It was 6:30 p.m. and I was still at work, working hard at hardly working. Then I received an IM from a buddy of mine. Wanna have dinner, he queried. Hunger struck, and I said yes. He was open to suggestions as to the location. I immediately thought of Koh Samui & the Monkey, a nearby Thai restaurant that a few fellow co-workers have recommended. So we rendezvoused and headed off to 3rd and Brannan, where the restaurant was located.

From the street entrance, we climbed a couple of steps to the main entrance of the restaurant. A wide shallow pot of water littered with water lilies stood guard at the doorway, as we waited for a server to seat us. Looking around, I was struck by the beauty and aesthetic of the restaurant — dark wood, bronze buddhas, strategic greenery — pretty standard for a Thai restaurant, but for some reason it looked much nicer here. I think it had to do with the white tablecloths, the lime green platters, and the evening light streaming through the massive windows.

Anyway, we were soon seen to, and sat at a windowside table. I took charge, and ordered the Tom Ka Gai, Bags of Gold appetizer (deep fried dumplings, more or less), Crunchy scallops, and Pumpkin chicken curry. The Tom Ka Gai came first, and it was delicious. I had forgotten how rich it is though, what with the coconut milk and everything, and soon regretted having ordered so much. The Bags of Gold left little to be desired — the crispy outside was good, but the filling tasted rather bland. My dinnermate thought otherwise, and seemed to really take a liking to it. Me, I had to douse the suckers in a spicy dip before I could eat them.

Our main dishes came next. The crunchy scallops is quite possibly the Best Scallop Dish Evar. It’s basically scallops dipped in batter, deep-fried, and served in a coconut-milk based curry. Heavenly. The pumpkin chicken curry was fabulous too, if a bit overly sweet. I was a little surprised to find pumpkin and curry mixing so well together, but it really does work. I’m guessing it’s because of the natural sweetness of the pumpkin off-setting the spiciness of the curry. Delicious stuff. Even so, I had ordered too much for the two of us to finish, so I packed up the leftovers to bring home.

All in all, it was a pleasurable experience. The noise level was a little high tonight, but that may be because of the raucuous after-work crowd. The staff were all very helpful and friendly, and I’ll gladly give the service rating here a big A+. I highly recommend checking this place out the next time you’re in the area.

Koh Samui & The Monkey
415 Brannan St
San Francisco, CA 94107
Daily 11am-3pm, 5pm-10pm