Food was good. Although I got a spice level of 6 for my drunken noodles, it wasn't spicy at all to me. For some people it's different. Cute little place. It would be better if the walls were filled with pictures or something. I'll come back for sure. read more

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We tried this place out for the first time the other day, ultimately won't come back due to poor customer service. On a scale of 1-10, I asked for a spice level of 3, and got what tasted like an 8. I took one bite and could not bear to have another. I order 3 at other places that offer a scale of 1-5, so this was wayyyy too much. They wouldn't replace it - just offered for us to buy another dish at 50% off. Other than that - easy and open parking. There was only one other table there when we arrived, so got seated immediately. We got Thai tea, dumplings, Thai fried chicken, and drunken noodles. All were okay with the exception of drunken noodles that were unbearable for me to eat. read more

A cute Thai place hidden in the corner of a strip mall! The vibe inside is warm and inviting with plenty of tables inside. We were immediately greeted upon arrival. Our server was friendly and professional. She checked in during our meal to refill our drinks. The food was tasty and fresh. We opted for the lunch special which comes with a small side salad and soup. I could not five 5 stars because the food portions were small and prices on the higher side for casual Asian food. At least give more rice please ;) read more

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Aloha gang! I finally had a chance to have dinner with friends and family at Bua Thai. This restaurant has a very intimate dining room and the service is outstanding. The couple in charge of the business were so polite and soft spoken. They took good care of our party. We started with appetizers, tasty Spring Rolls with Shrimp. Each chewy bite of the Spring Roll and it's fresh ingredients was full of flavor. It was a great way to start the meal. I decided to try the Crab Fried Rice. The presentation was beautiful and I was impressed by the portion served. It was actually enough to feed two. The generous amount of tender crab meat, egg, onion, peas, carrots and stir fried jasmine rice, blended together, gave a smokey and sweet flavor. I enjoyed every savory bite. After the meal, I vowed to return to try the many dishes they offered on their extensive menu. I will definitely be back! read more

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Hidden gem with great service and great food. Been here a bunch and bring friends often. Everyone loves it. Located in a strip mall in poway the store has 10 or so tables. Smallish inside but cozy. Plenty of parking outside. Food here is excellent. The tom yum soup is flavorful. Pad Thai has good texture and an excellent sweet and peanut taste. My favorite is the panang curry. The pad se ew has a nice salty and sweet taste. All dishes have their choice of protein. If you like spicy you may need to get it really hot. I was told an 8/10 isn't that bad. Go 10/10 and ask for the Thai peppers. Definitely worth eating here. read more

I've been coming to this place for years, both for takeout and dine-in, and the quality has always been consistently excellent. I've tried a variety of dishes over time, and every single one has been absolutely delicious. On my most recent visit, we ordered the eggplant stir fry, Pad see ew, and green curry--all were packed with flavor and perfectly cooked. The staff is friendly and welcoming, and the overall vibe is cozy and relaxed. Plus, there's plenty of parking, which is always a bonus. read more

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We were sat right away on a Friday night for dinner. Plenty of parking. Flavor and quality of food here is on point. We especially enjoyed the yellow curry and fried rice. The beef in the beef salad was a little chewy and the mango in the mango sticky rice was not sweet otherwise we really enjoyed our food. A little pricey but glad to find a place not too far from home. They get a lot of take out orders. read more

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the crying tiger steak was so good! incredibly tender and juicy it was cooked really well! if you're ordering takeout or delivery i would note that when you get steak packed up, it can overcook in the container so order more rare. i got rare and it was perfect. the papaya salad was really affordable and crunchy! it was also really flavorful and came with tomatoes. i ordered spice 3, but will definitely get like 5 next time! once again, the steak was incredible it was falling apart in my mouth. i will say everything was a little salty but had great flavor as well read more

Bua Thai - Crying Tiger Steak (MP)Som Tum (papaya salad) - Thai Near Me - Poway, California

I am blown away at how tasty, spicy and how fast we were in and out. We both ordered from the lunch menu. The menu was split up by rice, curry and noodles with choice of Vegetable ($13.49), Chicken ($13.99), Shrimp ($13.99), or Seafood ($15.49). I got eggplant basil level 5 and it had a nice kick! Spice level was 1 to 10 and you never know if it's a true spice so I went half way. I should have went for a 3! My friend got shrimp Pad Thai. Lunch comes with a side of salad and soup. My friend also ordered a Pad Thai to go and instead of soup, it came with egg roll. We both enjoyed our dish. The portions are perfect for lunch and the price. This location is a bit hidden on the map. The store front faces Pomerado Road next to the barber shop. read more

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This is a neighborhood, family owned restaurant and that's its appeal. When you eat here, the food feels like it's coming out of a friend or family member's kitchen.. My favorite dish at any Thai restaurant is chicken with yellow curry and they do a great job with it here. The vegetables are fresh and the chicken is cooked well. It's full of flavor and their spices were not too hot for me, even when I ordered a spice level of 8 out of 10, but beware, I usually like it spicy. I've also had the Thai Fried rice that was also delicious. The interior of the restaurant is very intimate and nicely decorated. Great for a dinner for two or a small family or small group of friends. It's tucked away in a back corner of the strip mall and might be hard to find if you are unfamiliar with the shopping center. I've had other family members eat here too, and they also praise the food. Service is always friendly and efficient read more

The most quaint little neighborhood Thai spot! Lovely Thai inspired decorations, clean and friendly service! Ordered chicken yellow curry (absolutely delishious) with just the right balance of coconut milk to broth, as well as shrimp pad Thai! The sauce on the pad Thai was tangy, spicy and perfectly cooked. Highly recommend a stop for lunch or dinner at this little hide away! Pro tip: our server said it has been in business over 20 years, but recently changed management. Food and service was fabulous! So I would say, they are doing great! read more

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Stopped in for lunch. Very clean Great service Great food Reasonable prices What more could you ask for? Since it was our first time we went with the tried and true- Pad Thai and Panang Curry. Both were excellent! We will definitely go back. read more

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Super flavorful! Went here based on Yelp reviews and yet again, this community doesn't disappoint! We went for Sunday when they opened. The staff was attentive, place was clean, price point is more on the higher end, but worth the penny! Husband got crying tiger steak, medium done. The sauce it came with was simply one of the best sauce I've ever had. It has a variety of flavor notes. The steak was done perfectly. I got chicken pad thai. The flavor was also spot on and noodle was also done perfectly. Unfortunately, the chicken itself was pretty tough and dry. I do want to come back here again, maybe will just try a different protein. Overall, I highly recommend if you're trying to decide where to eat in the area. Will definitely come back myself. read more

Bua Thai - Chicken pad thai, $17 - Thai Near Me - Poway, California

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In search of another delicious thai place, this spot popped up. There was plenty of parking which is always nice. And who can beat the corner spot in the lot. We were quickly greeted and provided a table. The restaurant is a good size and was very clean. The service was also outstanding and they were on top of everything. The food was flavorful and not overly spicy at 5/10. The only downsides would be that there were a few pieces of beef that were just a little chewy in tbe beef salad and the mangos were not very sweet, although the stick rice was amazing. The curry was also so flavorful but could have been just a little thicker. But that's just a personal preference. One last minor detail is that this is definitely more on the expensive side for most Thai restaurants. But what isn't expensive these days, right? With so many options, you will be very happy with almost any choice. Definitely come by and check them out or do what many others were doing and order some delicious take out for home. read more

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I so wanted good Thai that I overruled my wife's desire for Middle Eastern food and suggested we go to Bus Thai The first thing my wife notice was that all the native Thai decorations were gone. She asked if there was a new owner and the lead server told us "No the old owner had taken the business back and all the decorations were removed during Covid. We ordered Pad Thai and Drunken Noodles with Mixed Seafood and Panang Curry Chicken luncheon specials which included salads and soups. We also ordered the Chicken Larb appetizer. On the positive side all the dishes were generous, especially the Mixed Seafood. On the negative side, my spicy Drunken Noodles was not very spicy and all the dish were unusually sweet. We have had Thai food often and while there may be a bit of sweetness, never this much. Also good was they had refreshing Chang Beer served in cold glasses. Another issue, which will soon be illegal was that they would add a 3% charge if you pay by credit card. Fortunately we had enough cash to cover the tab. Not sure if we will return read more

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Bua Thai looks unassuming from the outside but it is surprisingly good, and the menu has a wide variety of dishes. I came with my family and they were able to accommodate us, but the space is not very big. I saw a lot of people ordering to go but not very many people dined in. We enjoyed everything we ordered, with the exception of an eggplant dish because it was SO salty. I wish I remembered the name but we ordered so much! Everything else was done exceptionally well and we will be back! The prices are on the upper end for Thai food though! read more

Food was good, for the most part. Some things were good, while some things were not. Pad thai was really good. Spring rolls were not good and maybe store bought frozen. I got calamari in yellow curry, which unfortunately tasted rubbery like it had been overcooked in the microwave and had an old fishy taste, and it ruined the curry. I also asked for spice level 6, and the server entered 3, so it wasn't as spicy as I wanted. Overall, the food was good, service was good and the place appeared clean and comfortable. read more

We've eaten at Bua Thai plenty of times the past 20+ years. It has been hit or miss but always "good enough". I'm not sure if they have new owners or new chefs, BUT in the past year alone they have really stepped up their flavors. Maybe it's just my own taste buds have changed, but everything I've had this year have been perfection. Sooo tasty, especially their Tom Yum seafood soup and their spice levels are consistent. Their to-go items are also just as great except maybe their chicken breasts are a little on the dry side because it sits in the container before it arrives home and to the dinner table. Customer service: the ladies are always nice and attentive. Establishment is clean and welcoming. Highly recommend! read more

Update-Edit: 1 star- only because the waitress was nice. But she was also not very good. This is bad Thai food. It is like an Ameri-Mexi dishwasher version. We returned tonight only because if a picky child requests to actually return to a restaurant, you don't say no. So we ordered 1. beef salad -Again. very tasty like the first time. But I specified JASMINE and we got sticky rice. 2. Chef's special seafood noodles. Bland! The sauce had no Thai flavors. It was a mixture of watered-down soy sauce and sugar. The only authentic Thai ingredients were basil and green pepper peppercorn. I ate all the basil leaves by themselves and tasted no flavor. I usually can't eat the entire branch of green peppercorns because they are too strong. I ate all of these in two bites with the barest pop of spice. Not fresh. The vegetables were American staples: carrot, onion, cabbage, zucchini, green bell pepper. I was expecting bamboo, bean sprouts, shallots, straw mushrooms... and those are just the common ones. When a supposedly "Asian" restaurant serves me regular American broccoli, I don't go back. Plus all the veggies were cut terribly crudely by an amateur in a rush. The egg noodles were fine, but the dish was overall was utterly tasteless. When the waitress asked me how everything was, I tried to be kind, but it was truly awful. So she tried to make it up to me by offering what she claimed was the most authentic Thai dish on the menu Panang Curry. 3. Panang curry should be thick- this was very watery because they didn't take the time to reduce the stock and probably used premade mix and the wrong coconut milk and no peanuts. No fish sauce. I have eaten better curry all over California, the states, the world, including Thailand, and I have cooked it myself. In fact, the penang curry my family used to eat in Miami in the 1980s was more authentic than this. Also, I ordered SHRIMP- but you can see the beef that our waitress brought in the pic. The beef was rubbery and actually squeaked as I was chewing. Again with the American vegetables- carrots and bell pepper. No bamboo, no mushrooms, no Keffir lime leaves. NO flavor. If you insist on wasting your time and money here despite reading this review, I am warning you-stick to the beef salad. Original review: The short: Excellent Beef salad! The long: 2 of my Korean-American friends recommended this place. The fried tofu in particular came highly recommended. So we ordered one of those, a Beef Salad and 2 orders of white rice. But I asked our server to clarify what's the difference between the Crying Tiger and the Beef salad? I have eaten a lot of Thai food, and usually order one or the other and still don't quite understand the difference despite having eaten so many of them. So the server tried his best to explain, but, not being a cook, his description came out just as vague and inconclusive as the menu. He said the beef was the same in both dishes and that he preferred the beef salad personally. So that's what we chose, and we devoured it. Actually, I only tasted a few bites before Alex devoured the rest of it, lol! The beef was deliciously salty, sweet and tangy, with an extra nice texture from the ground toasted rice. The lettuce, onions and scallion were fresh and crunchy and nicely coated in dressing. It was a great dish I would recommend to anyone. I only wish there were slightly more of the delicious dressing just so I could soak my rice in it like I usually do. As for the fried tofu, it was perfectly coated and browned on all sides, nice and crunchy, good texture, and soft inside. However, the coating did not have flavor and without the side of sauce, this would have been boring bland fried tofu. The sauce was a tasty yet very basic syrupy, sweet-and-sour dip. I would not ordered this again. I was a little surprised our total with tax and tip came out to almost $50! For one entrée, one appetizer and two bowl of plain white rice, that seemed extremely steep. Overall, a good place I want to revisit but next time I will forgo ordering rice or appetizers and just take it to go so I can eat the entrees with rice at home. read more

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Great service and even better food! We had the drunken noodles with beef and the seafood pad cha. read more

Bua Thai - Beef Drunken Noodle, Pad Cha Seafood, Thai Iced Tea - Thai Near Me - Poway, California

Lovely ambience and delicious food! I ordered the drunken noodles with tofu, and they came beautifully dished, with perfectly cooked carrots looking like little orange flowers throughout. Kim was a very attentive and sweet server too. She brought me icy water and handed my to-go noodles right to me. I love that. The flavors are delightful, all contributing their own distinct deliciousness read more

Bua Thai - Drunken Noodles with tofu - Thai Near Me - Poway, California

Great service and delicious food! I have tried so many Thai restaurant in this area and this is by far the best. The Crab Pad Thai is amazing as well as the red and green curry! read more

Bua Thai has been in business since 2008 and I finally got in to check them out! Nestled on the side of a strip mall in Poway, the restaurant is cozy, comfortable and welcoming. Decor is artful yet minimal. I ordered one of my favorite dishes, Pad Thai Noodles. It was prepared in the traditional fashion with tamarind sauce, eggs, bean sprouts and ground peanuts. You can order it with your desired proteins; I simply requested chicken. The dish was among the finer versions I've had and such a generous portion. They nailed my requested spice level too. I really appreciate that. Service was thoughtful and genuine. I will certainly be back soon! read more

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First of all, I have been to Thailand many times, so I know what the food is supposed to taste like. On this July 4th, we decided to find a restaurant that was stiĺl open. Perhaps this was a mistake or a blessing in disguise? We ordered Drunken noodle with tofu ($16), eggplant with squid ($26), papaya salad ($13). The drunken noodle was made hot with a chili sauce, which had its own flavor. I didn't really think it taste better at all, but it was saltier, and seemed to mask the true flavor of drunken noodles, which should be a soy based garlicky flavor. The eggplant with squid was probably the best dish and taste wise. However, seafood is so cheap these days compared to meat, and the squid was very minimal, like I could easily count the pieces by a quick glance. They seem to charge nearly $10 more for a dish when you want seafood in the dish. The pricing scheme is wrong, and they should use the additional cost with a default meat method. The papaya salad I had high hopes for was too sour. I could barely eat this, and my partner went to grab a mound of it, and I discouraged her from partaking. Often times, she can be a more harsh critic than me. A recommendation from me is that the chef needs to sample all the dishes before sending it out to make sure the taste is correct, which should help immensely. Overall, the food was unnecessarily salty. I hope this review helps. read more

Eating in during lunch is such a great experience! Their specials are reasonable, they come with a cup of Tom Yum which is the best of any Thai restaurant I have tried, and the service is good. To go orders have been hit and miss in the past, still good food but I definitely prefer eating in. read more

It's been a long time since we've gone to a restaurant this good. The tom kha soup at spiciness level 2 was exquisite. Our server was gracious and welcoming. I was grateful for the soft music and gentle lighting. We sat next to a shelf displaying very beautiful hand painted enamel pottery. I couldn't stop admiring them. I think this is a very special place. I almost would want to keep it a secret from those who don't already know about it because I like it so much and I don't like going to places that are busy and full of people -- but that would be too unfair to the staff and owners. :) read more

Amazing food and great lunch specials. Lunch comes with a small soup and salad. Red curry was great, I also love the Drunken Noodles. Service is friendly and prompt. read more

Bua Thai - Lunch combo salad, mild peanut dressing. - Thai Near Me - Poway, California

As a connoisseur of Tom Yum Soup, this is the best rendition that I have ever tasted! The unique flavors in the broth are absolutely exquisite, along with the fresh vegetables and lemongrass. I recommend ordering it with beef, then the soup essentially becomes an entire meal on its own with the added protein. The Tofu Spring Rolls were fresh, large, and the perfect texture. The rice paper was not too thick nor too thin, as it was just right. Also, the peanut sauce was thick and very tasty... These spring rolls are so big that you can cut them in half and eat them over the course of a couple of days. The location of this restaurant is in an iconic part of Poway. This corner lot has been the home of several well-known restaurants over the years. Thankfully, Bua Thai has lived up to the legendary status of this particular venue! read more

Easily my favorite Thai place in the area and probably now in San Diego! Prices are very fair, and portions are shareable (everything I photographed below was borderline too much for three people). This also has to be one of my top mango sticky rice and Tom yum soups!! The crying tiger came with a delicious dipping sauce and I wish I had asked what it was but will definitely do so next time. Despite being super full, a member of our party still ordered a separate pad thai to go because they wanted to enjoy it later too Parking is alright, it shares a big plaza but it is on the edge of the plaza so worst case you just drive around the corner when getting off the street and find parking in the larger plaza. It was very clean and quite spacious. We also came right when they reopened at 4:30pm so it wasn't too busy yet. Service was also wonderful! The ladies were so attentive and kind and weren't intrusive. I'm still daydreaming about coming back read more

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1. The pad see ew, wide noodles, were pressed together and clumped. They were too salty. 2. The tofu added to curry dish was a small amount 3. The portion was small for the price charged. The woman who served us was very good. Restaurant was clean but in a bad location. It was tucked away where we did not realize a restaurant was back there. read more

So delicious! I've been coming here for years ever since I was little and this place has always been delicious and the workers are so sweet. It's definitely a hidden gem and very underrated!! read more

Bua Thai - Thai Near Me - Poway, California

Fanatic Thai food. Red curry was perfect and orange chicken is a family favorite. Food was ready quick and the restaurant ambiance is so cute. A great family dinner option with reasonable pricing. read more

This place is really nice with a super calm ambience. The food was really good and didn't take long to take! It was super fresh and hot! The servers were very helpful and were mindful to my allergies and ensured the food was safe for me to eat. They have a lot of vegetarian and gluten-free options read more

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Astonishing food, portion, and service. Crab meat fried rice ($17.50): full-flavored and mountain sized portion, 9/10! Zoom in within the pic to view the specs of seasoning. Thai condiments (fish sauce with jalapeños, soy sauce packets, chili sauce, & chili powder): all delightful, and created a different flavor profile to each bite of my entrée. I did not use the soy sauce, as my dish was well seasoned. My server was attentive and amiable, which contributed to a remarkable experience. The only negative is the 3.5% fee when using a credit card. However, this isn't a deal breaker for me, and my server did mention the fee beforehand. Also, there is no fee for a debit card. read more

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Very disappointed Ordered food, 2 chicken dishes, to pick up. Picked up, drove home 5 miles away. They used tofu. No chicken. Receipt even reads chicken. If you order take out, I recommend you check their work: open all containers at restaurant before you leave restaurant. You may order one thing and get something you didn't order and don't want. read more

Service was great on my to go order. The restaurant was empty as they just opened for the night so I went right up to the counter. I ordered ahead of time and it was readily available. Thank you for having the food ready by the time it said it would be ready. The food was not to my taste though. The potstickers were too salty for my taste and the Pad Thai with beef didn't have much beef in it (I basically received a to go container full of dry noodles, sprouts, and some chopped peanuts and only 3 thinly sliced, short strips of beef). Reading the other reviews and seeing other's photos, people seem to like Bua Thai but it was a miss for my taste. Maybe next time, I'll ask for less salt or look for this option when placing an online order with them. read more

Food was great Service was up to date and ambiance was beautiful and will come again for the taste of food. read more

We had the pad Thai and the pad see ew, and it was all really good. Place was cute, service was great!

Still just as good as the first time. Ordered curry, noodles and Thai salad and everything was so flavorful and filling (generous portions) looking forward to trying other items next time. read more

This place is pretty small. But they have a few large tables that if you go with a big group you can sit at. It is rather easy to find. I went with the drunken noodles with beef spice level five. I felt like the noodles were really spicy for level five but it wasn't like that spice where you couldn't eat it. It was still very flavorful. I kept having to drink allot of water but still wanted to eat more! The meat was nice and tender and chewy. I had picked up yellow curry for my coworker too since she wanted Thai food and shes said it was very good. I saw her lunch portion and it's a pretty big portion for being lunch. Definitely going to be recommending this Thai place for all my coworkers now! I also got their coconut Thai coffee and yummy! I usually get Thai iced tea but this was something I haven't seen on a menu before so I tried it and was not disappointed!! read more

Bua Thai - Thai Near Me - Poway, California