Osha Thai Restaurant

Osha Thai Restaurant

Owner

Thai food emphasizes balance of ingredient flavor, texture, and seasoning. Osha Thai (Valencia) offers an escape from "carbon copy" Thai restaurant menus, choosing instead to serve some of the Bay Area's most authentic traditional Thai, as well as modern riffs using local fresh ingredients. Besides delighting the discerning palate, our kitchen takes pride in sophisticated presentation. Dishes will be treated to such decorative touches as fresh orchid flowers and carved vegetable accents. OSHA offers a distinctive dynamic wine selection, monthly hand-picked wine list to complement our seasonal menus. Enticing, experimental, and fun.

Contributor

Citysearch

The Scene
Squeezed into a gritty Mission block, the small dining room is a stylish, peaceful respite from the outside, with jungle-foliage wallpaper and fluorescent lights softened by a gauzy mesh curtains. Blond-wood tables, Jetson-like plastic chairs and black-clad waitstaff complete the mod-squad feel, though the patrons are the neighborhood's standard blend of yuppie-meets-grunge.

The Food
An encyclopedic list of bargain-priced Thai dishes makes this a paradise for cash-strapped food lovers. From traditional starters such as crisp, flavorful egg rolls to Tom Yum noodles with its exotically comforting balance of lemongrass and lime, meals begin with a bang--especially if you request it spicy. Laht Nah, crispy rice noodles and vegetables covered with a thick, sweet-salty sauce, is an interesting departure from the ubiquitous pad thai. Spicy eggplant, a heaping portion stir-fried with tofu, bell peppers and Thai basil, demonstrates the kitchen also has excellent skills at the wok.