Thai Dishes

Elite '08

46

267

Jason K.

Santa Monica, CA

I go for the lunch specials, which are awesome.  They are about $7 for a huge entree, rice (white or brown) and crispy wontons.  The Kang Ped is insanely good.

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Take just about any Big Blue Bus to downtown Santa Monica or Metro #20, 720, 920, 4, 704, 33, 333, or 534.

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148

142

Bomin P.

San Jose, CA

The food came out so fast, I thought they had served other people's food to me.  But a plus, they have brown rice, not the typical white, which I'm not eating any white carbs or sugar these days.  Their Garlic Pepper Chicken was good, nothing like Krung Thai though.  Flavor is good.  Their pineapple rice was above average, and their Pad Thai... well, again, nothing like Krung Thai.  Darn Krung Thai for spoiling my taste buds... now no Thai restaurant can compare!!!  But their food was so low budget, a little strange for it being a block from the ocean in Santa Monica, no?

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19

110

A K.

Irvine, CA

Went here last night for an early dinner.  

Wasn't super hungry but I tagged along.  

I ordered the Chicken on Fire.  It's a half chicken marinated in garlic and lime, thrown on the grill.  Includes an sweet and sour orange dipping sauce which tastes a lot like the ones they use when I order a crispy duck dish at a good Chinese restaurant.  

My friend ordered the #44 and I can't remember what it was except it was a orange chicken curry ordered with the hottest level of spiciness.  It didn't burn a hole in the roof of your mouth, but the curry and coconut milk gave the dish a unique combination of sweet and spicy.  There were also thinly sliced bamboo shoots and green bell peppers that added some extra texture to the dish.

Service was good and pretty well attentive for most of the evening, until the very end, when it seemed like the wait staff disappeared for like 5 minutes all at once.  And we were waiting to give them back the bill.  

Dine and dash, anyone?  I'm kidding.

Since it's by the 3rd Street Promenade, parking sucks, depending on how you look at things.  Ample parking in the public structures, or you can try the endless quest to find a meter.

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0

6

L B.

Pasadena, CA

I went here for dinner.  The service is super-quick and pretty good.  I had the spicy seafood soup (which wasn't that spicy) and the Garlic pepper chicken, which was good.  Overall, it's a nice, low-budget place to eat.

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11

109

Kelly R.

Beverly Hills, CA

It's ok, but it's not fantabulo-super-duper Thai food. I went for lunch with my parents on a weekday. We missed the lunchtime rush (if there was one) so we had fast service.

The soup wasn't all that great--- not spicy enough. And my meal had some medium-soft tofu instead of some firm, assertive tofu.

My mom's pad thai looked good, as did my dad's ginger root beef. They both seemed pleased with the meal (maybe they were being polite) but as I was thinking of all of the other great places to eat in and around Santa Monica, I was kinda sad I didn't take them somewhere better. This restaurant guilt didn't set in until after lunch but I still wish I would have cruised down the street to Shutters or Chaya Venice or something and said, don't look at the prices! Just enjoy it!

Anyway, I must have gone wrong with the garlic pepper tofu.
My brown rice was ok but not nearly as good as the rice I'm accustomed to at my local Thai restaurant. And the meals were accompanied by a few random fried wonton-y things that were more like something Indian than Thai. And as I recall, mine were cold on arrival.

I probably won't be going back to Thai Dishes, I will take my parents somewhere else next time they're in town.

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4

13

Julie S.

Venice, CA

OMFG, THIS PLACE WAS AWFUL.

I LOVE Thai food, and have tried nearly all Thai restaurants on the Westside. One of my favorite places to frequent is the Thai Dishes on Wilshire and 19th, which has always been a staple in my monthly dinner outings. However, a friend forewarned me about how awful this Thai Dishes was, so I decided to try it for myself. This place was so bad that it barely deserves the one star I am obligated to give it.

First of all, I am not a snob at all when it comes to ambiance. Sure, ambiance is a nice feature of a restaurant, but I've had good eats in places that may not have appealed to the eyes. But if the food sucks AND the ambiance matches, well, then that's another story.  It was dark, musty and dirty inside. The bathroom had cracked tiles and mold in the toilet. The door was old and broken and it smelled like cheap insecticide in there.

The restaurant was carpetted (yes, bad idea for those of you who are thinking of opening restaurants in the future). The carpet was also very old and looked at least 20 years old. I'm sure they have not cleaned it in several years because it smelled like rotting wet rags. The seating and tables were cheap and also did not look very clean.

The food was the worst Thai food I have ever had. I ordered Tom Yum Kai, but got Tom Kha Kai, which was too thick and too syrupy. I ordered a ground chicken salad, which had almost no vegetables, but was full of old ground chicken that tasted as if it had been defrosted 4 days ago. My fiancee ordered the deep fried flounder with ginger sauce, which was HORRIBLE. The fish was almost burnt to a crisp and had no meat on it. The "ginger sauce" ended up being a load of penang curry dumped on top, making the dish sickening heavy and disgusting looking.

Even their jasmine rice was clumpy and sticky. Needless to say, we left this place hungry and had to have gelati after to cleanse our palates of such disgusting food.

I would NEVER frequent this place again and wished I had my 40 dollars back.

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0

17

Nic T.

Los Angeles, CA

Just ate at this place and it was pretty good. Lots of compliments on their pad thai. Had the pad kee mow, which was spicy for once. Very nice people, attentive and patient to the impossible orderer sitting with us. I will reserve my opinion of the pad thai for a repeat visit....

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Elite '08

83

292

Toni L.

Westwood, CA

This place is okay. I'm a repeat customer because of the location and the tastiness of the food (especially the Thai curries), but it's nothing to wet your pants over. You can get the usual spring rolls, curries, pad thai, satay w/ peanut sauce, pad see ew, etc. They also offer dessert for around 4 bucks which are small chocolates/ ice cream. I've never tried it but I'm always tempted. The bathroom is kind of a turn off.

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Elite '08

84

91

Eric H.

Arcadia, CA

Yay! Another restaurant on  (or at least very near) the Promenade that I can return to with no hesitations!

I love Thai food. My family has 8-10 Thai restaurants that we frequent regularly for dinner in the SGV but my lunches on the West side have been almost Thai-less (except for Chan Dara which is almost too California to call Thai).

Fortunately, we have now discovered Thai Dishes which has excellent Thai food.  So far, I've only tried the chicken panang, but I'll be making my way down the list of lunch specials.  My only complaint?  The lunch special was too much food.

There's no ambiance to speak of at Thai DIshes, but if you get the right table, you can peek out the window through the buildings and see a glimpse of the ocean.

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Elite '08

57

162

Steph L.

San Diego, CA

Man, I love Thai food. My friend and I were in the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade area by chance, and stumbled upon this place. The decor is comprised of non-matching colors, and the furniture is bland, but then that probably just means they care more about the food than the ambiance, which is A OK by me. However, the bathrooms are clean.

Judging by the plates and bowls with the restaurant name on them, I'm assuming this place is a chain. The waitstaff were alright, they refilled our water and asked us how things were, and they put up with us for the couple hours we were there. We had to keep asking for stuff though, like chopsticks and extra plates and bowls. Also, they ran out of soup so we had to eat salad instead.

It was 2:45 when we got there so the lunch specials were still on (you can get them until 3 pm). Yay, I love lunch specials! I got the silver noodles (bean thread) with tofu, vegetables and egg which were SO yummy, and my friend got red curry with shrimp, and the shrimp were a fresh (with a slightly crunchy consistency) and that is how I like it. We got the mango with sticky rice for dessert -- which was really yummy. Yum, yum yum. Couldn't be happier with my meal. It was satisfying and it was CHEAP too.

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Elite '08

99

228

Christie X.

Santa Monica, CA

I had a horrible experience at their other location on Washington Blvd. last year.  So, when my friend suggested this place for lunch today, I was bit reluctant but, couldn't offer anything better.  I was very pleased to find that this location had good ventilation (hence, I didn't walk out smelling like my food), an extremely courteous & attentive staff, and very affordable lunch specials.  For $6.95, I got soup, eggplant with pork & brown rice.  The eggplant was a bit undercooked, so my friend suggested that I ask them to heat it up.  At first I didn't want to,  but when I did, they weren't offended by my request.  Yay.  No spit in my food.   My friend ordered a spicy noodle dish & it was very tasty.  They didn't skimp on the portions either & I liked the brown rice option.  I could taste the eggplant with garlic, sweet basil & a hint of chili.  Just the way I like it.  I will definetely go back for more in the future.

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1

1

Frank F.

Los Angeles, CA

Normally, this place has awesome Thai food.  However, last time I went I found a baby cockroach in my coconut soup.  I've been going there for lunch for a long time and it has never failed...so, this may be a one-time thing, or a reason to stop going.  Their cashew nut chicken is good and it is a perfect little place for a quick lunch for those of us who work in the area.

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