Restaurant Review: Thai Gulf in Huntington Beach

Eating at Thai Gulf for the first time was like finding prize after prize buried inside a box of cereal.

For starters, the food is amazing. And it's cheap. I rarely spend more than $20 for two people here, and we always leave so stuffed full of spice and lime and mint and strawberry ice cream that walking is a challenge.

And then there's the space. Thai Gulf is located in a dying strip mall on Beach Blvd. in Huntington Beach, next door to a laundry mat, a gay bar and a greasy spoon called Beach Burgers. One night, the parking lot is packed with souped-up Dodge Magnums for a mini car show. On another, pajama-wearing ladies heft baskets of laundry from their cars and smoke cigarettes outside.

But inside, Thai Gulf transports you to a different, more colorful world. The walls are bright blue and orange. Mismatched patterned curtains skirt the windows. The counter in front of the kitchen is decorated like a tiki hut with a palm frond roof.

The owner is an older Asian man with a heavy accent who wears a Quicksilver hat, cargo pants and skater shoes. He is usually the only server in this warm, cramped space, hurriedly taking orders and delivering steaming plates of food with a broad smile glued on his face.

As soon as you're seated here, he brings a round of sugary, creamy Thai iced-tea and bottled water for everyone. It's free.

So is dessert. We were so confused when he delivered two small plastic containers of strawberry ice cream and a Styrofoam box full of pastries to our table. We tried to send them back.

"They come with," he said. We gratefully devoured the entire dozen pastries – bananas wrapped in crisp, paper-thin dough like little triangle wontons.

Click here to read more of Jennifer Muir's review of Thai Gulf on ocregister.com.