Chaiya Meditation Monastery Monthly Food Fair

(G)reat food for a great community (O)ver 30 different items to choose from (E)very last Sunday of each month, remember!(A)lways gotta get my monthly Thai food fix!(R)eally can't complain about portions or prices (L)ong wait for the Pad Thai if you're late(Y)ou need to order the Curry Puffs ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE (Honor system) to secure your order...6 pieces for $5(!)ALOHA!!!

Catch me here bright and early (7:30am early early) every last Sunday of the month. Luckily I'm a morning person because they DO run out of food! I ain't tryna miss their cheap (mostly $5 plates) food &&&&& it's delicious!!!!!! I always get the Hainese chicken plate. Heck, I get 2 just for me. I've really considered getting 3 plates just for me but, I meannnnn. I gotta try the other plates, too!Also, always get the Thai ice tea for $2. Nice and cold is perfect for the upcoming summer. Their crab Rangoon was bomb. Not too much cream cheese, which I hate, and fried perfectly! I ate my order otw to work. I wish I got 2 orders. I just discovered their banana fry last month (Feb) and was IN LOVE. The breading on that was sweet/not sweet enough for the not too ripe banana. I wish I ordered 3 plates of that for sure. This month, I wanted the banana fry and of course it's the longest line! Long story short, ORDER 2 OF EVERYTHING! Just for yourself :)

This monthly food fair has nothing to prove anymore. The money spent here goes back to the Monastery. And they serve some really authentic Thai food.Oh, here's so PSA:Get here as soon as you can, they say it opens at 8 but they start earlier than that. And if you come before afternoon, the good stuff will probably be sold out. Also, not sure why they have a money exchange since the vendors have American dollars but I go ahead and do it anyway. Double check the website for dates and times since it seems like they do update their food fair schedule.

I love coming here and enjoying the tasty food selections they have. To get home cooked Thai food is amazing. The Pad Thai is well worth the trip by itself but there is so much more to try. On our last visit we literally got at least one thing from each stall. Everything was very good and we had food for a couple of days. Their prices are great and allow you to try multiple things without fear of going broke. On this visit we got to try the curry puffs and wow they are incredible. In addition to the great food the fact that the funds raised are used to run Monastery definitely makes you feel good. This is a well run Food Fair and they are so friendly and nice. They have a well laid out system and can easily handle the influx of the loyal customers who come each and every month. I am so looking forward to getting my monthly Thai food craving at their Food Fair.

Great authentic Thai food once a month (last Sunday of every month). The wife and I have come here 3 or 4 times now and live it every time. The fresh made authentic Thai food is delicious here. They have some desserts as well, like fried dough and the roti is bomb!Can't wait till the end of this month. You can either pay with $1's or get tokens from the table at the front of the row of booths. You can also barter if you use cash so keep that in mind.

This mini Thai food fair is a must if you appreciate authentic Asian food and cheap eats. They host at end of every month usually on the last Sunday. Event starts at 9 am but best to come bit early right when it opens to avoid crowds and especially if you want to get their famous curry puffs.There's no admission fee - you just pay for the food. Cash only & everything ranges from 1-5$. Dishes such as their chicken pad Thai run about 5$ and are made fresh to order. Satay (pork skewers) used to run 1$ a piece but now 5$ for 4. Everything is still a great deal though plus all purchases support their monastery. Dessert & drinks like Thai tea , coffee , and fruit juices run about 2$ each. Some items such as their mango w/ sticky rice (I think 6$ ?) are seasonal only.Getting their roti (sweet pancake/crepe straight off the grill drizzled w/ condensed milk) is a must for me and it's just 1$. It's the same feeling getting those 1$ soft serve ice cream at Ikea or at other places. You just have to get it.Parking is easy - they have a dirt lot where you can park your car or you can do on the street parking.

The fams and I look forward to the last Sunday of the month so that we can partake in this yummy food fair. I mean, where else can you get away with some delicious and authentic food for cheap? Today we decided to head out before church since the church we go to is pretty much around the corner. I figured why not grab a bite to eat and then head out to church vs. the other way around. That definitely was not a good idea since our tummies were so full it was hard not to doze off in church. Can you say food coma?!? Lesson learned, go after church vs. before church ;) But my goodness, for my family of 6 we were able to get away with not only a dish of our own but several snacks and desserts to enjoy afterwards AND cash left over.But they have so many different items to choose from and most of their big dishes are $5. Like their pad thai, mandalay noodles (at least I think that's what they're called), noodle soup, and chicken and rice. Although I like their main dishes, I am definitely more of a fan of their snacks/desserts which most run about $2. One of our favorites is the roti, which is a sweet flat bread ($1). Pure heaven in your mouth, seriously! My boys always want to get a second helping for the road. We have other favorites as well. I wish I can tell you what they are but I honestly have no clue what they're called. They also have fresh veggies available for purchase as well. I do want to mention that for some of their popular items (like their pad thai and papaya salad) you will need to order first which will be available in 15-20 minutes or so. So make sure to plan on putting your order in right away before walking around and checking out the other items. But like I said earlier, the food fair does happen usually on the last Sunday of every month from 8am-12pm. I highly recommend you come early since it does get crowded fairly quickly. Today we got there a little after 8am and there were a good amount of people there already. Parking can be pretty packed as well. If you can't find parking in their parking lot, you can park in the street right next to the monastery if needed. They also have a dirt lot available to park in located diagonally from the food fair. If you want some good cheap eats, I definitely recommend you check out this food fair.

Finally our vacation coincided with the monthly food fare this past April. At around 10AM, the parking lot was full so we parked on a residential street leading to this Buddhist monastery. We checked to see what the various vendors were offering after exchanging $10 for $10 in Thai coins. There was no signage, but each vendor proved to be friendly and helpful. Upon deciding what we wanted to try, we encountered long lines at most of the stalls and even a longer wait for the food to be prepared. We started off by ordering a pair of roti canai ($1 each) that were prepared on a grill and topped with condensed milk and powdered sugar before being rolled up. The estimated time before pick-up of 15 minutes proved to be optimistic, but worth the delay because each tasted far better than one would expect given the list of ingredients. There was no wait time for our second order, 4 skewers of BBQ pork satay ($5) that were also enjoyable. In addition, we picked up a bottle of water ($1). Our last order, pad Thai, proved to be a steal at $5, but the estimate for pick-up of 40 minutes again proved to be highly optimistic. Though the cost of brunch exceeded my initial $10 buy-in, we discovered the vendors readily accepted American dollars. Note: the food fair is typically scheduled for the last Sunday of the month, but does vary so check the online schedule before making plans to visit.

I must be mistakingly applying California standards, because it was a lot smaller than I had anticipated. The famous pad Thai was a bit over cooked, so the noodles were mushy but the flavor was there. I highly recommend going early...showing up at 11:50am was definitely a bad idea with only a few options left. I LOVED the pork noodle soup with the thin noodles. OMg I will go back just for that bowl of noodle soup. You gotta make sure to season it with the extra spice on the side. It was at the very far end of the tables from the entrance. I cannot wait to go back again at a earlier time, and perhaps when it's much cooler.

I miss the food fair here. Nothing quite like it. The most authentic, please bring it back