The first time I ate Souk Savanh’s soulful, funk-forward kao soy noodle soup and outrageously crunchy rice ball salad in East Oakland, I immediately crowned the restaurant one of my favorite Lao spots in the Bay Area. The under-radar-spot closed in 2016, seemingly for good, but then reemerged 10 years later in downtown Oakland, where it briefly served some of the tastiest $10 rice plates in town — only to close again after just a couple of months.
The restaurant has simultaneously been one of the best and most elusive Lao food businesses that I’ve encountered in the Bay.
Now, husband-and-wife owners Tea Chaiyasith and Nai Sailee are hoping they’ve found a long-term home for their business. Souk Savanh 2.0 — technically 3.0? — will open in Albany as early as next month, in the space previously occupied by the Match Point Brewing taproom at 745 San Pablo Ave…