Esaan Thai

We went with another couple here for dinner. One member of our dinner party had true Celiac disease — not a casual person who claims they are «gluten sensitive,» but a gastroenterologist (an M.D. woth sub-​specialty training in G.I. Medicine) who truly has Celiac Disease or Gluten-​sensitive enteropathy, and had recommended the restaurant due to the availability of gluten-​free foods. What an amazing choice. The restaurant is not large. I estimated maybe about 12 tables overall. It was clean, neat with decent décor, which was quite nice — not a five-​star Michelin facility from the looks, but very pleasant, welcoming and delightful — which underplayed the meal because the food was a TREASURE, as was the service. Food this good should be served on ultra-​fine China with gold-​plated tableware. Seriously, this was one of the best meals I have ever had in a restaurant. We started off with the spring rolls. The best I ever had in a Thai restaurant. The wrap was so thin, it was translucent, and in between the layers there was a shrimp that was pounded thin between the layers so that it was visible like a decoration. The cabbage in the roll was shredded incredibly fine and was completely fresh and of the highest quality. I had the peanut noodle dish with glass noodles vegetables and chicken. It was scrumptious. The vegetables were perfectly prepared, including the broccoli, which was still bright green with a bit of crispness, yet still cooked — perfectly done, as broccoli can become limp and dull when over-​done. My fellow diners all had other dishes which they all raved about. Interestingly, this restaurant had home-​done gelato available for dessert. Not what you would expect in a Thai restaurant, but they had unusual south-​east Asian flavors that were delicious to sample, although I went with the dark chocolate, as I am a choco-​holic. Incredible. And our waitress was attentive without being intrusive. The owner also stopped by our table which was delightful, as he was clearly justifiably proud of his restaurant, where his wife oversees the kitchen. I cannot say enough how much we all enjoyed our meal!

Delicious food and an awesome staff. Both times I went I had fabulous service, the young lady with glasses and dreads was so incredibly friendly and helpful. She checked in on my table numerous times and gave me some great recommendations for which Meal I should order. I highly reckoned and would definitely go back. Great service great atmosphere and delicious food.

Restaurant is BYOB! Nice small restaurant with good food, but make reservations because it fills fast. We visited on restaurant week, and they had a great dinner deal but the wait for food was long, an hour after ordering long. Nonetheless the staff was super nice and gave us samples of gelato while we waited. Great food!

Had a great dinner here on 2÷26÷16 — my partner and I bother ordered off the specialty Restaurant Week menu — I had the surf and turf, he had the masaman curry. Both were well prepared (I was especially please with the steak since they don’t seem to prepare it regularly, it was spot on medium rare). Both appetizers were also excellent.
Service was friend, and well informed.
All around excellent meal and a place I plan to return to regularly!

1 star just on service alone. We didn’t even get to eat because we felt so uncomfortable with the horrible service we received just walking in the door. Me and a friend walked in, with our 2 other friends coming behind us. As soon as the 2 of us walked in, (in a very rude tone with no smile at all) a girl sitting down on a bench said, «are you guys here for lunch?!» We both said yes but she must’ve not heard because then she said, «IS THAT A YES?!» We were both thrown off by her tone but again said yes and then she rolled her eyes picked up menus and walked into the other room, didn’t say follow me, didn’t ask how many (because we had friends coming). We were so confused. Then she came out and said, «umm your table is in here!» (Again rude tone) so we reluctantly walked in and saw she only gave us for 2 and before we got to tell her it was for 4 she walked away. Then she came back in with our friends and said, «well I didn’t know it was going to be 4 of you!» So we just ended up leaving because we felt so uncomfortable. All 4 of us work in the restaurant business so we can be more understanding but we can also recognize when there’s just horrible service. I don’t think I’ll try to go here again.

Stopped for a casual business lunch. Exceeded my expectations. Look forward to trying again.

NOT impressed!
Put off by the mystery meat in the spicy Thai basil veggies with shrimp, chicken, and pork. Was able to discern approximately 2 medium sized pieces of shrimp, but, the other meat (s) made me leery. White crumbly «meat» and no pork. I picked out the «crumbles» and fed them to my dogs. The sauce was good, but, this entrée was absolutely not worth $ 16. Very few veggies. Came with brown rice.
The spring rolls were okay, but, the peanut sauce was not a sauce; more like a very thick peanut butter. This cost $ 9 for a large roll. Decent value, but, again, far from remarkable in flavor. This did have 4 shrimp in each roll.
The peace de resistance is the gelato. That is excellent. Maybe they should just become a gelato shop.

No food. That was the opening theme of our lunch. No vegetarian crispy spring rolls, no duck confit egg rolls… they were out. Apparently this is because making them is labor intensive, and they only make them every 5 days. This vegetarian was really disappointed.
No service. We waited 50 minutes for our main courses, by which point we had started to plan going somewhere else. Meanwhile, we watched as two tables who arrived after us received their food before us. Our food arrived just as I had pulled out my $ 5 to pay for our sodas.
I would have included pictures of our food with this review, but we were so hungry, we fell on it like ravening wolves. It was spicy hot, and full of fresh ingredients. Overall, unimpressive.
When we finished eating, I had to get up to find my own take home container. We paid at the counter just to expedite our departure 1 hour and 30 minutes after our arrival.
This was my second visit to Esaan. I will not be back.

Great food and portion size for price! This restaurant is BYOB. Service could be better. Check out my blog with the recommended dish!

Plating and décor were exceptional. Dishes were spotless and plenty eye candy to look at but as for the «thum» (pronounced dum) yum soup… Slightly gritty and lacked lemongrass taste. My guess is too much tom yum paste. Also had a coffee before and was extremely EXTREMELY disappointed. Coffee was waaay too sweet. They added cream into the coffee in order to call it «Thai». You do that with Thai iced tea, not iced coffee. So the kind girl behind the counter gave me another without any cream and it was still way to sweet. Too much condensed milk? No. It was the coffee. I looked over the counter and they brewed it in a coffee pot, not the standard phin that should’ve been used to create a strong dark coffee to offset the sweetness of the condensed milk. Aunthentic? Nah. I would go as far as to say it was americanized.
Edit: I came back for their pad thai and spring rolls (goi coun). Spring rolls were pretty good, notable things were apple slices added and their peanut sauce was thicker and had curry seasoning (bleh). Pad thai was good though. I couldn’t finish it so I took it home and I’m glad I did because after dropping acid my stomach was feeling pretty empty and that leftover pad thai hit the spot! Yum yum!

I first went here a few weeks ago and was really impressed with the attentive service. I am a vegan and I really appreciated that the waitress was patient with me in telling me what was vegan and what wasn’t. The wait was a little long, but the food was amazing and the waitress was really nice so I was willing to give them some slack.
I went back last night for my birthday dinner with some family and friends. There was a different waitress this time, and she seemed to be all over the place/​on another planet. Every time she would come to the table and take orders, she would come back a few seconds later asking more information. What’s more, whenever she took my order and the orders of those near me (end of the table) she stayed at the complete opposite end of the table so we had to yell to her. She came back to tell my mom that they were out of what she ordered, so she ordered something else. She left, then, without fail, came back out to tell me that the dish I ordered actually wasn’t vegan (which I did appreciate) and then another waitress (it might have been the waitress from the first time I visited Esaan) brought a menu over to me and pointed out what was vegan.
The appetizers came out pretty fast, but we had to wait an hour for our entrees. 3 out of 5 meals were incorrect. 2 people at my table just decided to eat the incorrect orders anyway because we’d been waiting a long time and they were hungry. I (the birthday girl…) was served last and with the wrong meal. I couldn’t eat it it because there was chicken in it. So while my entire table had meals and were eating (I wasn’t going to make them wait anymore) I sat there and picked at the serving of white (which was not brown as I had ordered). My meal finally came out around the time everyone was finishing up eating, so basically it was just me eating.
We were still charged for 5 entrees, nor was there any apology for the mix up or the wait.
Needless to say, we did not stay for dessert and I likely will not be coming back. It’s a shame… since there aren’t too many Thai places in York (my hometown-​I have family here and come back and visit every now and then, but I live in Philly)

Stop in for the gelato! I have been here are on many dates with my girlfriend. The service is great. They know us at this point. I love the food and the salted peanut gelato.

Extremely long wait. 30 minutes after ordering appetizers we get word that they’re out of what was ordered. Main course took more than an hour to come out. Not worth it.
Bill also incorrectly included the appetizer they were out of and didn’t serve us. This place is a mess.

Pretty terrible dining experience due to an hour long wait for our Pad Thai & greens curry dishes followed by mediocre food. I’ve never waited that long for noodles before. To the restaraunt’s credit, it was Friday night but an hour is still kinda insane. Oh and The Pad Thai lacked complexity in the sauce and was somewhat of a small portion. The food was $ 35-​way to much for two Thai entrees unless I’m in NEW York. won’t come again.

Really really great food :)
We went to this place for dinner after our Art’s Fair where I do natural Henna Designs in York, PA. They have pretty good Gilato ice-​cream as well which is on my list for next visit. Their crispy spring rolls… so good that we ordered second round when we were eating our main meal. I ordered Pineapple curry and it was yummy.
Ohh and they had their special of the day I guess for Mother’s Day soup «Asparagus & leek soup» which was a trial run for chef. It was just too good. I told them to have that on menu more often.
This is going to be our to go place in York for sure.

Jai is great in the kitchen.
All the food that comes out is not only flavorful but authentic Thai.
The various Pad Thai’s are great as are the various daily specials.

I really enjoyed this place and would certainly go back again!
I was in York to attend a concert on Valentine’s Day (a Saturday night). My original reservations elsewhere fell through and left us with no place to eat. On a Saturday night. In a snow storm. On Valentine’s Day. I called a friend who lived in York, told her my whereabouts and asked for the next closest restaurant. She suggested Esaan as it was not too far away from the garage I parked my car in. I showed up to this place at 6:15 in hopes of finding a table and they were able to seat us by 6:30. Not only did they manage to get us a table when I had told her about our misfortunate for the evening, but the service was quick and the food and gelato was amazing! In comparison to other Thai restaurants in the central PA region, this one is top-notch…one of, if not the best!
I live about 40 minutes outside of York, but am already planning another trip back, as the food was that good!

Being an avid Thai food lover myself, I’ve been to many Thai restaurants. Esaan Thai has an awesome menu. The ambience of the restaurant would make any couple want to dine there. We tried their Red Curry with Chicken & steamed rice and an order of Drunken Noodles. They were both good. Although I’m forced to mention here that I’ve tasted these same dishes that were better cooked at other Thai restaurants (in other states).
On the other hand however — Sam, the owner, was a very jolly down-​to-​earth elderly gentleman. He walked over to our table & introduced himself. He took his time & we talked to him quite a bit. He told us some things about the restaurant which makes us want to come back —
Everyone in the kitchen staff is from Thailand. They source all of their vegetables locally from the Farmers Market and he does most of the shopping himself! All the ingredients are fresh & their gelato is freshly made in-​house.
The service from the wait staff was immaculate. For desert we tried the Chocolate Hazelnut & Cookies ‘n Cream gelato. I must admit here that I’ve never tried gelato anywhere else where it was this fresh or where it tasted this GOOD!
I’m sure we’re coming back!

We stumbled in early NYE while I was feeling a bit under the weather. Needed something spicy to help clear my sinuses. I started with green curry soup & finished with Spicy Thai basil stir fry. Both were delicious and just what I needed. My husband tried the green curry and ate every drop. Our waitress was wonderful and gave our 8 yo special attention as he tried new items from the menu.

Having eaten Thai for over 20 years, and in the past reviewed for Zagat’s as well as graduated from a top three culinary school, I cannot explain why this is one of the most expensive restaurants in York: a two person meal without drinks cost over 70 dollars. I just want to explain to the good people of York that yes, although most of the food is fairly fresh it should not be as costly. At the average Thai restaurant in New York or D.C. a main dish costs no more than about in the 12 to 14 dollar range. I am not sure why they serve gelato– unsure of the connection between Thailand and Italy.

After about 3pm most days when the streets roll up here, one needs to be prepared to pay above 20 dollars per person or eat at Subway; this city is a divide between haves and have-​nots, of which the former evidently like to dine here, too see and be seen, either not realizing or caring that they’re paying too much and eating food with contradiction– and they’ll frown on you if they suspect your not having a good time.
I begrudgingly give it 2 stars with the wish that I was given 20 dollars off.