Bua Luang

Bua Luang is hands down the BEST Thai restaurant in the entire Bay Area, not just in Albany! I have been enjoying Thai cuisine all around the Bay for over 25 years. My family and I have Thai food at least 2-3 times a week, so we have tried many (and I mean MANY) Thai restaurants over the decades, and without a doubt we all agree that Bua Luang offers the freshest, tastiest, and most delicately prepared Thai cuisine of all. Every dish is packed with the freshest ingredients. The flavors and textures are amazing. Restaurants in Thailand don’t make a Pad Thai as delicious as the Pad Thai at Bua Luang—believe us, we have tried Pad Thai all over Thailand and we still longed for the Pad Thai at Bua Luang. The chef at this restaurant is a culinary master! Not only are the dishes at this restaurant superb, the atmosphere is serene and delightful. The indoor space is clean, cozy, and modern with soft old-world touches and whimsical lighting. The ambiance music is very pleasant. It’s not too loud, and it’s easy to talk with and hear others in your party. If you choose to dine outside, you are greeted by the most beautiful outdoor seating area on all of Solano Avenue. The space is gorgeous and inviting. And then there is the staff: always friendly and attentive. They provide a truly exceptional dining experience all around. This restaurant is an absolute gem. If I could give it more stars I would. Don’t walk, run to this spot!

Definitely the place to visit when you are very hungry because their portion sizes are big. Really love the decor at the restaurant because it makes one want to dine-in peacefully. Their teas are amazing and I was blown away by the blends they offered. It was definitely my first time, having tea that’s blue in color. The food was well-made, with good seasoning. I had ordered the sautéed mix vegetables with fried tofu and I loved how well-prepared the vegetables were. Definitely a place that I will visit next time I’m in Berkeley

Our favorite Thai restaurant ever. 💕 They now served Kao Mun Gai (chicken and rice) Thai style. Tasty and good price. We also had Tamarind Prawn. It’s crispy jumbo prawns topped with tamarind sauce and grilled asparagus. Yummm. Best food, service and vibes. Love this place!!! Recommended!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Really enjoyed the red curry, great flavor and spicy without being too hot. The lamb special was great too! Decent amount of street parking in the area, we were seating quickly and our food came out very fast.

This isn't your typical take-out restaurant. Bua Luang is a quaint little Thai Restaurant on the Albany side of Solano Ave. We always enjoy coming here to have some pad thai and other dishes. Their flavors are very rich and not overly salty. Mango sticky rice dessert was beautiful plated and yummy! Parking is not a breeze but it's about the same with other businesses on Solano ave.

Friendly staff, good service. Got food extremely quickly as well. Will recommend to families as well.

Absolutely delicious Thai food. They have outdoor seating. I would recommend their signature beef dish. Great staff. Highly recommended!

Nice portion, taste amazing, so delicious, one of my favorite restaurants

Fantastic, fresh, big portions, non- greasy and delicious food. Try theirAppetizer platter :)

Nneile Nkholise

Definitely the place to visit when you are very hungry because their portion sizes are big. Really love the decor at the restaurant because it makes one want to dine-in peacefully. Their teas are amazing and I was blown away by the blends they offered. It was definitely my first time, having tea that’s blue in color. The food was well-made, with good seasoning. I had ordered the sautéed mix vegetables with fried tofu and I loved how well-prepared the vegetables were. Definitely a place that I will visit next time I’m in Berkeley

Vnd Vanda

Our favorite Thai restaurant ever. 💕 They now served Kao Mun Gai (chicken and rice) Thai style. Tasty and good price. We also had Tamarind Prawn. It’s crispy jumbo prawns topped with tamarind sauce and grilled asparagus. Yummm. Best food, service and vibes. Love this place!!! Recommended!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jessica Eskew

Really enjoyed the red curry, great flavor and spicy without being too hot. The lamb special was great too! Decent amount of street parking in the area, we were seating quickly and our food came out very fast.

William Tang

This isn't your typical take-out restaurant. Bua Luang is a quaint little Thai Restaurant on the Albany side of Solano Ave. We always enjoy coming here to have some pad thai and other dishes. Their flavors are very rich and not overly salty. Mango sticky rice dessert was beautiful plated and yummy! Parking is not a breeze but it's about the same with other businesses on Solano ave.

Shufang Huang

Friendly staff, good service. Got food extremely quickly as well. Will recommend to families as well.

Darryl Diptee

Absolutely delicious Thai food. They have outdoor seating. I would recommend their signature beef dish. Great staff. Highly recommended!

Paola Perez

Nice portion, taste amazing, so delicious, one of my favorite restaurants

Elina

Fantastic, fresh, big portions, non- greasy and delicious food. Try theirAppetizer platter :)

Wonderful locally/family owned place. Food is tasty, staff are really nice. Indoor and outdoor seating. Their parklet seating area outside is really nice.

Amazing food and service food came pretty fast and we enjoyed it a lot. Also very nice place

Amazing food and many gluten free options!

Great food, some of the options may be a bit pricey but they do not skimp out on portions. I ordered the Kao Soi Gai and it was amazing. Chicken was perfectly cooked and noodles were tasty, not the mention the great curry which was slow cooked to perfection. Everyone else at the table was very happy and we had a good time. We had the sweet sticky rice dessert for dessert and it blew me away. Great place to check out if you don't mind spending 2 or 3 more dollars.

Shannon Lee-Rutherford

Wonderful locally/family owned place. Food is tasty, staff are really nice. Indoor and outdoor seating. Their parklet seating area outside is really nice.

Tom Novick

Amazing food and service food came pretty fast and we enjoyed it a lot. Also very nice place

Simon Tompson

We enjoyed a delicious meal in comfortable surroundings. Pumpkin curry was perfect. It's always a pleasure to find a restaurant where you don't have to raise your voice to be heard by your partner. We'll be back.

Abtin Olaee

Great food, some of the options may be a bit pricey but they do not skimp out on portions. I ordered the Kao Soi Gai and it was amazing. Chicken was perfectly cooked and noodles were tasty, not the mention the great curry which was slow cooked to perfection. Everyone else at the table was very happy and we had a good time. We had the sweet sticky rice dessert for dessert and it blew me away. Great place to check out if you don't mind spending 2 or 3 more dollars.

Pretty good place for Thai food. Some dishes are way better than others, try the pumpkin curry

Great lunch menu with many options. Service is friendly & fast. Nice ambiance & decor. Located in downtown area right next to coffee shops & desert spots.

Romantic and succulent with a decor composed of miscellaneous odds and ends from Thailand. Although it's expensive the atmosphere and scrumptious food make it a worth while splurge.

Welcoming environment with great food! I think they hold back on the spices for newbies. Let them know you are a pro and you are in for a hot ride :)

This is a really great, solid Thai restauarant. Relaxed atmosphere, the staff is super friendly, and delicious food. The lava fish was amazing. I mean..one of the best dishes I've had in months. The pad thai was good, the satay was good ..but that lava fish..mmmm. We'll be back.

One of the better Thai places on Solano. Good flavor balance and presentation.

We tried both the lunch special and the drunken noodles. My lunch special came with soup, curry, rice and salad. It was very filling. The noodles were also delicious. The service was very good as well. Street parking can be a challenge.

Best bang for the buck is the lunch combo. Ordered the cashew chicken & tom yum soup. Food is flavorful, fresh & no skimping on the ingredients. The menu is quite extensive & service was attentive. Was a bit skeptical about the green tea since the description had watermelon & rose in it, but surprisingly, it was the right flavor combo without any specific one overpowering it; multiple refills were enjoyed.

another strong local contender for Thai restaurant. food took a little while to get to me but it was good, they make delicious chicken larb, with so many other Thai restaurants in the area it's hard to tell what sets this one apart.

Cute little spot with fresh Thai food and fun presentation. Parking can take a few extra minutes but there's usually not more than a 5 minute walk. Romantic lighting and nice decor. Located on a busy pedestrian street among other businesses, nice for walking around after a meal.

Alice L.

Best bang for the buck is the lunch combo. Ordered the cashew chicken & tom yum soup. Food is flavorful, fresh & no skimping on the ingredients. The menu is quite extensive & service was attentive. Was a bit skeptical about the green tea since the description had watermelon & rose in it, but surprisingly, it was the right flavor combo without any specific one overpowering it; multiple refills were enjoyed.

P. I.

another strong local contender for Thai restaurant. food took a little while to get to me but it was good, they make delicious chicken larb, with so many other Thai restaurants in the area it's hard to tell what sets this one apart.

Brandy

Cute little spot with fresh Thai food and fun presentation. Parking can take a few extra minutes but there's usually not more than a 5 minute walk. Romantic lighting and nice decor. Located on a busy pedestrian street among other businesses, nice for walking around after a meal.

Drunken noodles were amazing. Curry chicken was ok. Fried rice was ok. Slightly pricey (almost $3 for a small bowl of white rice). Soup was not very good. They have a limited and pricey alcohol menu, but the servers know almost nothing about drinks. If you find the right dish, and aren't looking for drinks, it is an ok place to eat. Servers are friendly.

Taimur B

Drunken noodles were amazing. Curry chicken was ok. Fried rice was ok. Slightly pricey (almost $3 for a small bowl of white rice). Soup was not very good. They have a limited and pricey alcohol menu, but the servers know almost nothing about drinks. If you find the right dish, and aren't looking for drinks, it is an ok place to eat. Servers are friendly.

Bland food Nice spot with big windows and plenty of space. Very pleasant service. Food was underwhelming. Bland and on the dry side. My Pranam needed more sauce and the spinach should have been sauteed.

It wasn‘t bad. Definitely not super amazing either. Servers seemed overwhelmed. They should have had a least one more server for the demand there was tonight. The Green Thai Curry Chicken was OK, but had too many large pieces of veggies in in in lieu of chicken. The Pad Woon Sen was a bit dry and not as spiced as I know it from other Thai restaurants. It also had very few pieces of chicken in it. The Spring rolls were good. With everything, ingredients were of doubtful quality and only the tofu was labeled „organic“. Don‘t order that golden IPA beer. That was very bad.

The famous pork shoulder fried rice that has everyone raving about was good but that great. The crab papaya salad was legit and very good but order it mild because medium will burn your tongue and I like things spicy. I really liked the Pad Thai and Tom Yum here. Service can be rude and slow so brace yourself.

The food was ok, not something I have to go back to. The service was excellent, and the ambience was excellent as well.

I took a friend here for her birthday. The meal was pretty good, but the service was subpar. I would not go here again. There are better places with more flavorful food, and friendlier more attentive service: such as Anchalee in Berkeley or Nua in Oakland.

Monica B-McLarry

The food was ok, not something I have to go back to. The service was excellent, and the ambience was excellent as well.

Anne Bader

I took a friend here for her birthday. The meal was pretty good, but the service was subpar. I would not go here again. There are better places with more flavorful food, and friendlier more attentive service: such as Anchalee in Berkeley or Nua in Oakland.

Bua Luang was my favorite restaurant on Solano Avenue but recently I had bad experience. For my take out order I ordered Cashew nut with tofu. I got a piece of chicken along with tofu pieces in my vegan dish. Don’t know how someone can mix piece of chicken in a vegan dish. Also, I specifically mentioned about entree item not the lunch combo but they gave me lunch combo and charged for main entree.

Got take out twice here. The portion size was fine but too expensive for food that’s just decent. The eggplant tofu had a piece of chicken in it, even though we specified it should be tofu and fully vegetarian, and the pad kee mao tofu didn’t actually have any tofu, despite us specifying we’d like tofu. The food itself wasn’t bad and when I asked for spicy, they delivered a decent level of spice. But their inattention to detail was very disappointing, especially when we specifically ordered tofu and they got it wrong twice! They also overcharged me for pad se ewe that was listed on the menu as one price and charged a higher price on the bill.

Walking into the restaurant at 8:20, we were reminded of the 9:00 PM closing and if this was OK. Per the ensuing dining experience, we were rushed through every aspect of the meal including of course, the tab. In retrospect takeout would have been a more pleasurable option. The waitresses seemed more intent on vacating the premises by 9:15. Regrettably, an all too common an experience post-pandemic, with early closing, impatient staff-that are effectively discouraging business after 8:00 PM. All with notably higher prices-not all attributable to ingredients inflation.

Very good food, feels healthy. But they gave very bad service. Basically they made a mistake with my order and insisted that I pay for both the order they messed up on as well as the correct order. Let me explain. I got the lunch special and asked for brown rice. They brought my plate with white rice. I immediately went and told them, before touching my plate. The woman I told (the manager) said they would bring out the brown rice for me. I sat back down and was very hungry and ate a bite of the white rice while waiting for the brown to arrive. Later I saw that they charged me for a side of brown rice. I asked my waitress about the charge and she said it is because brown rice costs more than white rice. I said yes it's supposed to be 75 cents substitution fee but you charged me for a whole side of rice. I went to the manager who said that because I touched the white rice, they couldn't take it back to the kitchen and give it to someone else, so i needed to pay for the side. And the waitress started to argue with me and say that I ordered white rice which I would never do. Eventually she agreed to refund me for the difference. I tried to talk with both of them about what just happened and they flat out ignored me, like literally pretended I wasn't there. I have never heard of this kind of policy in any restaurant, about taking back food that wasn't touched and giving it to someone else. I would not have touched it if they had told me about it when I first requested the change. I am very disappointed because I enjoy their food. Because of their poor service, I do not recommend Bua Luang Thai Restaurant.

Jasmine Granas

Very good food, feels healthy. But they gave very bad service. Basically they made a mistake with my order and insisted that I pay for both the order they messed up on as well as the correct order. Let me explain. I got the lunch special and asked for brown rice. They brought my plate with white rice. I immediately went and told them, before touching my plate. The woman I told (the manager) said they would bring out the brown rice for me. I sat back down and was very hungry and ate a bite of the white rice while waiting for the brown to arrive. Later I saw that they charged me for a side of brown rice. I asked my waitress about the charge and she said it is because brown rice costs more than white rice. I said yes it's supposed to be 75 cents substitution fee but you charged me for a whole side of rice. I went to the manager who said that because I touched the white rice, they couldn't take it back to the kitchen and give it to someone else, so i needed to pay for the side. And the waitress started to argue with me and say that I ordered white rice which I would never do. Eventually she agreed to refund me for the difference. I tried to talk with both of them about what just happened and they flat out ignored me, like literally pretended I wasn't there. I have never heard of this kind of policy in any restaurant, about taking back food that wasn't touched and giving it to someone else. I would not have touched it if they had told me about it when I first requested the change. I am very disappointed because I enjoy their food. Because of their poor service, I do not recommend Bua Luang Thai Restaurant.

We went here on a Saturday night and arrived about 8 p.m. We were told they were closing soon (!!) so we should order quickly. We quickly made our selections, then waited . . . and waited to place our order, finally getting up and tracking down the server to place the order. The food didn't come very quickly but we started right in once it did. Within 15 minutes they put our check down, never asking how things were or if we wanted anything else. Then they started putting chairs on the tables around us and doing similar things to convey quite clearly that we weren't welcome, even though it was about 8:45 on a Saturday and we hadn't had our food that long. Never going back here!

Food was fine but service was terrible. We asked for water refill and one waitress came only to fill my glass but totally ignored my friend without asking. Later the same waitress came and took our soup away without asking if we were done with it. After I told her there were still some left that we wanted to finish. She glared at us and very reluctantly force the remaining soup to my bowl and still took away the soup pot immediately. Amazed by her rude behavior I asked what is her name but she just walked away without answering. I will never return to this place again.

For dinner we started with the curry puff appetizer but instead of what was on their menu (filling of carrots, potatoes, peas and onions in a yellow curry) we got a taro root paste filling. We complained, as it was very bland and the waitress said they had changed their menu. She took the appetizer away but did not offer to replace it. The next course was the silver noodle seafood soup that was good but came without a single piece of fresh tofu that is listed as an ingredient in the menu. This was enough of a experiment for one night. From our experience, this restaurant does not bring you what you want and order from its menu.

The food is good; not incredible. The online menus are outdated and prices are now twice as much. People are not friendly when ordering over the phone. Last night I was told an order would arrive in 30 minutes. I waited an hour and had to call to see what was going on. Guy finally arrived and the food was cold. Probably won't be doing business there again.

Ordered BBQ beef (7/5/2022) Tuff meat like rubber, bad meat. Very disappointed with this place. This was my 3rd try. Never will go back and do not recommend. Expensive and poor quality. tastes

Very disappointed. May be a victim of the Covid era, but we ordered 4 dishes — one was out when I went to pick it up, all four others were poor in quantity and quality. The Corn Fritter was sold out, so we replaced it with what turned out to be a flavorless chicken satay. The $18 Pa-nang salmon consisted of 4 potato chip sized pieces of salmon in 1/4 cup! of bland curry (yes, we measured it). We ordered spring rolls that appeared to be frozen CostCo rolls, and the meal was topped off by the Kao Soi Gai, which was...just not good. There is a lot of good thai food in Berkeley and Albany — don't waste your money here.

Tried to place a take out order but was hung up on and then my number was blocked. They answered the phone and put me on hold which was fine but they did just set the phone down so I heard everything going on. Then they pick the phone up after about 5 minutes and ask to take my order and for my number, I gave my number and then was told to hold on while she took a person who just walked in order. A few minutes later she picks the phone back up and asks for my number. I gave it to her three times and she said she couldn't hear me. Sounded like she was in the middle if the kitchen, pure chaos, so no doubt she couldn't her me. I started to give my number a fourth time and she hung up and now I can't seem to even leave a message. She kept calling me sir and I said please don't call me sir and she said sorry sir. Good luck with this rude place.

Doug Herring

We went here on a Saturday night and arrived about 8 p.m. We were told they were closing soon (!!) so we should order quickly. We quickly made our selections, then waited . . . and waited to place our order, finally getting up and tracking down the server to place the order. The food didn't come very quickly but we started right in once it did. Within 15 minutes they put our check down, never asking how things were or if we wanted anything else. Then they started putting chairs on the tables around us and doing similar things to convey quite clearly that we weren't welcome, even though it was about 8:45 on a Saturday and we hadn't had our food that long. Never going back here!