2400 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95403(707) 528-8048
Parking: Lot adjacent to restaurant
Last Visited: August 20, 2010
Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 1 to 2 stars
Price: $ to $$$
Jhanthong Banbua (often referred to by the locals as Motel Thai and Mendo Thai) instantly has a feeling of culture and Thai authenticity. The bright colors of the room and decorative vases as well as wall decorations are attractive. The garments worn by the servers complement the décor and give the place that extra Thai atmosphere. The dishes are often served in pretty ceramics and clay pots.
Jhanthong Banbua also got a facelift outside with purple paint. Now you really can't miss it.
Enter Jhanthong Banbua and you’ll see the large bamboo plants in the rear in large vases. The front of the room contains a glass case lighting various trinkets and figurines. The rear contains a bar with much decoration. There is so much in the room, it’s hard to describe it all, but it’s striking and unexpected from the exterior of the restaurant. The setting is beautiful, and there is much to appreciate. The color scheme creates a soothing environment. It also looks like they have new flooring made of dark wood.
- Chicken Satay – Three to four pieces of chicken breast are placed on skewers and grilled. The skewers are served with a sweet satay sauce and a small dish of cucumber, onion, carrot salad marinated in sweetened vinegar. The chicken is juicy and the satay sauce is good. The satay itself would get four stars. $5
- Green chili paste with coconut milk and pork – There is a choice of meat, seafood, or vegetarian available for most dishes. If you select seafood, then there is an extra charge of $1.50. This dish was a full flavored and a little spicy, although the pork is a bit overcooked, so it’s not as tender as it could be. There were also pieces of papaya and bamboo shoots. Of course, it’s also bright green. The sauce is great over rice, but could have been a bit thicker this evening.
- Yellow curry with coconut milk and chicken – This dish is much like the green chili paste with coconut milk, except it’s milder in taste. It’s still a little spicy. The chicken, much like the pork, was overcooked and the sauce could also be thicker in consistency. This dish also contained bamboo shoots. Again, it too is great over rice.
- Pad Makuar – Japanese eggplant with beef with a bean sauce. The bean sauce is nicely paired with the eggplant. The marriage of the two creates an intense flavor in delicate tender pieces of eggplant. The ingredients glisten and have a beautiful presentation with the purple skin of the eggplant shining with the sauce. The beef was cooked well and not tough. You can also order this dish vegetarian style without meat. When in season, yellow bell pepper is included in the dish which brings great color to it.
- Pad Thai (available with your choice of meat) - Rice noodles with Thai seasoning are topped with bean sprouts, shredded carrots, and cilantro. The noodles are soft and nicely colored by the seasoning to be a reddish brown. A wedge of lime accompanies the noodles. The small pieces of breast meat were a little overcooked, but my preference is for dark meat. I found that the second time I tried this dish, I was much less satisfied. Perhaps it’s because the second time it wasn’t shared and as I ate it, I found more wrong with it. The noodles weren’t al dente enough. The sogginess made the noodles short since they broke apart easily. There seemed to be pieces of pork with my shrimp pad thai, and the texture of the pork wasn’t to my taste. The shrimp texture was also not to my liking. In the end, I wouldn’t get it again, but if you don’t know how good authentic well prepared pad thai can be, then you might like it anyway.
- Param - Tofu with spinach – This dish was surprisingly good. Small cubes of tofu over spinach are served with a sweet sauce (same sauce as the chicken satay sauce). Simple and good. Four stars for this dish if the serving size were larger.
- Prawns in a Clay Pot – About eight to ten prawns are served with glass noodles that have absorbed a lot of flavoring. The prawns were a little dry for my taste, but I enjoyed the glass noodles. $12.50
Overall, the dining experience was good for flavor and a little dry for meat. This is a popular lunch spot as well. Jhanthong Banbua offers a three dish combination lunch special for about $9 (I remember how it was less than $7 about five years ago). I enjoy getting the Chicken Satay, Curry of the Day, and Pad Makuar. With this group, you can’t go wrong. Service can vary depending on the day and time you arrive. When the place is packed, service will be slow and sometimes you will feel that all the servers have disappeared, but the food will make up for this. Expect smaller portions and you won’t be disappointed. If you’re so hungry you could eat a horse, this probably isn’t the right place to go. If you’re looking for food with intense flavor, this is a great stop.
During my last few visits, I have been greatly disappointed by the service. Service has been downgraded from three stars to one to two stars. The servers never come back to check on you. It’s just ridiculous. Their interaction with you when they’re present is fine. It’s just that they’re never present, or looking in the direction of the table, so it’s even hard to flag someone down without standing up. Sitting and waving didn’t work. The food is still good though, so just be forewarned.
Enter Jhanthong Banbua and you’ll see the large bamboo plants in the rear in large vases. The front of the room contains a glass case lighting various trinkets and figurines. The rear contains a bar with much decoration. There is so much in the room, it’s hard to describe it all, but it’s striking and unexpected from the exterior of the restaurant. The setting is beautiful, and there is much to appreciate. The color scheme creates a soothing environment. It also looks like they have new flooring made of dark wood.
- Chicken Satay – Three to four pieces of chicken breast are placed on skewers and grilled. The skewers are served with a sweet satay sauce and a small dish of cucumber, onion, carrot salad marinated in sweetened vinegar. The chicken is juicy and the satay sauce is good. The satay itself would get four stars. $5
- Green chili paste with coconut milk and pork – There is a choice of meat, seafood, or vegetarian available for most dishes. If you select seafood, then there is an extra charge of $1.50. This dish was a full flavored and a little spicy, although the pork is a bit overcooked, so it’s not as tender as it could be. There were also pieces of papaya and bamboo shoots. Of course, it’s also bright green. The sauce is great over rice, but could have been a bit thicker this evening.
- Yellow curry with coconut milk and chicken – This dish is much like the green chili paste with coconut milk, except it’s milder in taste. It’s still a little spicy. The chicken, much like the pork, was overcooked and the sauce could also be thicker in consistency. This dish also contained bamboo shoots. Again, it too is great over rice.
- Pad Makuar – Japanese eggplant with beef with a bean sauce. The bean sauce is nicely paired with the eggplant. The marriage of the two creates an intense flavor in delicate tender pieces of eggplant. The ingredients glisten and have a beautiful presentation with the purple skin of the eggplant shining with the sauce. The beef was cooked well and not tough. You can also order this dish vegetarian style without meat. When in season, yellow bell pepper is included in the dish which brings great color to it.
- Pad Thai (available with your choice of meat) - Rice noodles with Thai seasoning are topped with bean sprouts, shredded carrots, and cilantro. The noodles are soft and nicely colored by the seasoning to be a reddish brown. A wedge of lime accompanies the noodles. The small pieces of breast meat were a little overcooked, but my preference is for dark meat. I found that the second time I tried this dish, I was much less satisfied. Perhaps it’s because the second time it wasn’t shared and as I ate it, I found more wrong with it. The noodles weren’t al dente enough. The sogginess made the noodles short since they broke apart easily. There seemed to be pieces of pork with my shrimp pad thai, and the texture of the pork wasn’t to my taste. The shrimp texture was also not to my liking. In the end, I wouldn’t get it again, but if you don’t know how good authentic well prepared pad thai can be, then you might like it anyway.
- Param - Tofu with spinach – This dish was surprisingly good. Small cubes of tofu over spinach are served with a sweet sauce (same sauce as the chicken satay sauce). Simple and good. Four stars for this dish if the serving size were larger.
- Prawns in a Clay Pot – About eight to ten prawns are served with glass noodles that have absorbed a lot of flavoring. The prawns were a little dry for my taste, but I enjoyed the glass noodles. $12.50
Overall, the dining experience was good for flavor and a little dry for meat. This is a popular lunch spot as well. Jhanthong Banbua offers a three dish combination lunch special for about $9 (I remember how it was less than $7 about five years ago). I enjoy getting the Chicken Satay, Curry of the Day, and Pad Makuar. With this group, you can’t go wrong. Service can vary depending on the day and time you arrive. When the place is packed, service will be slow and sometimes you will feel that all the servers have disappeared, but the food will make up for this. Expect smaller portions and you won’t be disappointed. If you’re so hungry you could eat a horse, this probably isn’t the right place to go. If you’re looking for food with intense flavor, this is a great stop.
During my last few visits, I have been greatly disappointed by the service. Service has been downgraded from three stars to one to two stars. The servers never come back to check on you. It’s just ridiculous. Their interaction with you when they’re present is fine. It’s just that they’re never present, or looking in the direction of the table, so it’s even hard to flag someone down without standing up. Sitting and waving didn’t work. The food is still good though, so just be forewarned.
I had written most of the above several years ago and refreshed some of the information to make sure it's up to date. While pricing may be under what is shown on the menu, the recent downgrading of the service rating occurred because of the length of time it took to have our order taken to the arrival of the wrong food order to the long amount of time it took to have our bill collected. After closing our menus, it was about eight minutes before someone came to take our order. From there, it took half an hour to get our lunch order. Thirty minutes is way too long considering we didn't have any appetizers or soups. When the food arrived, we told them it was not ours and although they were apologetic, they took another few minutes to get our food. When we finished eating and paid our bill, it took more than five minutes for our bill to get picked up despite the staff walking by our table multiple times empty-handed. In the end, while the food remains consistent, I don't think I'll be back for a while - I can't afford the wait.
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