E-San Thai Cuisine

We went to this place at 9:35pm with a party of 8… The restaurant was empty and they refused us service because the restaurant closed at 10:00pm. Most people are polite and take your business but these guys are rude and clueless. Take your business elsewhere where you get good service and folks that want your business. There are many options in town. I would rate them at a negative –5 but there is no such rating.

Picked up a to-​go order for 15 people and they were so nice, put in a box for me and did not screw up.

Service was excellent. Waitress was helpful in ordering. I ordered the Lemongrass Chicken Pad Thai which was amazing. Varying spice levels as well, medium is perfect for spicy but not so much that you are chugging water. Mild for sure if you have kids or don’t like spicy food.

I have been to this venue multiple times but am only now getting around to writing a review. It is a great date night location. Right in the middle of the hussle and bussle of downtown. It is right on the corner and no parking lot associated with it, so street parking is all they have. This place has 2 floors but I’ve never actually seen anyone up on the 2^nd floor.
It’s a fairly priced joint for a nicer event. Dishes are over $ 10, but the portions are big and the food is delicious. I wouldn’t come here all the time or I would be broke, but I hit it as often as I can and when ever I’m craving good Thai food. It has always been busy when I came in.
Finally, the important part is the food reviews!
I’ve had the Tom Kha soup which has the perfect amount of lemon grass and coconut milk. It’s a good starter. I also get a rice dish, which has been the pineapple fried rice the last couple of times. It comes served in half a pineapple cored out. So good! Then I will get a noodle dish, usually the pad Thai or the pad see ew, they are similar in terms of flavor, one with skinny rice noodles and the other wide. Not overly salty, a good ratio of protein, veggies, and noodles. Finally, I’ll also get a stir fry and these are very generic but plenty of protein and flavors. My highlights are the pineapple fried rice and the Tom Kha soup. I highly recommend these! Will have to try out the dessert here for an updated review later.
All around great, love the service and the food.

Unexpected goodness!
In the land of many quality Thai spots: I wasn’t expecting to find a really good one right in downtown. Most places I love are outside of downtown. Pleasant surprise indeed!
We came here looking for soup for my hungover friend. She refused a few other spots and the ramen across the street (YUM) but this place: I put my foot down! Get your soup or else!
The place doesn’t look as big from outside but it is actually quite spacious. Much bigger and nicer than expected. And it wasn’t too bad for a Sunday. Lunch menu look delish but of course, M-​F only. We opted for a few things from regular menu.
Larb gai: this is my goto favorite dish. Ground chicken or pork tossed in spicy lime, cilantro, rice powder, onions and Thai peppers! I got this 5 stars and omg! It was so spicy, almost punched someone! Naturally, I loved it.
Thai chicken noodles soup ~ this was a much needed for any hangover cure. They also have a hangover cure noodle dish but we went with a simpler choice. Clear broth, veggies, chicken! Noodles! Hmmmm so warm and tasty!
Their ice tea and coffee are pretty decent size too at $ 3 a pop! Not bad at all for downtown prices! I got my salad Togo back to Seattle! It was still good at dinner time. The server was fast! Food has a lot of punch! Way to surprise me, Esan Thai! I shall return!

I came here after my first choice was closed on Memorial Day. I don’t know what the first choice would have tasted like but Esan Thai was so good! I ordered the Po Hang and it was perfect blend of kaffir leaves, basil, lemongrass and extra chilis (like I had asked). I was full halfway through but couldn’t stop eating.

Cute place. We came for the décor and they put us at a booth in the very corner where we couldn’t see anything, so we were a little disappointed. The service was a bit slow, but the servers were nice. The food was about average, I didn’t think anything was spectacular. We got the pineapple fried rice, the chicken pad Thai and the spring rolls. We were celebrating a birthday, and had ordered two drinks, and they gave us one for free, which was cool.
It was cute, but I’m not in a rush to go back.

Must get the pineapple fried rice with shrimp. It was so tasty. Sat at bar and everybody was super friendly. I would definitely come back next time I’m in Portland. Good Thai food!

Crab puffs: Golden seafood stuffed purses of pure joy.
Beef pineapple fried rice: the envy of the table! A perfect balance of sweet, spicy and savory. Best of all, served in an actual pineapple!
Thai iced tea: how could you not?
Overall the food was a five. Service however was slow, they need more wait staff, so I’d say a three. If I wasn’t on a time crunch I would have been much happier. Overall really great food!

Panang curry shrimp and mixed vegetables firend got panang salmon. The mixed veggies were all tiny chopped broccoli, carrots, bean sprouts onion slivers and green onion. All chopped up very small. Very disappointing. The curry shrimp… flavour was fine although i requested hot and it was not hot at all. The curry consisted of carrots, onions and shrimp. What normally would contain green beans. The portions were ok. My firend said his salmon was all sliced up into pieces in a bowl. Said flavour was ok but salmon portion was very small. And veggies were lacking.
On a positive note the waittress was attentive and personable. And the restaurant was very clean and the atmosphere was a nice mix and comfortable.

«Go try E-​San. Best Thai food in the world. Even better than Thailand,» a friend texted me this bold statement before I boarded my flight to PDX. I laughed at his ridiculous claim, then landed, took an über here, and wholeheartedly concurred.
I mean I come from Singapore, a country that takes our food extremely seriously. And yet and yet! I wanted to get the Thai sausage fried rice, but it wasn’t available. No matter, ordered the pineapple fried rice with beef instead. The rice is flavourful, the pineapple chunks juicy, and the slices of beef generous and tender. I also requested for the spice level to be very high, which worked out just nice for my Asian tastebuds. Just the right kick for this spice lover.
¹¹⁄₁₀ would recommend. Right now considering getting FedEx to deliver the Thai sausage fried rice to Singapore…

Delicious food! When they ask how spicy, be careful what you ask for. The hot level is pretty darn hot! Went on a Wednesday early evening, the place was almost empty. However based on other Unilocal reviews this place can get pretty crowded. They have a few beers on tap, some cocktails and a full bar. Service was great, our waitress was very attentive and friendly.
They have happy hour specials too!

Came here with four friends, and came out unsatisfied. On top of overpriced dishes ($ 14 for pad thai? Not even worth the quality or preparation), and rude customer service (one white guy was unfriendly and rushing to close down on a carry out), we will definitely reconsider dining at another thai restaurant.

We stopped here on a Sunday night. It was quiet and we had ordered a bunch of things and should say we enjoyed almost everything. We had ordered the tom kha and tom yum… Both were mild and flavorful… Not spicy unless you ask for it.
For appetizers, we had deep fried egg rolls and fresh egg rolls. Both were over even before I could take pictures. Really good ones
I had the pineapple fried rice, worth all the hype. Loaded with veggies, tofu and the yummy pineapple pieces with cashew really a treat :)
The pad see ew, pad kee Mao, pad thai were a little greasy but really good with juicy chicken, tofu and veggie options.
The nam kao was pretty different with minced tofu in a lettuce. The downside was there’s too much crispy rice. I would say try it more like an appetizer. A good thai place in the downtown area!

Been here a couple of times when I’m in the area. The food is really good, but it’s about the most you’ll pay for Thai food in the city.
I wouldn’t make this a destination spot, but if it’s handy, you know you’ll eat well.

Came here with my family at 5 pm to have an early dinner and avoid driving in traffic.
First, the high chair we got had no clips which isn’t exactly safe. The compromise was the second high chair which at least had velcro on it, so I guess that was okay.
Started off with the fried tofu which was okay. Nothing special.
Ordered the vegan pad kee mao, which had virtually no sauce on it (because of fish sauce). Had to send it back to be fixed (just add more of the usual sauce that isn’t fish sauce). It was okay.
We got the vegan basil rice which was okay but had to add a little salt. The tofu was bland.
The service was also not great. The server wasn’t rude but he was the only one there so he was stretched a little thin. It took a while for me to get a spoon that I asked for since I eat rice with a spoon (and did so in Thailand).
I hear though that it’s great for lunch and I do understand that at more «dead» times of the day things aren’t so great. But I just can’t go back to a place that is only okay and priced the way it is (so overpriced).
If I ever go back there again, it will not be at that time of day.

E-​San Thai is very close to my office and since they accommodate larger parties, we tend to end up here often. I’ve tried a few different things off their menu, but never really been wowed by anything.
I understand that after going to Thailand, Americanized Thai is just so-​so to me. E-​San is just so-​so, I think that if I had never been to Thailand, I may feel differently.
If you’re looking for something that is consistent and reasonably priced, I’d definitely just it a try.

Got a thai seafood salad here and it was one of the best ones I have had. Probably because I like things spicy. The waiter recommended I just go normal and get a spice rack, but I opted for «extra spicy» and I’m glad I did. (If you like spicy — don’t let them just give you the spice rack because it’s only garlic chili paste, chiu chow, and soy with chives… none of them are extremely hot — though yummy and I did end up dumping a fair amount on the salad)
I did, however start feeling the heat at the end of the salad (gulping down water and clearing my nose a few times) because I started discovering all the tiny little peppers that had drifted down in my salad.
It comes with shrimp (3 – 4 count) and a good amount of calamari. Overall, really nice salad and pretty large.
Ambiance is very quiet and relaxed. Great and friendly service.

This seriously is our go to for Thai Food. Everything on the menu is pretty consistent and very delicious. The atmosphere of the restaurant has a semi-​authentic Asian exotic feel.
Great place for lunch. It gets pretty crowdy, but not too bad of a wait. My favorite is the Pumpkin Curry with chicken! The Thai Sausage Fried Rice is so flavorful and delicious, it’s a must try!

My friends and I stayed in a hotel in downtown Portland and we were looking for a place to eat dinner, with the help of Unilocal,this Thai restaurant had good reviews so we decided to try it out even if the Asian route wasn’t our first choice, not too bad of a choice.
Like any location in downtown, parking can be tricky since there are no individual lots, so if you see an open spot around the streets, take it. We arrived for an early dinner around 7ish, so no wait for a table, and it was only a few customers, but around 8 it started to get really packed. Many regulars from what I can gauge, professionals and family with children having dinner at this place, very popular.
Our server had keen attention detail, he knew it was our first time so he was very helpful and provided some suggestions on what to order and some popular dishes. The menu had many choices but we were kind of set on our go-​to Thai dishes.
– Tom yum chicken soup (²⁄₅) — I think it definitely can use more flavor
– Pad se ew with chicken (³⁄₅) — Maybe could have used a little more sauce, but overall ok
– Beef pineapple fried rice (⁴⁄₅) — I enjoyed the flavor, this was a hit for our table.
– SPECIAL Salmon panang curry (⁴⁄₅) — To be honest we were all hesitant to order this but the server insisted it was good and we wanted curry but we didn’t want another dish with beef or chicken and it surprisingly delicious.
Like another Unilocaler mentioned, for it being a downtown location, the prices are great for your Thai fix.