Basil pork belly? New Modesto restaurant shows a different side of Thai food
I can’t believe I’m saying this, Modestans, but I have found another Thai restaurant I will be visiting regularly.
As you may have previously read, Thaiburi has been my go-to spot since it opened in late 2024. But since Golden Spoon Thai opened in Modesto, my time has been split between the two.
I feel morally decent about cheating on one of my favorite restaurants because they are not exactly the same. Golden Spoon Thai’s menu is more focused on authentic Thai street food.
Manteca restaurant expands to Modesto
Pinyo Charoensuk grew up in the countryside in Thailand. His mother was the main cook in the household and also owned a restaurant.
After moving to the U.S., Charoensuk opened his own restaurant in San Francisco. The economy caused him to sell after five years, he said, and he moved to Manteca, where in 2020 he opened Golden Spoon Thai.
On June 2, Charoensuk a second location of Golden Spoon Thai, at 1221 E. Orangeburg Ave. in Modesto.
“It gets busy (in Manteca),” he said. “People kept telling me, ‘You should have a bigger restaurant. You should have a different location.’”
Charoensuk’s sister, Pat Cha, helps him run the restaurants. Also involved are Charoensuk’s wife and Cha’s husband.
The family still has a house and loved ones in Thailand, including children, and travel back and forth regularly.
“What makes us different from other Thai restaurants is we do everything traditional to Thailand,” Cha said.
Not-so-common dishes on Thai restaurant’s menu
Golden Spoon Thai uses fresh ingredients. Charoensuk and Cha say they won’t put something on the menu if they can’t source an authentic ingredient.
“We don’t have massaman (curry) and the reason is there’s just one ingredient that we cannot find here in the U.S.,” Cha said. “We cannot offer something that is not original.”
On the menu are Thai classics like pad Thai, pad see ew, various curries, larb and tom yum soup. But what stood out to me were the items I have not tried before, like pork or beef jerky, basil pork belly, yum khor moo yang (grilled pork neck) and soups including beef blood noodle and tom zapp kra dook moo (spicy and sour soup with pork spare ribs).
The beef jerky is made with Charoensuk calls “fat meat” cut in strips, cooked in Thai sauce and deep-fried. It’s served with scratch-made dipping sauce.
“I’m happy to show people new dishes,” Charoensuk said. “There’s a lot of dishes people haven’t tried yet. It’s not only pad Thai or pad see ew.”
Cha said, and Charoensuk agreed, that Charoensuk’s specialty is noodle dishes, especially noodle soups.
If a customer asks for recommendations, he firsts asks whether the diner likes spicy food. If not, he often suggests iron plate dry noodles or pineapple fried rice.
The dry noodles are tossed with ground pork and fish balls on an iron plate. The pineapple fried rice has curry powder, which makes it different from other styles of fried rice, Charoensuk said.
“When you eat authentic, it may not be the same as what you’re used to,” he said. “You’re eating it how they eat in Thailand.”
Golden Spoon Thai is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily with a lunch break between 3 and 4 p.m.
This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 2:00 PM.
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