Ben Thai Cafe

You NEED to come here and try the duck curry. This is quite possibly one of my favorite dishes in SF! The duck is really juicy yet crispy at the same time. The portion size of veggies is great. Would be nicer if it came with rice included since the price is formidable, but it's not too big a deal. I've come here a couple times on weekdays and I've never had to wait. The service is pretty friendly and the restaurant is decorated nicely!

My husband and I stopped by here craving Thai after watching a performance with SF Symphony! My husband and I shared the duck curry, some rice, ordered the mango sticky rice and thai iced tea. We were a little disappointed with the portion sizes and the cost, but that's San Francisco for you.The duck curry was quite tasty, I have no complaints about it! The service was also pretty fast and the food came straight away. The only thing I was questioning was the mango sticky rice was blue! It still tasted good but I've never seen it blue before.The restaurant itself is small and cute with street parking only! Its a great quick bite if you're ever in the mood for some cozy Thai food.

Wow why does this place have raving reviews? We ordered takeout and the chicken wings and heaven pork were WAYYY overcooked. There was barely any meat on the wings. The sauce was not as good as san tung.Maybe i ordered the wrong items but the pad thai was also not that flavorful. there are so many better thai places than this in the city. Unfortunate.

For a single diner, I was seated pretty quickly on V-day. Service was attentive and prompt. My waitress took my order and I got the oxtail soup (as it was cold). I asked if it came with rice, and she quickly said "nothing comes with rice". I understood.The oxtail soup was indeed of meat and veggies, as well as a blend of sweet and savory flavors, which kind of reminds me of Vietnamese pho broth. I added rice to clear the palate and to be able to savor the broth.I ordered a buko ice cream and I liked how sweet and creamy it is. It is a small establishment but I liked the modest decorations and complementary roses on the table in celebration of V-day.I'd wish they offered rice for those who got curries or soup... but rice was "technically" free since i got 50% off my Thai iced tea for checking in.I wouldn't go out of my way to come back here but if you are a SF resident, I would recommend this place.

The sweetest hospitality I've experienced in a very long time. Such kind and attentive service- I can't recommend this eatery enough, if for the simple pleasure of wonderful people taking care of you. They take so much pride in their establishment. It's clean, and well oiled so they have a great flow of seating, orders, food output and turning. The food is excellent. We ordered much more than we could eat, mainly to get a selection of appetizers and entrees to taste. Nothing disappointed!

Fantastic Thai food!!Great neighborhood joint with fast and friendly service. Plenty of seating with nice decor. Make reservations if you can...gets quite packed on weekends.

Decent food, nice ambient. They have a large menu with a variety of dishes to choose from, which covers Thai food from different regions. Food: 8/10

Ben Thai Cafe, located near the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway in San Francisco, offers standard Thai fare but falls short on a few aspects. The Pad Thai with chicken, priced at $16.50, was average, served with bean sprouts on the side, but unfortunately included peanuts, which caused a mild allergy reaction as they weren't served separately. The Yellow Curry with pork, also $16.50, had a lackluster texture, with the pork slices clumped together.The cafe provides plenty of seating, but the service, while straightforward, lacked warmth. To add to the disappointment, the bowls provided for sharing were not clean. Overall, while the food was standard, the experience was underwhelming, and attention to both food quality and service could be improved.

Visited Ben Thai for the first time as it's been on my to try list forever. They have lunch specials/combos on weekdays from 1130-3pm.Ambiance: On Polk St with other eateries nearby. Parking can be a pain to find. Inside is clean and modern. Small but cozy.Service: service was standard. Waitress was nice. Nothing special.. but I have to give it to them, our food came out SO QUICK! We ordered and our dishes started coming out about 5-7 mins later. Super quick!Food:- Spicy Eggplant with Chicken ($15 - Lunch combo): Chicken was cooked well, eggplant was nice and chewy, had the perfect spice/kick to it.- Papaya Salad ($14.50): One of the best things we ordered. The salad had a generous portion. Flavorful, nice crunch with each bite. Delicious- Chicken Satay ($13): A solid appetizer. Chicken was flavorful, well cooked and the peanut sauce that came with it was the perfect addition to it.- Tom Kha ($14): Added shrimp which was an extra $3. This was good, but with all the other dishes we ordered, this one ranks on the lower end. On the smaller end with portion size.- Pad Thai & Pad See Ew: I didn't try these dishes myself but my friends enjoyed them and didn't hear any negative feedback.Overall, I pleasantly enjoyed Ben Thai. I would definitely come back, especially for their lunch specials. They do have a Happy Hour as well, daily from 5-7pm. $1 off drinks, $1 off bottled beer, $2 off draft beer. We were a party of 5 so gratuity of 18% was automatically included.

Food and Service is great! I got the emperor platter which was delicious. Also they had a good range of starters and beers to choose from.