We stopped last week into the brand new Pinto Thai Restaurant (it’s been open maybe a month), on Adams Avenue across from Rosie O’Grady’s. Anyone who’s lived in the area can tell you that the their location (most recently a BBQ place) has not proved to be a particularly good one for restaurants; it’s been a kind of revolving door for the last several years.
That said, we had remarked in February about the dearth of Chinese, Japanese, and Thai restaurants in the immediate vicinity. Oh, sure, you can go down to El Cajon Boulevard or University, or down into Mission Valley, but Normal Heights, while dotted with decent Mexican restaurants, has been lacking that essential Asian element. So we were thrilled to see that within a month of our declaration, Pinto Thai and a little hole-in-the-wall Chinese (surprisingly decent, but probably not lasting, since no one seems to ever be inside) both sprung up on Adams. We must be psychic!
Pinto Thai wedges restaurant and kitchen into a postage-stamp tiny storefront, boasting seating for twenty inside if everyone gets reeeeaaaally cozy. There’s also a small patio, but the traffic on Adams Avenue doesn’t make that idea very appealing. The decor inside the tiny place is cute – it wants to be upscale traditional and we think it almost makes it. Perhaps if the restaurant is actually around in a year or two, the owners can spend a little extra money finishing the “upscale” part. That said, it’s pleasingly cozy and inviting.
Their menu is extensive, covering all the basics but adding some chef’s specials to the mix. The prices are on par with other higher-mid-level Thai restaurants we’ve visited, ranging from about $6 to about $12 per plate (depending on the chosen meat). We ordered an appetizer and two entrees: the chicken satay and Pad See You, both mainstays on Thai menus everywhere, and the chef’s special pumpkin curry. We also ordered a couple of Thai iced teas.
The iced teas arrived first – and although they’re very similar in taste everywhere, we’re used to getting very little tea in our very small cup full of ice. Pinto Thai’s iced teas, though, were huge – easily over 20 ounces – and went easy on the ice. Let’s just say that we could have been full on the tea alone. A split is in order next time!
The satay arrived soon after, pairing a four pieces of beautifully-cooked of chicken on sticks (and, really, who doesn’t love food on a stick?) with a truly peanut-y peanut sauce. Most peanut sauces, we find, taste too much like sweet peanut butter; this sauce had all the beautiful nuttiness of peanuts without the cloying sweetness. In fact, we loved the subtle tangy nuance at the end of each bite. There was also a small dish of marinated cucumbers. Eaten together, the trio played off each other’s strengths – we came away with a sense of perfect balance between sweet, tart, spicy, savory, and nutty flavors. Our one complaint: the peanut sauce seemed just a little too greasy, like perhaps it should have been sopped up before serving (just like peanut butter separates, the sauce seemed to have a bit of peanut oil on the top).
Then came the entrees. She had ordered her favorite Thai menu item – Pad See You (or Pad Se Ew) – a rice noodle dish tossed with broccoli, eggs, and brown sauce, and added chicken. She says that she really gets a sense of how a restaurant cooks its dishes when you try your favorite item; but like every Italian’s spaghetti is different, every Thai’s Pad See You is different. So she tries to keep an open mind.
The Pad See You from Pinto Thai was lighter than usual – with a tan-colored sauce rather than a dark caramel, which was refreshingly different. He actually remarked that he doesn’t typically like Pad See You (heresy!) because it’s too “burnt”-tasting for him. This, however, was pleasingly sweet and salty, with no charred bits of noodle mixed in. The chicken – incredibly juicy and not a bit rubbery – was liberally included in the dish (many a plate has been eaten of Pad See You with three tiny chunks of rubbery chicken!). The broccoli – often undercooked – was toothsome and sweet. She was greatly impressed.
He ordered the chef’s pumpkin curry – with big beautiful hunks of pumpkin and red bell pepper floating among vibrant green basil leaves in a bright red curry sauce – and added duck. Now, we both love duck. If you read our review of Bite Bistro in Hillcrest, you know how much we adore a well-cooked piece of duck. Unfortunately, we’re not as fanatical about large pieces of duck fat and skin. Especially when served in a bowl of curry – where it’s next to impossible to separate the meat. It’s nothing against duck fat or skin – and we know a lot of people really love the stuff – but neither of us really enjoys the texture. So the curry – while tasty – suffered from an unfortunate propensity toward fatty duck.
It also was not labeled as “hot” (or even “medium”) on the menu – but we’d ask for it mild when you go, unless you were bottle-fed the stuff. As curry usually is, it was sweet and peppery on the tongue – but going down the throat it became quite hot and was surprisingly hard to finish. Not because it didn’t taste good (it did); we just like to retain the lining of our esophogeal tracts.
By the end of the meal, we were too full to even consider a plate of sweet rice and mango – although we did notice that the table next to us quite enjoyed their beautiful dish of the stuff. We had leftovers for lunch the next day and full stomachs (even if the curry did leave us slightly scarred).
The service at Pinto Thai was prompt and friendly (in fact, they seemed to be even a little too concerned with their customers – perhaps because they’re so very new?), the menu was extensive and creative (there were even several salads to choose from, not a strong point on many Thai menus), and the food was plentiful and excellent (just don’t expect the curry to be mild unless you ask!). And, even though the space is tiny, we noticed several people coming in to pick up takeout (just don’t ask them for a takeout menu because they don’t have them; call ahead or come prepared after checking out their website). The only part of the place that we didn’t like, overall, was the fact that something in the kitchen kept cycling on and off and making the overhead lights sort of sputter (as the electricity is often stretched in our house between appliances and lighting); we think they may need to invest – sooner than later – in some updated wiring! But it’s definitely a cute neighborhood place with good food worth checking out. Maybe if enough of us do so, Pinto Thai will stick around in that space for a few years!
San Diego Foodie 