SL Kitchen

great spot for lunch when visiting the island. We stopped by on a Monday afternoon and were greeted and seated immediately.

The staff was extremely polite and attentive. We decided on their crispy rice salad and tofu pad see ew. Both dishes came out within minutes. The crispy rice salad was a nice change from our regular order of papaya salad. Combining the crispy rice with the leaves of lettuce made for a nice contrast in textures. The salad was good, but I wish there was some kind of sauce we could have drizzled over the crispy rice to make it less dry.

Their pad see ew was incredible. The noodles were cooked perfectly with a nice chewiness.

Overall, a very good experience. We will definitely return.

Come here for the food, but don't expect much when it comes to service, which is next to non-existent.

I've been here twice now, once for a weeknight dinner and once for a Sunday lunch. Both times, service has been limited to a cool greeting, being seated, having our order taken, and our food dropped off. Both times, the waitresses disappeared for the rest of the meal and flagging them down was an act of patience and determination, as they'd almost intentionally not make eye contact with anyone while rushing around the restaurant. It's bad enough for me to knock off a star.

As for the food, it's unbelievably delicious. From the green curry to the panang curry, from the crispy spring rolls to the money bags, fried chicken over fried rice, and pad ka po, nearly everything here has been simply delicious. The only dish I didn't enjoy was the papaya salad, which was *really* heavy on the fish sauce and very unpleasant to eat. Otherwise, everything else is on the "would order again" list.

Spice levels are no joke here. I love my spicy food but have to tone it down at SL Kitchen; I usually get the medium spice, which is plenty enough heat without causing discomfort and killing most of the flavors of your dish.

SL Kitchen is a bit pricey, but I've come home with leftovers both times so I've at least gotten a couple meals out of each visit. You won't leave here hungry. Highly recommend for the food, but don't come here if you're on a tight schedule or don't like sitting around waiting. (There may be a reason why this place is so popular for takeout...) The restaurant at least has a nice interior, which makes for nice ambiance while eating and trying to flag down someone for a drink refill or the check.

A very clean and modern Thai restaurant with parking available. I dined here with my family, a party of 4 and they enjoyed the restaurant but for me, I thought it was okay. Here's what we ordered:

Nam Khao (2.5/5)
I love ordering this dish as an appetizer. A crispy rice ball salad with cured pork and herbs served with lettuce. This dish definitely could have been better. The rice tasted pretty stale which left a hard texture. I also wished they served it with fresh herbs on the side.

Roti with Yellow Curry Sauce (3.5/5)
I like that they give you the option of what curry sauce you want, it's usually served with yellow. The curry sauce itself was good, the roti was crispy but not as buttery and flaky as I'd like, like a flat chip almost.

Lao Sausage (4/5)
The sausage was good but pretty small in portions. Two little sausages cut in half served with a house paste.

Pad See Ew w/ Beef (3/5)
Our dish was pretty light in flavor, not enough sauce was added to the dish. I had to ask for soy sauce on the side.

Pad Thai w / Shrimp (3/5)
Had a nice flavor but too much sauce was added. I needed a side of rice because of how saucy it was. The noodles were also a bit undercooked so it was chewy.

Green Curry w/ Chicken (3/5)
The consistency of the curry was very watery but it had a good flavor.

Mok Pa (4/5)
Steamed dill fish, a great dish to order outside of your traditional curries and noodles.

None of these dishes came with steamed rice, which we had to order on the side. It was pretty disappointing that the rice was very dry and old. Overall, I think it was somewhat of a decent ish meal.. with a bit of improvement of quality control I think this restaurant has potential.

Glad to see that despite the pandemic, SL Kitchen still has managed to survive! This was our second visit here, the first being when they had first opened up back in 2021.

We again ordered the Stuffed Angel Wings appetizer, and it was yummy. Perfectly fried and stuffed pretty well with chicken, glass noodles and some vegetables.

I ordered my favorite, Kapoun Noodle Soup, and while it was still pretty good, this time it was quite salty compared to how it should be. I think the chef needs to watch how much salt and other ingredients they are putting, because it was quite salty.

The Kapiek Noodle Soup was also pretty good as well, very flavorful, nice chicken broth, served with udon noodles. While good, this was also a bit too salty as well.

The basil eggplant with chicken was pretty good, freshly stir fried eggplant with chicken, good flavor.

The customer service was decent, they were friendly and the food came out in a reasonable timeframe, with the appetizer coming out first and then the entrees.

Would come back to try other dishes, but the chef does need to watch out for the tastes of the food, some of the items ordered felt a bit too salty.

Straight out of the airport at 7:30pm and didn't feel like cooking so finally got to try this local spot that has been in my bookmarks.

Started with the money bags filled with some of my favorite things, minced chicken and corn in an egg roll wrap served with sweet and tangy sauce. I loved how it was not overly salty.

Then some classics like the Pad Thai with chicken and Yellow Curry with pork and finally finishing off with the Tod Pla, a deep fried whole Golden Pompano smothered in garlic mango sauce.

I would definitely get most of it again and have been back for the pad thai and roasted eggplant with fish for takeout.

I liked that they clarified while we were ordering on the phone that the fish is not a fish filet with eggplant on top like I originally expected but chopped fish mixed with the roasted eggplant. I still ordered it and really enjoyed it but it shows that they care the customer is satisfied and informed with making their choices.

I've lived in San Leandro for almost 3 years but somehow have neglected to try SL kitchen this entire time. Boy was I missing out!

Now I'm writing this review, I've actually came here 3 times. So far, everything we've ordered has been delicious and service has been great!

My husband, who has never loved pad Thai before, ordered pad Thai here and now this is the only place he wants to get pad Thai from. For me, I really like their angel wings, they're crispy and stuff with all the goodies. However, if I'm really hungry, I usually go for the fried chicken over fried rice. The portion is HUGE! It's usually dinner and then lunch the next day!

Highly recommended!

I am a big fan of supporting community businesses. I love enjoying a great product. The food at SL Kitchen is excellent. The service is welcoming,responsive and consistent. The owner has always been very accommodating to me. The environment is peaceful and welcoming. The SL Kitchen is a strong part of the San Leandro community experience.

My daughter and I had an amazing dinner. The staff were awesome and the food was delicious! We felt so welcomed and could not have been happier!

Crab fried rice 3/5
Pad see ew 4/5

The customer service is great very nice lady working as the cashier. Inside the restaurant is clean and nicely decorated with wall art as well as art pieces around the dining area.
The crab fried rice is ordered with no egg. It was good but needed more flavor. As well, there were quite a few pieces of shell so watch out while eating it!!!
The amount of crab was EXTREMELY minimal. Id compare to one crab leg shredded. Because they actually fry the unshelled crab pieces with the rice, the crab is over cooked. I prefer when the crab cooked and placed on top of the fried rice . That would avoid it being too dry.
Pad see ew was tasty . I ordered veggie with no egg lots of veggies but not so many noodles. But again very tasty.

SL Kitchen is a San Leandro gem! Situated on the edge of San Leandro x Oakland is this spot serving up quality Thai food. We ordered the following:

Laap salad:
This was my favorite dish! You get the nuttiness from the toasted rice, the umami from the fish sauce, the tang from the lime and the freshness from the herbs. All work so well together and make for a great appetizer/salad.

Crispy spring rolls:
Spring rolls are pretty universal imo - they're typically filled with chicken or pork, woodear mushrooms, and some veggies. What sets this apart is the sauce -- it's not the usual sweet and sour and had almost a honey like consistency with hints of tamarind. Tip: Save this sauce for one of the proteins. Pairs well with chicken or the crispy fish!

Crispy fish:
Sala Thai's crispy fish reigns supreme, but if I don't want to make the drive all the way to Fremont, SL Kitchen's crispy fish sure comes close. It's a contender. The fillets are battered and fried to perfection. The sauce is caramelized to a syrupy consistency and cooked with garlic. It is the perfect glaze on top of the fish!

Pad Thai:
So so saucy!!! There's nothing I dislike more than dry noodles and boy, did they do this right. SL kitchen made sure that there was more than enough sauce to coat the noodles.

All in all, a solid spot for lunch or dinner in San Leandro. Service is fast and attentive; however, I'm docking a point as ambiance could be better. There was no music at times which made for a really awkward dining experience. You'd be able to hear a pin drop with how painfully quiet it was.