Bua Luang Thai Cuisine

Restaurant Info

1166 Solano Ave
(between Cornell Ave & Stannage Ave)

Albany, CA, 94706

(510) 527-8288

Waiting Time

The restaurant wasn't full when we came in, there were about 3 other tables of patrons. We were quickly seated, given menus and served water. The waitress seemed very friendly with her regular cliente as she was chatting with a mom and her baby like they were friends. The food didn't take long to come out when we ordered, and the waitress would come over to our table a few times to ask if everything was ok.

Food Pictures

Menu

Lunch Specials (not listed in menu)

Thai Iced Tea and Salad

Rita: Eh. I've had better Thai Iced Tea. This one wasn't very sweet and didn't have a lot of tea flavor. The salad was just a dish with vegetables and a thousand islandish type dressing.

Mango Red Curry (bottom right) and Tom Yum Kai(top left) Lunch Combo

Rita: As you can see, this restaurant excels in food presentation. However, this lunch special didn't taste very...well, special. The Tom Yum Kai soup was average and it had these weird leftover specs of something in the bottom of the bowl. I had ordered the Mango Red Curry because I've never heard of a thai dish with mango in curry. Now I know why. The combination of this fruit and the spices of the curry didn't mesh well at all. Also, the chicken was tasteless and dry. I got to take the leftovers home and ate this the next day. I don't know if I was especially hungry, or because the curry and basil spices had soaked into the chicken and vegetables, but the curry definitely tasted better as a leftover - minus the mangos of course. Bleh. Note to future thai food enthusiasts: microwaved mangos, not good.

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Curry Dumplings*

kitzie says:
*It's been a long time since I ate here, so I'm not entirely sure what their names were, but that's what the food was. I stand by my memory so don't worry. I retain many, many very useless bits of info, so have confidence in my impressions of this dish!

This place had very pretty dishes, but the taste was mediocre. Just look above, what a feast for the eyes! My food was okay. I had very high hopes for the dumplings, but they were kind of bland. Okay, and I'll admit that it was a mistake to order sweet and sour anything from a Thai restaurant, but that too was only eh. (I can only defend myself by saying: What? I'm white! I can't help myself when I see a new sweet and sour dish.) I'd go to a less fancy, better tasting Thai restaurant in the future. (Like Ruen Pair, I LOVE that place!)