Chef Nattaporn Pinpech, known as chef Tobb, built a steady fanbase for their restaurant Secrets of Tiger, with its Thai street food menu bursting with memorable dishes such as Yum Dek Dormitory, made with Mama Thai Instant Noodles. But while Secrets of Tiger feels casual, Pinpech’s new restaurant Payakk is more considered, a spot that feels more date night-coded through moody lighting and gorgeously plated dishes. Pinpech translates her Thai dishes into a Bay Area context with seasonal ingredients, as most good restaurants here do. Dishes feel local in some senses, but with bold Thai flavors (see below: the fried eggplant).
Payakk has a cozy, worn-in feel that permeates the two dining rooms, despite having opened relatively recently in September of 2025. Entering the first dining room, the wood-paneled walls and plentiful plants channel the 1970s, complete with knick-knacks piled into every nook and cranny, from antlers and mismatched older artworks to Thai prayer flags and records behind the bar.
The other dining room is sleeker: painted in a dark green with gold accents, a mural of a tiger watches over the room, roaring, a nod to the restaurant’s name (which means “tiger” in Thai) and the restaurant’s tagline that accompanies its Instagram page: “The roaring of Thai supper club.” More plants spill into this side of the restaurant in a cozy vignette filled with additional tchotchkes, a pleasant area to rest your eyes and look over the fun items scattered throughout the greenery — a spotted leopard statue here, a vintage paint there, and lights everywhere, including fairy lights, blue grow lights, and even a tableside lamp. The tables are all made of wood and adorned with tabletop lamps, making menu-reading (and, okay, picture-taking) even easier. But the lamps also add an attractive glow to the room that proves irresistible as a nighttime dining space.
For cocktails, Payakk offers a mix of signature and classic cocktails, and our group enjoyed the tequila-based Love is the Drug ($18), made with tequila blanco, Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro, agave, yuzu, and rosemary, plus the Blush, a take on the white Negroni. The wine list offers red and white options hailing from California brands, with most glasses hovering around the $13 mark (though some go as high as $21). Bottled and canned beer options are limited mostly to Singha, Leo, and Chang beers, but they do have Singha and a Fieldwork IPA on tap. Lastly, the restaurant does have four nonalcoholic options that feel considered, such as Bagheera ($13), which combines green grapes with lime, along with makrut lime leaves.
If you’re wondering whether the records behind the bar are purely for decor, they’re not — the restaurant hosts vinyl listening nights. Our server told us the restaurant recently secured a DJ to spin every other Friday, so check out the restaurant’s Instagram page, @payakkstory, for the latest event info.
I called Secrets of Tiger a “hidden gem” when I wrote about it back in April, but I can’t help but feel like that’s an apt descriptor of Payakk as well. The Montclair neighborhood is an area I rarely visit, and in that context, stumbling upon Payakk feels like a true discovery. I feel that way about Pinpech’s restaurants because there’s so much to really enjoy and discover in those two spots that I wasn’t expecting. And it’s that surprise element that I find so alluring that I’d be willing to seek it out again and again.