Hawker Fare

I’m a huge fan of Thai food, but sadly, our favorite Thai place in the city is a bit pricey for a casual stop in. I had heard about Hawker Fare for quite some time, but never really had the opportunity to drop by. Luckily, one fine summer day, our friends wanted to hang out in Delores Park, so it gave us a great opportunity to come by and give it a try for dinner.

It wasn’t that impressive when we walked in, at least for me. It felt that all expenses had been spared in decorating the place as there were cheap plastic tablecloths and folding chairs aplenty. My lovely dining companion casually mentioned that perhaps that was the plan, as it was supposed to represent street food in Thailand. Perhaps, but it still felt somewhat tacky and the folding chairs were quite low which is really bad for this aging person’s knees. The wine list was uninteresting, as well as the cocktail list, so we went for a Zombie, where at least we knew we would be getting a lot of bang for our buck as they are usually very boozy. We ordered three dishes to share: Brussels sprouts with bean sauce ($11), Tamarind Egg Drop Curry Noodles with shrimp ($17) and Isaan Herbed Pork Sausage ($15).

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The Brussels sprouts were the first to arrive at the table, and they did look and smell great. However, they were just a bit bland. When I think of Thai food, I think of a mix of flavors and spices, and these were just not quite as exciting as I anticipated. They were cooked quite well and there were plenty of them, so at least I felt like we were getting a decent amount of sprouts for the price.

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The noodles were the next to come, and sadly, they forgot to add shrimp to our order (and thankfully it wasn’t on the bill). The noodles were nice, but again, the flavors just needed to be a bit more for me to feel really excited about eating it. It was the same with the sausage. The sausage itself was a bit dry and overcooked, but the sauce served with it was good. I just really was hoping for bolder flavors from this dish as well.

I looked into dessert, but all they had was coconut ice cream, so I decided to give it a pass. Overall, I think the meal was fine, but I was really not blown away by any of the dishes as they all felt slightly lacking in those Thai flavors that I know and love. Perhaps they were trying to cater to an American palate. I don’t know. I don’t think I’d make the active choice to come back, but if people I were with really wanted to come, I’d probably come along to see if I could find anything on the menu I liked more.

Score: 3/5
Recommendation: The noodles were probably the best, but even they weren’t amazing.

Hawker Fare
680 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA