Chang Puak (White Elephant) - Thai, Noodles, South San Francisco

146 Hazelwood Drive, South San Francisco CA 94080
(650) 873-8341
Parking: limited street parking
Hours: Mon-Sat: 11-3pm, 5-9pm, Sun: 5-9pm
http://www.whiteelephantssf.com

Last Visited: April 6, 2013

Food: 4 stars (if not for the contaminant)
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 to 4 stars
Price: $ to $$

Chang (Thai for elephant) Puak (white) is located in a small strip mall across the street from Smart and Final.  While it's a pretty small place, they have really tried to load it with character in terms of decor and in flavors.  This family-owned business shows a lot of care in explaining food to its patrons - for those who might find the yellow curry to be too yellow, or the sauce to be different from what they expect, the wait staff takes the time to come and explain that the food is from the Northern region, which is atypical of what is found at many Bay Area Thai restaurants. 

- Beef Tendon Stew - One of the specials for the evening - the beef was tender and there was a nice peanut flavor throughout the broth.  It's a little reminscent of five spice beef stew noodles.  However, when I was dividing the egg noodles, I found a hair.  I have to give them a hand for how they handled it though - they immediately apologized, took the dish away, brought me a new bowl, and didn't charge me a thing.  I've found hair in a number of my dishes, and this was by far handled in a way that tops the list in terms of customer service (way better than my experience at Morimoto Napa and John Ash in Santa Rosa).  Good job Chuang Puak!  The noodle soup/stew was also really good - perfect for cold weather. $9.25


- Green Curry with Pork - One thing I noticed is that Chuang Puak's prices might be a dollar more than other Thai places, but the portions are also slightly larger. This curry was a bit different than some of the other green curry that I've tried - it doesn't seem to have coconut milk in it.  The pork was tender and the sauce goes well over rice.  I also liked the eggplant and how it soaked up the sauce.  Good. $8.25

- Pad Thai with Prawns - One of my primary complaints when eating Thai is that places often skimp on the shrimp.  Here, they give you eight prawns which is often double of what you find at other places.  Standard ingredients like egg, bean sprouts, and green onions make are served with the al dente noodles.   $9.25

- Rice $2

A little different flavors than the typical Thai restaurant, Chang Puak is worth trying out.  Since they handled the contaminant incident so well, and the flavors were good, I would be willing to return to see how their other dishes fare.  Note that the restaurant is a bit small and tends to get packed on weekend evenings, so eat early or eat late to avoid the crowds.