At the recently-opened Sisaket Thai Restaurant in Martinez, owners Thatchakon and Bua Yaiduang are hoping to replicate the success of their first restaurant, Bua Thai Kitchen in Albany.
The Yaiduangs moved to the United States from Thailand in 2002. Thatchakon wanted to take advantage of his experience working in a hotel restaurant in Bangkok and bring it to the East Bay, where he and his wife, Bua, opened Bua Thai Kitchen.
Bua Thai has been a big hit, with 4.6 stars on Google and customers praising the versatility of the menu, particularly the noodle dishes.
When Ginger Thai closed in Martinez earlier this year, the Yaiduangs decided to take over the space and bring their entire Bua Thai menu to a second location.
“It’s authentic Thai food,” said Thatchakon. “I’m from Northeastern Thailand, so it’s northeastern style, a mixture of spicy and sour.”
In the new location, the most popular dish has been the lamb curry ($20), which features tender chunks of lamb cooked with potatoes, carrots and yellow onions. And there’s the massaman curry ($20), which is slightly different from a traditional peanut butter curry in that it’s blended with peanuts and red curry.
The coconut pad thai ($23) was a popular dish in Bangkok that they’re encouraging customers to try if they’re looking for something new.
“We add coconut meat and milk, saute it together and it makes a nice blend of sweet and sour and tangy flavors from the tamarin,” he said.
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Despite tariffs affecting the cost of imports, Thatchakon said he doesn’t plan to raise the prices at either of his Thai restaurants.
“It increases the cost of spices a little,” he said. “We also have local vendors in Stockton and Fresno, where the weather is hotter and they can grow Thai spices, so it hasn’t impacted us too much.”
Thatchakon says Sisaket Thai has been packed during lunch hours and customers are driving from Pleasant Hill, Concord, Pittsburg and Walnut Creek to get a taste. The new spot has a tidy 4.9 stars on Google.
“People are asking us to open another location in Pittsburg,” he said. “I said, ‘let me do this one first, we don’t want to rush it’.”
Details: Open daily for lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and for dinner, 4:30 to 9:30 p.m., at 414 Ferry St. in Martinez; sisaketthaifood.com.
The sizzling seafood eggplant dish at Sisaket Thai Kitchen, a new restaurant in Martinez (photo by Bua Yaiduang).
