Baan Baan Thai Cafe - Bishkek

Because of the laziness we eat here three times. the atmosphere is very charming. it is also the number one for the international meeting in bischkek, which is very strongly reflected in the trips. the green and red curries are very beautiful. the tom kha and the tom yum is okay, but the nudes are very boring. the many starters are also very nice and enough to share one among two people. they need to raise their tofu game a bit. many options, but not marinated or fried enough.

Lunch sets with tofu option around 300som. Friendly staff and English spoken and printed on menu. There was no sign on the street or on the building, so only after I walked in and looked at a menu did I know I was in the right place. The building does have lettering saying Save the Ales visible from the street, which I guess is the name of a different business occupying the same building.

It's centrally located, staff speaks English and is very nice. Menu is in English. The outside area is nicely decorated, especially in the evening. We got the red curry menu set, vegetarian option which came with an egg (we didn't know in advance Taste was good and seemed authentic. Maybe a little too spicy for us. The tofu satay sticks were bland.

It was a joy to discover Baan Baan. Here, most of the menu items offer vegetarian options, and most of these can be made vegan on request. Note there are a few non-veg exceptions that are not clearly specified on the menu (which I learned by asking the friendly proprietor, who speaks excellent English, among other languages): The curries and the som tam all include some form of fish-based sauce and can’t be made without it, so even the vegetable curries are *not* vegetarian. Also, the pad Thai includes egg unless ordered without. On my first visit, I opted for the pad Thai lunch special (without egg), which includes 3 bite-sized spring rolls, a delicious soup broth, and a small salad. Everything was quite tasty and authentically Thai. All of the lunch specials are good value. On later visits, I tried the vegetarian combo (good, though the quantity of dipping sauce isn't nearly enough; it should be double) and the Tom Yum Pad Thai (quite tasty). They offer three levels of spiciness: not spicy so-so and OMG Being a person who likes my Thai food spicy, I went for OMG and found it just right, not too extreme. Service was warm, friendly, helpful, prompt, and attentive. There is both indoor and outdoor seating, and the latter includes both sunny and shaded options. The whole place is charmingly decorated. Considering the central-Asian context, where good vegetarian food is rare enough, let alone vegan, I would give this very veg-friendly (and, you know, friendly friendly) place a 5-cow rating if the app allowed that for non-veg restaurants. Recommended! Enjoy! Updated from previous review on 2018-09-28

Cozy Thai restaurant, hidden in an residential area behind the buildings from the main street with an open garden. There are many vegetarian options. The Pad Thai is worth to order, it's very good. The kitchen is open so one can see what's happening there all the time. Not the best Thai food but a must visit for vegetarians in Bishkek.