moving??, 4/3/2014
Reviewer: Lisa
from Santa Barbara, CA
Does anyone know when they will reopen at their new place?
They are our go to Thai Restaurant!
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Closed, 3/18/2014
Reviewer: steven
from Santa Barbara, CA
Brown wrapping paper covers the windows of this family-run, Thai restaurant where 3 on a heat scale of 1-5 caused extreme sweating. RIP...
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Drove by today 3/16/2014 and the place is closed ! sign gone, 3/16/2014
Reviewer: John Reynolds
from Santa Barbara, CA
Windows boarded up, I dont think they are coming back, hopefully they just moved ! Any info is appreciated, it was our "Go to" Thai place.
Editor's note: they are moving to the vicinity of De la Guerra and Chapala.
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We Keep Coming Back!, 8/20/2013
Reviewer: Nancy
from Santa Barbara, CA
This place holds a very special place in my heart! The food is just the best Thai food my husband and I have ever had. The service is friendly, fast and family owned so we now feel like part of the family. The atmosphere is warm and simple and I always feel like I am returning to my Santa Barbara Thai home! We keep coming back to this wonderful, magical little eating spot. Out of all the fancy restaurants in Santa Barbara this place is just one of our favorites. The take-out is also wonderful when we are tired on a Friday night.
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Great Small family run restaurant.
Reviewer: MIKE
from Santa Barbara, CA
The Picture of this restaurant need to be update . Santabarbara.com admin should go and take new picture of this place. The food and service is very good. I would recomment this place.
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Delicious Pad Thai & Tom Kah Soup
Reviewer: Tom
from Santa Barbara, CA
A great neighborhood place for good food.
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Good Food, Bad Service
Reviewer: Stephanie
from Santa Barbara, CA
I placed an order to go at Bangkok Palace and when I got home it was not the correct order. I called the restaurant to let them know of the mistake and the lady rudely told me that I had ordered the dish that they made me and that I was wrong. I know for a fact I ordered correctly and the lady got it mixed up. She never apologized or did anything to rectify the situation. The customer service is terrible but the food is decent.
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Going Downhill
Reviewer: Tyler
from Santa Barbara, CA
This used to be our favorite Thai restaurant in town. The last few times the food has been very disappointing. We never used to have to specify spice levels when ordering because they always leaned towards the mild side (like most American Thai). Recently dishes have been on fire even when requested mild.
That aside, this place doesn't do anything especially well except for the Tom Kha soup. None of the noodle dishes or curries are worth ordering.
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Good Food Intimate Restaurant
Reviewer: Glenn
from Buellton
This seems more like a hole in the wall place with good Thai. There is not a great amount of seating or parking but its good.
Food better than Your Choice and Quality is about the same as Pattaya(not as good as Meun Fan in my opinion). Great Thai Ice Tea and Pad Thai(though they should probably take the tails off the shrimp).
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Supreme Thai
Reviewer: Siena
from Santa Barbara, CA
At noon on a Tuesday, a tiny, yet endearing place on De La Vina Street opened its doors for lunch. As I entered the quaint Thai restaurant, a sweet woman in a black dress and white apron greeted me. She showed us to a table by the window and returned almost instantly with ice water with slices of lime. The table had an intricately woven tablecloth with a beautiful design that seemed to be an original Thai piece of art. A fresh flower arrangement sat in a decorated ceramic vase on top of the table, adding a sense of familiarity.
We ordered Thai iced teas and when they arrived, the taste was incomparable to any Thai iced tea I've had. The cold tea flooded my tastebuds with sweet glory and made me smile. While I enjoyed my Thai iced tea, a salad composed of iceberg lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, red cabbage, and an authentic Thai dressing appeared before me. It was the perfect amount to whet my appetite for the next course: Tom Kah Coconut soup with tofu.
The waitress brought a pot of the hot and sour soup to our table and ladled it into three bowls. The mixture of coconut milk, limejuice, lemon grass, and galanga in the broth activated my taste buds more than the iced tea. Other items in the soup were: mushrooms, bamboo shoots, carrots, chicken, and scallions. The combination of these ingredients added a wonderful texture to the soup.
My entree came next. My plate of Tofu Pad Thai had a side of rice in the shape of a star along with fresh vegetables. The noodles were cooked to a chewy, yet soft consistency and soaked in a delicious sauce.
After finishing up my filling meal, the waitress gave us our bill and I was surprised at the small amount we had to pay for the large quantity and high quality of the food we received.
I would recommend Bangkok Palace (located on 2829 De La Vina Street near Trader Joes) to anyone wanting to try something new. The food has just the right amount of flavor for a memorable meal, but not an overpowering one. Compared to other Thai restaurants in the area, I would definitely say that Bangkok Palace is supreme.
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Superb flavorings
Reviewer: Jinelle
from Santa Barbara, CA
I admit I am in a Thai food rut. I always order the same thing no matter where I find Thai food in the world, but this does let me discern favorites and Bangkok Palace soared to the top of my list in Santa Barbara last night. We had our standard coconut-galanga hot pot soup and me, my Pad Thai, while partner had his standard Musulman curry. I said we are in a rut. Wish they offered pork with the Pad Thai, but only chicken and tofu with a few shrimp, or more shrimp for an extra cost. Yes, the chicken in the soup was a bit tough, but the broth was perfection. Lapped up every last drop.
All choices had wonderful, rich, yet delicate flavors. Enjoyed everything, but I do need to branch out into a more representative sampling of their entire menu some day. Which after last nights wonderful meal, may well be very soon. Sweet, friendly service, very homey atmosphere, with the staff busy at a table in the modest but typically Thai-style dining room busily stringing a box of sugar peas.
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Very Tasty
Reviewer: Kumar
from Santa Barbara, CA
This is a great place for thai food, check out the shrimp with garlic and pepper sauce curry...and the coconut ice cream...
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Good food, reallllllly bad service.
Reviewer: Bekka
from Santa Barbara, CA
Entered the restaurant with a party of six at 6:30pm. The place wasn't too busy, yet we waited to be seated for about 20 minutes. Once seated, we didn't even get waters until another 20 minutes later, when our waitress finally took our order. We ordered chicken satay (which was very good with the peanut sauce), wonton soup (which looks flashy but had only 3 wontons and 2 pieces of shrimp), the seafood curry (which was okay), a beef noodle dish, and a pathetic excuse for honey duck...which looked more like a small salad with a few pieces of spare meat...(for a whopping 17 bucks, it could barely serve two.) The dishes all came at different times. The chicken satay came 30 minutes after we ordered, 10 minutes afterwards the soup, and the duck and curry took an additional half hour to be brought. The waitresses are inattentive, and they even took 15 minutes to bring us our check. The food tastes good, but I'd never eat inside again...perhaps delivery?
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Average food and decent service
Reviewer: Yoshi
from Goleta, CA
Quality of food is average and portion is small. I had a Honey Duck and it was not fresh and very small portion for the price. The noodle was cook with ketchap and did not taste good at all.
Spicy seafood curry was good, but rice was on the massy side. Tom Yum shrimp soup was the best out of all. Overall very flat food and there are better choices in Santa Barbara.
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These folks must not have ever had good Thai
Reviewer: Steve
from sb
Sorry..nice people here....but the quality is just not even decent. We can go to the refridge and put in some of the asian spices into a pan with chicken...do some nice Cal-Rose med. grain rice from Von's and it would be twice as good. You should just try ONE dish if you do go here....don't be discouraged by blowing a whole dinner out.
A fair challenge...go to Ellers donut on State, and take home their Red Curry(one for two people will stuff you both(order it med. spicey if you like ...it will be a revelation(plus 3 times the quantity--but Ellers is a depressing place to eat...take it home)-I'm just trying to do you a favor...wish someone had a warning here earlier so wouldn't have wasted the bucks.
To the restaurant owners..I think YOU ought to go to Ellers donuts secretly...and learn from them.--Your atmosphere in your restaurant matches your good service and wish you could raise your food to that level. just telling the truth.
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repeat customer!
Reviewer: elle
from goleta
It was a full house tonight and that speaks volumes about the food! We had yet another wonderful meal--coconut soup w/ chicken, chicken satay, and pad thai. Delish, and will be a repeat visitor!
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delicious, best Thai in sb
Reviewer: Tom And Erica
from santa barbara
Last night was the first time dining here and definitley will not be the last. great cozy atmosphere,Good staff, nothing to complain about, was a exellent experience. Thank you Bangkok Place!!!
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Great Service and Spicy Food
Reviewer: Nancy
from Santa Barbara, CA
A friend recommended this place and I have been impressed the past several times I've been. Service is very prompt and friendly and when you ask for food "spicy" they really serve it spicy! None of "Santa Barbara Spicy" aka "Bland" here. The Papaya salad is great - I'd recommend this place to a friend anytime.
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This place is fabulous!
Reviewer: Jill
from Santa Barbara, CA
I have eaten here for many years it is the best Thai food I have found outside of Bangkok. I traveled there for many years and love the culture and food and this is always a good reminder of all the good times there! This is the best Thai food in Santa Barbara.
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you've got to try BP!
Reviewer: elle
from goleta, ca
We finally got a chance to try BP after getting a recommendation from friends who don't live in town (if you can believe it!). The recommendation came a few months ago when they paid a visit, and had lunch at BP w/ their family members. Anyhow, my husband and I tried BP, and the food was absolutely delicious--chicken satay, red curry, and pad thai was what we tried tonight. We will definitely be back to try other dishes!
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Best Thai food in town
Reviewer: Dave
from Santa Barbara
The previous owners have returned after living in Thailand for a couple of years. The food is nothing short of excellent now that they're back. They've improved the ambiance, repainted, got rid of the fish tank with the nasty carp in it, and put new tablecloths on the tables. Truthfully, I've never ordered anything that wasn't delicious at Bangkok Palace, and I've been eating there for years. The soups are especially tasty as is the green curry.
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One of the best in SB
Reviewer: Rafael
from Goleta
The Bangkok Palace is one of the best Thai restaurants in SB. I've eaten at nearly all of them. One of the distinctions I look for is the quality of their soup, which is delicious here (and not very at some of the other Thai restaurants in town). Additionally, the variety of dishes is excellent. I have a friend who doesn't like coconut milk (hard to believe, I know), and we were able to find plenty of very tasty dishes to meet his needs. I've been to Thailand twice, and this place compares nicely.
Other places I would recommend trying if you like Bangkok Palace are Galanga and Zen Yai.
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Great Place
Reviewer: Lina
from Carpinteria
I loved the food. A friend had taken me to Our Place and I liked the Coconut Lemon Shirmp Soup but then another friend said I had to try the Bangkok Palace and took me there, she was right it was wonderful. I thought that Our place was great but Bangkok Palace was FANTASTIC.
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Yum Yum
Reviewer: Jon
from Santa Barbara
Love this place. The Eggplant Salad and Coconut Lemon Chicken
Soup are super.. I eat here at least 2 times a month !
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Sorry to say--ordinary
Reviewer: anne
from santa barbara
I just ordered this food through a delivery service and was sorely disappointed in the quality. I could detect a quality of powdered curry in the panang and all the vegetables looked canned. The sauces tasted premade or out of the jar as well.
Will not re-order again.
I think if restaurants want to achieve a high level of standard, they must use fresh vegetables and meats and create sauces without cutting corners. In other words: no canned food!!!
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Terrific!
Reviewer: Michael
from Santa Barbara, CA
I eat here all the time. It's wonderful!
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THE BEST THAI FOOD IN TOWN FOR SURE!
Reviewer: manolo
from santa barbara,ca
I eat at the bangkok restaurant about once a week i absolutely love it! A friend invited me there for dinner, and since then i've been goin there about once a week. Ive tried the others and they are just not as consistent as bangkok., I love their flat noodle dishes, pad thai and their soups..Im addicted lol..
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Best Thai Food I've ever Had
Reviewer: Lars Mininni
from Montreal, Quebec
OK, I've never been to Thailand, so I can't claim this is the best Thai resto in the world... but I have yet to find any other Thai resto that is this good.
Thier vegitarian variety is incredible (thanks to that tasty 'mock duck' option), the Phad Si Ew is great, fabulous curries.
I've tried without success to find a place this good in Montreal, London, LA, SF... yet every time I come back to visit Santa Barbara, Bangkok Palace is one of my 3 "must eat" restaurants. A few nights ago, I was at the Wine Cask... halfway thru my relatively ordinary main course I was wishing I was at Bangkok!
This isn't a fancy place. You come here to eat great food, not to be seen by the 'cool kids'. Yet no matter what, you have to give BP a try... and bring as many friends as possible so you can sample as many dishes as possible and share in the joy!
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Good, but...
Reviewer: Dastardly Dorothy
from SB, CA
Good, but not consistent. The first time my friends and I ate there the food was incredible. I thought I had found a new favorite for thai. However, the last two times I've had their curry it has been totally blah, nowhere near as good as the first time. I figure I'll give it one more try before I head back to Your Place. Why is it that you can't find a restaurant that is consistently good in SB?
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Excellent
Reviewer: John Elway
from Santa Barbara
What can I say about this place other than that every dish we tasted was delicious. Friendly and helpful staff. I loved both the red and yellow curry, the soup was great, and the pad thai was damn good.
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DAMN THIS PLACE IS GOOD
Reviewer: Darren Lee, Mitch Johnson, Dannielle Favela
from Santa Barbara/CA
whoever gave BP a bad review is crazy. The pad thai is one of their best dishes, but I do recommend getting it spicy because it is about 10x better. Another good one would be the yellow curry. Ummmm, the service is always great and the staff is unbelievably friendly. If your lucky, the owner's little girl will greet you when you walk in the door, and boy will she talk your ear off. Overall: best thai food i've ever tasted.
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Best Thai Food in Town
Reviewer: Alexandra
from Santa Barbara
The food is de-lish!! And they will do just ´white meat´ chicken upon request...unlike other places in SB. I do enjoy the casual ambiance. It´s not designer thai food, just good quality food with relaxed atmosphere! Lovin´ it. :)
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This place is Amazing!
I loved this restaurant! The service was wonderful, and the food was the best I´ve had in Santa Barbara in the Thai category. I love that it is a small, quiet place, beatifully decorated and warm staff. I would recommend this place over any other!
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Love this place
Reviewer: Jake
from Santa Barbara, CA
What´s up with the previous review? How can you give it one star when you´ve never even been there?
I´ve gone here for years, and the food consistently good and IMO better than Your Place. I´d say the service is about the same.
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MUCH better then Your Place
Reviewer: lurkinginthecorner
from Goleta, CA
This place has some of the BEST Thai food I´ve ever eaten. I surprised my man with a delivery at Chase Palm Park where we dined on a blanket in the grass with candles. The food was hot, flavorful and a wonderful addition to our evening under the stars.
After the recent wine festival, we chose to visit Bankok Palace for lunch. Everything was so delicious! The service was excellent. I would recommend this restaurant over any of the others!
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Good atmosphere and great food!
the food is good and its a great place to go with frds and family.. its at a nice and quite location... but its a bit expensive
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Wonderful food and friendly service
Everything is great here, but the soups are particularly good. And they use Thai mushrooms (not cheap white salad mushrooms)! Family-run restaurant, and they´re not afraid to make it spicy when you ask for it!
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alocal
We went to this restaurant yesterday and ordered many vegetarian dishes. We had vegetable Tom Yum soup (yummy), Penang Curry with Vegetables and Tofu(out of this world), Spicy Veg fried rice, Veg Curry Noodles and Chow Mien. Everything was very tasty. We were all very happy. I had a very peaceful night´s sleep after eating this soul-satisfying food.
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The only thing WORSE than the Food was the Service!
Reviewer: mpm
from Santa Barbara, CA
It´s very rare that I have a completely terrible experience at a Santa Barbara restaurant. But here´s one for the books. I ordered Pad Thai it came out and it smelled horrible, I decided to taste it anyway & wow it was so bad I almost gagged. I had my two friends who like Pad Thai taste my dish and they too almost gagged. Then I told the server who I am guessing from her response was part of the family who owns the Palace and she told me that she would not remove my meal from the bill. She told me that I should have told her immediately that there was a problem with the food. She would not remove my meal from the bill even after my friend went up to the counter and told her that he tasted the food and it was very, very bad.
I told her I would pay the bill but that I would never come back again. She said good. I said wow you guys really know how to run a business don´t you, maybe this kind of cooking/etiquette is the reason your restaurant is completely empty in the middle of the 12 -1pm lunch hour. She gestured me to leave. So I did.
So the Bangkok Palace has been put on my black list & I will never eat there again. Take from this review what you will.
I put 1 star because there was not choice for no stars or
-stars. I would avoid this restaurant at all costs. Go to Zen Yai(state St) or Your Place(Milpas).
Much better food and they actually know how to run a restaurant.
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Pleasant Surprise
Reviewer: Red
from Santa Barbara, CA
My friend and I went here for our annual birthday dinner, and we were both impressed with the quality of the food and service. The food was truly delicious, and the ambiance was friendly and casual, which only added to the enjoyment of the meal. I would definitely recommend this place to those of you who enjoy Thai food.
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Always Fresh Food and friendly service !!!
Reviewer: zollner
from Santa Barbara, CA
Great fresh food, the owners are alaways friendly and welcoming !!
If you ask for spicy you will indeed get ot spicy -
not like many of the other Thai Restaurants in town.
Definetly have to try this one.... trust me !!!
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