
This Thai restaurant is really tasty,especially their som tum.Definitely worth revisiting.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Julian Torres
Sao koi with Chicken was delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kimberly Iwamoto
A small Thai restaurant with a Thai street style. The food was surprisingly delicious, even the simple papaya salad was great! Their Roti is very different, they put the topping on top instead of dipping it in sauce!
The tables are close together , maybe when it’s full house will not easy to talk with each others !
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
elanita korian
Delicious food! Came during taste of temescal and cane wait to try more on the menu
Kenneth Tong
Overall the food is delicious but nothing that was phenomenal that would warrant me to go out of the way for unless I’m in the area EXCEPT that the fried chicken spring roll and Kao Ka Moo was tasty.
Chicken spring roll has outer layer that was not the usual spring roll and so it gives a nice texture to the meaty spring roll.
The Kao Ka Moo, stewed pork belly, was so tender that it just shreds and the flavor was yummy. This was the entree that we pretty much finished since it was yummy.
Pad see ew was so so. A little on the soggy side which I’m not used to and I prefer pad see ew from another location about 1 mile away that is hands down the best I’ve had.
Nam Kao was ok too. Texture was lacking since everything was mostly soggy when I’ve like the crispy rice texture together with all the meat and vegetables.
Kao soi had good coconut milk soup but it didn’t have that spices depth to it. If it did, it would have been perfect, just as how I would remember it when I had it in Thailand.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kao Soi with Braised Beef
Thea Prince
Meat was well cooked but otherwise flavor was really lacking. Pad see eww noodles were over cooked and lumped together without any sauce and egg was in the omelet form still not cut up Got a curry and the meat was good but no flavor and curry was very thin and watery Mango sticky rice was good
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Syed Irfan
Owner must check his Store Waiters, she is very kindless and use bad words to the customers Owner should check her Her attitude is very up
Service: 1
Sam Hsieh
This is one of the best restaurants in the east bay!! Max was so gracious and kind and gave us extra food when they were out of eggs. The moo palo is one of my favorites, but the 1/2 chicken is also very good. Definitely try the mango sticky rice for a sweet bite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A A Irfan
Owner must check his Store Waiters, she is very kindless and use bad words to the customers Owner should check her Her attitude is very up
Delicious food, definitely coming back to try different things.
Recommend: Pad see ew and Massamun
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kira Mead
One of the best Thai restaurants in Oakland. Unique but comforting, so delicious. Staff is the nicest.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Aidan Ramey
Hands down the best Thai food I've ever had. Get the deluxe platter to share. The sausage starter is the best sausage I've ever had. You need to come here
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fernando Augusto
Vibrant flavors! Get the chicken wings and a Singha beer or a thai tea.
Finally had the chance to dine-in here at Bird & Buffalo which has been on the Michelin Guide since 2022!
As soon as you enter, you’re greeted by cozy yet rustic Southeast Asian vibes. The dining area is pretty dense, but the staff makes sure that you feel welcome and comfortable. We were seated directly next to the register/where the staff tend to stand and it gave us a great view of the entire restaurant. The restaurant was pretty quiet, but there were only about 3 other tables seated at the time.
The menu was straight forward but there was one item they had posted on the back wall that wasn’t on the menu: Kao Piak Sen $17. We were told that this was essentially ‘Lao Chicken Noodle Soup,’ so of course we had to order it. We also ordered the classic Somtum (Papaya Salad) Thai style $15.95 + added salted crab $2 to it. One thing that really caught our eye was the Roti and Stewed Beef in Peanut-Red Curry $11.95. The menu notated that it is served ‘taco style’ so we wanted to see how it was executed. We made a request to have all of our food be served at the same time, but the papaya salad came out super quick. The other two dishes did come out at the same time, which was perfect!
The Somtum portion was huge, we even had leftovers. It was a refreshing first bite with a pretty intense kick as you continue to eat it. Definitely ask to adjust the spice level if you’re not good with spice! The salted crab add-in was delicious, fun to eat, and perfectly sweet + savory.
Next up: we dug into the Kao Piak Sen. The chicken was ridiculously tender, the noodles were so bouncy, and the dish itself was very comforting, but I did wish it had just a teeny bit more flavor. Even with the added chili oil, it just needed a touch more of salt.
Finally, we tried the Roti with Beef Curry. This was our favorite bite of the night and an absolute must order! It was served like an extra large taco, so, since we were sharing, we folded it and sliced it into two. The only thing we really had to slice was the roti, the beef itself just cut like softened butter. The sauce had seeped all the way through the meat so each bite was full of that sweet and creamy peanut red curry! I wish we had started with it, since it was room temp by the time we tried it—I bet it’s even more incredible hot. Next time, I’m ordering my own and digging in right away. The roti was just a bit oily, but that richness worked with the fresh veggies and curried beef.
It is located in an extremely walkable and bus-able location, but there’s plenty of street parking nearby. If you’re lucky, you can snag a parking spot in the small lot attached to the restaurant, but I believe it is shared with the business next to it. I parked on the street a few blocks away since I just always feel safer with my car in the residential parts in the Temescal area.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
This Thai restaurant is really tasty,especially their som tum.Definitely worth revisiting.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sao koi with Chicken was delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A small Thai restaurant with a Thai street style.
The food was surprisingly delicious, even the simple papaya salad was great! Their Roti is very different, they put the topping on top instead of dipping it in sauce!
The tables are close together , maybe when it’s full house will not easy to talk with each others !
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Delicious food! Came during taste of temescal and cane wait to try more on the menu
Overall the food is delicious but nothing that was phenomenal that would warrant me to go out of the way for unless I’m in the area EXCEPT that the fried chicken spring roll and Kao Ka Moo was tasty.
Chicken spring roll has outer layer that was not the usual spring roll and so it gives a nice texture to the meaty spring roll.
The Kao Ka Moo, stewed pork belly, was so tender that it just shreds and the flavor was yummy. This was the entree that we pretty much finished since it was yummy.
Pad see ew was so so. A little on the soggy side which I’m not used to and I prefer pad see ew from another location about 1 mile away that is hands down the best I’ve had.
Nam Kao was ok too. Texture was lacking since everything was mostly soggy when I’ve like the crispy rice texture together with all the meat and vegetables.
Kao soi had good coconut milk soup but it didn’t have that spices depth to it. If it did, it would have been perfect, just as how I would remember it when I had it in Thailand.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kao Soi with Braised Beef
Meat was well cooked but otherwise flavor was really lacking. Pad see eww noodles were over cooked and lumped together without any sauce and egg was in the omelet form still not cut up
Got a curry and the meat was good but no flavor and curry was very thin and watery
Mango sticky rice was good
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Owner must check his Store Waiters, she is very kindless and use bad words to the customers Owner should check her Her attitude is very up
Service: 1
This is one of the best restaurants in the east bay!! Max was so gracious and kind and gave us extra food when they were out of eggs. The moo palo is one of my favorites, but the 1/2 chicken is also very good. Definitely try the mango sticky rice for a sweet bite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Owner must check his Store Waiters, she is very kindless and use bad words to the customers Owner should check her Her attitude is very up
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
Delicious food, definitely coming back to try different things.
Recommend: Pad see ew and Massamun
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of the best Thai restaurants in Oakland. Unique but comforting, so delicious. Staff is the nicest.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hands down the best Thai food I've ever had. Get the deluxe platter to share. The sausage starter is the best sausage I've ever had. You need to come here
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Vibrant flavors! Get the chicken wings and a Singha beer or a thai tea.
my favorite thai spot in the bay
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Loading...