Lunch served til 3 pm. Impressive watching them grind up the many ingredients to season each papaya salad order. Doc and hubs ate chicken skewers, and iced Thai coffee with their papaya salad. I opted for boat noodles(soup dish) choosing beef instead of pork. The lady also added these whitish round delicious items into my bowl I'm guessing was perhaps fish cake. Still full from breakfast I ate maybe 1/3 of it. Hoitobo(glutton) you know who alias Pugsley finished the rest of it. Very Unique experience. Doc said next week they are having a special food event. Two of the gentlemen were very welcoming and very friendly. read more

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First time visiting the Thai Buddhist Temple in Escondido. Parking: -Situated in a residential neighborhood, you can easily find street parking. There were also some parking stalls at the temple itself Food: -They serve food and drinks here on Sundays. I came a little after noon. Unlike some other Thai temples I've been to in the past that served food, this one had no lines which I appreciated. -today when I visited they had two different types of noodle soups, papaya salad, bbq chicken, Thai tea and coffee, as well as things like fried fish. -you can pay with items via cash. They have menus around the temple with how much things cost. You order at the various stations and place your money in the wooden donation box. -they have a self serve condiments section with spices and vinegar. There are also utensils that you help yourself to. -when you are done, you discard any leftovers you have by the sink. Pros: -lots of regulars come here so it's nice to see the strong community. Some of the regulars were really friendly and introduced themselves to me and introduced me to others -they have outdoor seating so you can enjoy your food Cons: -none read more

Thai Buddhist Temple - Buddhist Temples Near Me - Escondido, California

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Wat Buddha Jakramongkol Ratanaram is a real working and evangelical community temple. It does not have Thai temple architecture. The temple is situated on a corner lot and at one point may have been one or two single detached housing lots. There is a main temple, function building, monk housing and outdoor spaces for performances and skills instruction. Essentially it is a a very Thai cultural Buddhist temple. While all are welcome it's not really a tourist destination like the Thai Temple in Los Angeles, although sometimes a bus of Thai tourists or Thailand Consulate officials visit from LA. The monks and the congregation are super nice and welcome everyone. The temple has good food, but again, this is not like the Thai temple in LA with 30-50 vendors specializing in various regional cuisines and thousands of people visiting every weekend. The selection in Thai temple Escondido is much more limited unless one visits on a significant Thai religious day, secular holiday or US holiday. The food is very authentic, being made primarily by congregational members who support the monks and temple functions. The temple hosts Thai language lessons for all levels and ages, traditional instrument and dance lessons, and sometimes Muay Thai instruction. For lists of dates & events visit: www.watthaisd.org. It's a really nice place with nice people. read more

DELICIOUS SOUP BUT THATS ALL (3.25 stars) It's definitely NOT the "Wat Mongkolratanaram" in the Bay Area nor the "Wat Thai Temple" in LA. My expectations were a bit high when I came to this temple but then realize Escondido cannot compare to the other two cities. And for what it is, it was an experience. NOODLE SOUP - the soup station had a different soup I wasn't accustomed to and asked for boat noodle soup. They didnt have that and offered me regular noodle soup with beef. This is close in flavor to boat noodle soup but not quite. It was still delicious, rice noodles, a sweet and savory beef broth, garnished with bean sprouts, green onion, fried garlic, and cilantro. You can request to add other things but I like mine basic and simple. If you haven't been to these "temples" that serve food on Sundays... it's not those glamorous temples in Bangkok. It's super tiny and probably the smallest neighborhood Buddhist Thai temple I've been too. And this places food offerings was very minimal (one soup station, drink station serving water and thai ice tea, station of papaya salad, rice and BBQ chicken, and a table selling mango sticky rice and homemade goods and vegetables - not much when it comes to food). All donations made from the soup and drinks will benefit the temple. Everybody speaks Thai and everybody was speaking thai to me even though I had no idea what they said... I just respond with "noodle soup?! I'd like noodle soup." Although there wasn't much to order, what I do appreciate that whatever you order it's super authentic and for that 15 minutes of enjoying my soup I oddly feel like I'm in Thailand. 1. In the cuts of an old Escondido neighborhood next to a Christian Church 2. Street parking; the neighborhood people look racist and one gave me a dirty look as I walked to the temple 3. Price to portion is very fair 4. Although we cannot understand each other, they Thai ladies are extremely nice and welcoming I wouldn't take the drive from SD for a bowl of soup but would come back if ever in the area. Key words: if ever. Until the next review... read more

Thai Buddhist Temple - Noodle soup (close to boat noodle but it's just beef noodle soup). - Buddhist Temples Near Me - Escondido, California

Thank you Thai "grandmas" for making us yummy food. Everyone is chill and friendly here. We're always happy to come here on Sundays for lunch for delicious, authentic thai food for a very affordable amount of donations going to the temple. I tell you, the best food is always prepared by "grandmas".... Better than food in a Michelin star restaurant prepared by a French chef who charges me $200/head. I'm just a sucker for grandma's food. There's a place in my heart for food made by an old lady. I know it's weird. Maybe it's from my childhood memories or something. They're not really my grandmas but that's how I call most friendly old ladies who can be my grandma. Thank you for all the hard work to fill up our tummies!!! And love your grandmas, and grandpas too. read more

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This is as close to Thailand's street food you'll ever get in San Diego. My folks spend a lot time here so we come frequently to eat and support the temple. Very cool festivals that are very authentic Thai. read more

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I came here for the Loy Krathong festival which I enjoyed. Though the temple is quite small, just one building with golden statues inside and a surrounding of space around it, the festival was....quite festive! There were a lot of people, but it was not overcrowded, and there was room to sit down. At the front entrance to the temple space, there were various vendors (usually older ladies) selling fruits or foods they made. At the back, you could buy various thai foods by dropping tickets into the donation box. (You had to exchange $1 for 1 ticket first, but these proceeds went to the temple.) We got 2 thai teas, a soft drink, 2 meats on a stick, some vegetarian pad thai, a bag of plain flavorless sticky rice, 2 longan drinks, and a colorful little paper raft to float in a pool of water. Fun! I watched my paper raft float away with all my bad luck. :) There were also girls and women dressed in traditional Thai costumes and a few dance performances. The dancing consisted of very gentle, elegant gesturing of the hands and movement of the feet. Though the temple was small, I enjoyed this festival. (Also, though the food was donated by local Thai restaurants, it was okay, restaurant food is still far better - restaurants use far more ingredients when they are selling their foods). read more

havent been here yet however a friend goes and the food looks delicious. she says monks pray inthe background too! she says it feels exactly like being in thailand! i gotta check this place out and update! read more

Food every sunday for a good price. I find it better than going to the Thai restaurant and the food is much better there anyway. Although people are too busy doing something when you're trying to order but I'm fine with that, it's a donation kiosk. It's ok. read more