As I mentioned in a recent post, I’ve been on a mission to find some new local Thai restaurants to satisfy our cravings now that The Great Thai BBQ is closed.
Luckily, Mekong Cuisine Lao and Thai, is within a 25-minute drive. But, I’d really prefer something closer.
So far, nothing locally in Chula Vista has really panned out. But, there was still one Thai restaurant we hadn’t tried… Mea Kwan Thai in Eastlake.
It’s nestled in a nice shopping center near Proctor Valley Rd. We sometimes will come out here to pick up pizza from Pizzo’s (future post).
When we arrived, we immediately noticed they were short staffed. There was literally one server managing the entire restaurant.
Luckily, he was pretty attentive to us and got our order quickly.
We got a bowl of Tom Yum with a spice level of 1 so the kids could drink it.
Well, it came out closer to a 3.5/10. You can see some of the chili flakes floating around.
The flavor was okay, but a bit too sour for our liking.
Next up is our go to staple… pad thai with chicken.
It was decent, but not quite as sweet as I like it.
Finally, we ordered the Mange Red Curry.
Sounds good, right? Well, we again order it at a 1/10 spice level and it came back 3/10 at least.
Other than the extra spice, the flavors were decent. The mango flavor itself didn’t stand out all that much to me.
Final Thoughts
The food was okay overall. I would probably stop by to pick up occasionally if they were closer, but it’s about 15 minutes from our house.
What I won’t be doing, is dining at the restaurant in one of their booths!
Immediately when I walked in, I noticed some extra cloth napkins in the booth. I thought that was a bit strange until I sat down and felt the wood beam support under my butt!
My son of course ripped the napkin off and look what was underneath.
UGHHHH!!
It’s not like this was a hole in the wall restaurant either. Sorry, there are just some things you have to pay for to get fixed!
Mea Kwan Thai Cuisine
2326 Proctor Valley Rd, Ste 104
Chula Vista, CA 91914
Phone number (619) 397-4584
They could get that fixed cheap in TJ.
Yup! Even duct tape would have been better.
Wow…well, I am not surprised. This place has gone downhill over the years. To be honest, I have not dined here in about 3 years. For my daughter’s promotion back then, we had a party of 18…the food came out sporadically, not very well paced. Sadly, my nephew got his food after everyone got theirs and was almost done. It was ridiculous. They knew I was unhappy and did not tack on the automatic 18% gratuity for parties over 6. They pretty much got stiffed.
Another time, I was there with coworkers and ordered pad thai with shrimp. When I got my dish, there was no shrimp to be found and I did poke around to see if any were hidden. I pointed this out to the server and she took away my plate and gave it back to me a few minutes later WITH shrimp obviously placed on top. They had the nerve to tell me that the shrimp WAS there but I didn’t check under the noodles. Really now? OMG…
Anyhow…you are right that they are short staffed (one of the girls has a really bad attitude as well). Not worth my time. Just being honest. I’m glad you were honest about those seats too!
CC, thanks for sharing your shrimp story, haha! That’s too bad their service hasn’t been up to par. I wonder if that girl is gone now because it was just one guy serving the entire restaurant… I did feel bad for him.
No problem Michael. I can’t believe they would have cracked seats and try to hide it with napkins. Looks so trashy. 🙁
Have you tried Halo Halo a few doors down? I like their carioca and ube!
Funny you mention Halo Halo. I was eyeing them as I walked in, and as I walked out! Guess I’ll have to try it next time. 🙂