To go to dinner at Payakk is to embark on a bit of an adventure. The journey takes you winding into the Oakland Hills, roads flanked by redwoods, all the way up to the whimsically named Merriewood neighborhood.
I was a little confused when Google Maps steered me down a residential road instead of toward Montclair Village, the area’s walkable commercial district. As I turned down Thornhill Drive, I found an elementary school, a dry cleaner, a 7-Eleven and a handful of other small local businesses, but no sign of Payakk. And then, finally, I spotted it: a squat gray stucco building on the corner with no clear signs, festooned with a mural of bright orange persimmons.
Nattaporn Pinpech, who also goes by Chef Tobb, opened Payakk in September 2025 – her second restaurant after Thai street food restaurant Secrets of Tiger in Emeryville. She chose the Merriewood location specifically for its tucked-away feel.
Chef Nattaporn Pinpech, known as Chef Tobb, holds a finished fried eggplant and tomyam soymilk cream dish at Payakk on Thornhill Drive in Oakland on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Estefany Gonzalez/For SFGATE)
Customers dine inside Payakk in Oakland, Calif. (Courtesy of Yong Pinpech)
Customers dine inside Payakk in Oakland, Calif. (Courtesy of Yong Pinpech)
“I want to be the hidden gem,” Pinpech said. “I don’t want the people to just stop by. I want to be the destination.”
Inside, Payakk is all emerald green walls, dark wood, shelves of vinyl records, neon signs and a verdant jungle of plants. The “intimate Thai supper club” is more upscale than Secrets of Tiger, featuring Thai dishes with seasonal California ingredients in a vibey setting akin to a Bangkok listening lounge. The restaurant hosts vinyl DJs every other weekend, as well as the occasional contemporary dance performance. Pinpech herself composes lo-fi music, which she sometimes plays in the restaurant.
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The keepsakes that decorate the restaurant are all items Pinpech and her husband have collected in their culinary travels, creating a cozy, welcoming vibe. “It looks like the mama’s home, it looks like the grandpa’s corner,” Pinpech said.
Colorful neon lights and signage are displayed at Payakk on Thornhill Drive in Oakland on Friday Aug. 28, 2026. (Estefany Gonzalez/For SFGATE)
Pinpech grew up in Phichit, a province in Thailand’s lower northern region, and had a career in architecture and advertising before pivoting to food. She trained in Thai cuisine and in French baking and patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu Bangkok, and she also learned traditional Japanese flour-based cuisine in Osaka, Japan. She worked as a chef in Bangkok before she and her family moved to the Bay Area in 2022, where she combined her Thai culinary expertise with seasonal California ingredients and a passion for sustainability.
To Pinpech, sustainability at Payakk means not only sourcing environmentally conscious ingredients but also building a creative community hub where people can gather. She calls this the “sandbox,” where musicians, dancers and chefs can create a dialogue with each other through their respective art forms.
“Payakk is a sandbox to share space between the people who want to share,” she said.
A fried eggplant and tomyam soymilk cream dish is served at Payakk on Thornhill Drive in Oakland on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Estefany Gonzalez/For SFGATE)
Chef Nattaporn Pinpech, known as Chef Tobb, makes crispy prawn toast at Payakk on Thornhill Drive in Oakland on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Estefany Gonzalez/For SFGATE)
Crispy prawn toast is served at Payakk on Thornhill Drive in Oakland on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Estefany Gonzalez/For SFGATE)
On a recent visit to Payakk, my group started with the fried Hodo tofu custard ($16). The tofu dish was born out of Pinpech diving deep into the food science of ingredients. Rather than just buying tofu from Oakland company Hodo, she trained with the owner to learn to make her own tofu from scratch that would cook exactly the way she wanted it. The result is a house-made silken tofu, flash-fried to create a shatteringly crisp exterior around a warm custardy middle and served with a sweet Thai chile sauce for dipping.
The prawn toast on milk bread was also expertly fried to a golden crisp, stuffed with a velvety Monterey prawn mousse and topped with a dollop of tangy sriracha mayo and salty tobiko ($18). I washed it down with the cheerfully pink Love Is the Drug, a fruity tequila-based cocktail with yuzu, rosemary, agave and gentian amaro ($18).
For entrees, the carnivores at my table enjoyed the popular fried pork jowl fried rice ($29), while I was enamored by the Chilean sea bass turmeric curry, the tender, flaky white fish swimming in a bowl of earthy, creamy sauce ($39). While Pinpech said that Southern Thai fish curries are notoriously spicy, she chose to prepare hers with a milder turmeric and coconut curry that is gentler on the stomach, due to her interest in medicinal ingredients.
“Sometimes when you eat spicy, you feel not comfortable in your stomach,” she said. “You feel hot. But I think it’s smart how Southern Thai always put turmeric,” she said, citing the spice’s anti-inflammatory properties that soothe the digestive system.
Chilean sea bass turmeric curry is served at Payakk on Thornhill Drive in Oakland on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Estefany Gonzalez/For SFGATE)
Kitchen staff prepare the green bean and mushroom stir fry at Payakk on Thornhill Drive in Oakland on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Estefany Gonzalez/For SFGATE)
Pad Thai Chaiya is served at Payakk on Thornhill Drive in Oakland on Friday Aug. 28, 2026. (Estefany Gonzalez/For SFGATE)
The Pad Thai Chaiya, a Southern Thai variation on the classic dish, was another crowd-pleaser ($39). A sauce of coconut milk, tamarind, palm sugar and shrimp fat is caramelized in low heat and served with seafood that varies seasonally. On my visit, it was topped with shrimp, crab meat and juicy grilled tiger prawns.
I also recommend ordering liberally from the veggie portion of the menu. The green bean and mushroom stir fry was prepared simply but expertly, with crisp-tender green beans and meaty mushrooms in a light garlic sauce ($16). But the real standout was the fried eggplant and tomyam soymilk cream, a halved globe eggplant doused in a lush spicy-sour soymilk cream, fried to a crisp and then topped with a cornucopia of late summer produce – on our visit, figs, cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs ($22).
Despite Payakk’s off-the-beaten-path location, it seems people have been finding it just fine. The dining room was packed on my Thursday evening visit. Pinpech says it’s been gaining popularity from word of mouth and social media, and over half of her customers are repeat customers, who come back to try the new menu when she changes it every two to three months.
Chef Nattaporn Pinpech, known as Chef Tobb, stands near the front entrance at Payakk on Thornhill Drive in Oakland on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Estefany Gonzalez/For SFGATE)
Many of her customers also make a special trip from San Francisco or even farther away to try Payakk, she said. Nestled in the redwoods, it’s becoming the destination restaurant she had envisioned.
“You feel you made a discovery,” she said. “I love when I have that experience.”
Payakk, 5761 Thornhill Drive, Oakland. Open Thursday through Monday, 5-9 p.m.
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This article originally published at Tucked in the Oakland redwoods, Thai restaurant Payakk is worth the detour.