During one of my late afternoon trips to Carnival Market, I noticed that the Thai Burger Company which Cathy has done a post on; had changed concepts and was now called the Pad Thai Stand.
The Missus was working until rather late on this evening, so I decided to check the place out.
It's a nice little stand that serves four different regional versions of Pad Thai – you basically pick the regional style and then the protein, check off the ingredients, add some extras, and then you'll have your Pad Thai.
The place has some outdoor seating……
And even some interesting fold down tables where you can eat standing.
The young lady working the counter was very friendly.
I decided to go with the "old style" Pad Thai – the "Boran" with chicken, medium heat. In a few minutes my boxed noodles were ready to go -it felt pretty hefty.
Thing were packed pretty tightly.
I unpacked and tried separating things out on a plate and finally got things looking like a proper dish.
I immediately realized that the pork rinds, one of the reasons I had ordered this version of Pad Thai had gotten soggy. When I order this again; I'll ask them to pack the pork rinds separately. And yes, I believe I'll order this again. Even though the chicken was as expected, tough and dry, the rest of the dish was pretty good. The heat level was perfect; the noodles al dente with a nice stretch and were evenly coated in a savory, dark soy based sauce, with just a touch of sweetness. The bean sprouts added a some textural contrast and the squeeze of lime elevated the dish with some acidity.
As you can see the portion size was pretty good as well. This was much more than I could eat and I saved some for the Missus to try when She got home.
And She really enjoyed it!
In fact, on one early evening when we couldn't decide what to eat, we headed back to the Pad Thai Stand for takeout.
We got the "basic" Pad Thai – Bangkok style.
With tofu. This was a bit mild in flavor for us; not enough salty-savory tones and the noodles weren't evenly coated and were overcooked.
We also got the Northern (Chiang Mai) style; which featured a curry base – also with tofu.
The medium heat did nicely with this; but I thought it a bit too salty and "soupy" for my taste. At least the noodles were perfectly cooked. This might be a version where adding in the "extras" – dried shrimp and fried garlic may come in handy. The coconut flavor in the curry and the saltiness pretty much overwhelmed the dish. 
So, I think I'll stick with the Boran style for now.
The young lady working here is a joy; the food is decently priced, and heck if you're in need of some major carbs give the place a try. In terms of protein; we'll probably stick with tofu. I've also seen these folks at various Farmer's Markets – so maybe you can check them out there.
The Pad Thai Stand
3520 Ashford St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Daily 11am – 2pm, 4pm – 9pm
Whenever we go to Carnival Market, The Pad Thai Stand is still closed. They have been at “my” Farmers Market with a limited menu, and everything is remarkably good. Will make an effort to go shopping later in the day so we can try more of the menu.
They were closed for lunch and on Mondays for a rather long period of time Cathy. I was told that they were reopening for lunch service.
oh this looks really good! 🙂 yeah, over the years I’ve come to realize that tofu is often a better option because chicken always ends up dry…sigh…
I noticed the sign the last time I was at Carnival Market, but had my stomach set on tacos. I realized that I never did try the burger place, but I really will try the pad thai. I also never order chicken because it’s usually white meat that is dried out.
looks great!
Looks great Kirk. I had no idea this was there! I’ll have to check it out soon.
Cool. I’ll check them out the next time I go to Carnival.
Hi Sandy – Try the “old style” Pad Thai, I think it’s the best version they have.
It was pretty good Kat!
Check them out and let me know what you think Jack.
Definitely try the Pad Thai Boran Junichi. It’s the best of the three versions in my opinion.
I never went when it was the Thai burger place…putting this spot on my list so we can try the other pad thai styles (pork rinds topping make everything taste better!)…
Pork rinds does indeed make everything taste better CC!