Asian Experience

Center St, Bakersfield · Thai · $$

Taft sits in the middle of the Midway-Sunset oil field, an hour of pumpjacks from anywhere, and the restaurant that has fed it since 2006 refuses to pick a lane: Thai curries and tom yum on one page, Chinese stir-fries and sushi rolls on the next, pizza if you want it. That range would be a warning sign in a bigger city and reads as a service out here. Order the tom yum kung and the pad thai and let the rest be someone else's problem.