Location - just off BC street heading towards the shopping arcade (take the red pedestrian road that comes off the end of BC street. We usually park at the mall or public parking area at the top of the hill (BC street) and walk.
Hours: 1130-3p, 5:30-9p, closed on Monday and Tuesday
This is a charming hole in the wall Thai restaurant doing reasonably authentic and very tasty meals. It is a two person open kitchen with a sizzling wok going non-stop. The menu includes tom yum and tom kha soups (500Y), pad thai, chili-basil stir-fry, drunken noodle, thai chicken salad, red or yellow curry, veg with oyster sauce, fried rice, and maybe a couple other dishes (<1000y). They also have daily dessert specials, which on one visit was a kahlua brownie with banana and coconut sauce. The menu is in English with photos on the wall by the counter; you order there and pay prior to seating.
We really enjoyed the Tom Kha - order rice on the side and eat the two together. The chef is using real kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass, which must be hard to source in Japan. As a result, he slivers these ingredients finely, without losing the flavor. The pork chili-basil had a yummy sauce base but the pork was a bit fatty; probably shrimp or tofu are better options. The pad thai was better than all the versions we have had in the United States - this one had a nice fish sauce / dried shrimp flavour and a touch of chili, although perhaps not enough lime (limes being prohibitively expensive here for no good reason).
The major downside of this place is that it is well known in the DOD/SOFA community, which may mean that you get to hear Americans speaking sufficiently loudly that you do not miss a single word of their conversation. But the affordable and lovely food more than makes up for that.
