SaiTong Thai
SaiTong Thai was a relatively new Thai restaurant that opened near the Theater District. One of its allures is that it appears to be an upscale Thai restaurant. The menu when I glanced at it seemed pretty decent although the prices were on the higher side. Since we had a theater date, we decided to check this restaurant out. We easily made a reservation for a Saturday at 5:30 PM.
Ambiance & Service
When we walked in, they seated us upstairs at the first table. The decor felt very new-Asian centric, where it was dark and modern. One slight annoyance where we sat was every time someone opened the front door, a gush of cold air raced through and hit us. As you can imagine, the ones that left the door opened caused us some grief. Fortunately, we ate here early enough where we could escape the night crowd.
The service was truly abysmal. The appetizers came out quick, but after that, we waited for about 35-40 minutes for our noodles. The waitress knew and saw us being visibly annoyed, but didn’t come to reassure that the food was still coming. Our meal of only 3 dishes plus dessert took nearly 2.5 hours, which is unacceptable for a Thai restaurant. We also saw an older, non-Asian couple next to us that told the wait staff they had a show to get to. They reminded the staff that the show starts in 30 minutes, and the restaurant made an effort to expedite. The problem was the food came out about 15 minutes before their show, so I’m sure for their date night, they were very irked by the pacing of what should have been easy to accelerate service.
Food
The Thai Iced Tea ($7 per person) tasted pretty average.
The Seared Scallops Cream Cheese ($20) came with crab meat, cheese, mayonnaise, onions, scallions, and salted egg yolk. The scallops were nicely cook, and the food did taste pretty good.
The Grilled Pork Jowl ($22) came with grilled marinated pork jowl and served with spicy tamarind roasted rice. The pork tasted good, though we wished there was more condiments to use for wrapping.
The Chicken Pad Se Ew Noodle ($20) came with stir-fried flat noodles in black soy sauce with egg and Chinese broccoli. Compared to most pad se ew noodles, this is probably slightly below average. The noodles were super wet, and were slightly overcooked because their texture was a little mushy. The sauce was also quite wet like gravy. For the value, this was just OK.
The Sweet Potato Ball with Coconut Milk ($15) came with glutinous sweet potato balls with warm coconut milk topped with black sesame seeds. For a cold night, this was actually pretty good. It had pieces of coconut meat in it, and it was warm.
Final Verdict
SaiTong Thai was underwhelming in that the food was OK and the service was very poor. If you desire to eat here before watching theater, it might be a better idea to try one of the other many Thai restaurants.
Yelp Jabs
I cannot believe I paid $40 for a pad thai. There were so many things wrong with this dish. The noodles were OVERCOOKED. The most important part of the dish was ruined because of the texture of the noodles. The lobster tail didn’t elevate the dish in terms of taste. It was cooked separately and they just added on there for looks.
We definitely steered away from the gimmicky pad thai with a lobster on top. Remember that pad thai is typically regarded as street food, but you’re paying non-street food prices.
Upscale, authentic, DELICIOUS, Thai Restaurant in the heart of Theatre District… After days of being here, they needed some homey, comfort food (and so did we). We picked this place thanks to the amazing Yelp reviews and it sure did NOT disappoint.
This is probably one of those restaurants where you need to be very careful how to interpret Yelp reviews. Located in the heart of the Theater district is not necessarily a strength of a restaurant. The flavors of this are very stereotypical Thai, but the price is expensive for what you get. With so many Thai restaurants nearby, there are better places out there within minutes walking if you’re desiring for more value.
Revisions
- Nov 23, 2024 - Initial revision.