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Arawan Thai Cuisine
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 9:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
14 reviews for Arawan Thai Cuisine
14 reviews in English
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Review from Gabi e.
Long Beach, CA
1/5/2012
Arroi = Thai for delicious
I lived in Thailand ... So I am an authority on Thai food for a Farang (foreigner/ white girl). I've been eating Thai food my whole life since I was a little kid ... I've tried almost every place in Long Beach, and for the price (which is reasonable) Arawan cannot be beat!
I love this place! The tastes are vivid and rich, spicy but also deep and resounding. You can get get standard Farang Thai food like Pad Thai (great here) and curries (also wonderfully tasty), but there are hidden gems on the menu that are authentic dishes like the Mad Fish, Grapow Kai Dow (a traditional breakfast food), Som Tum (papaya salad), and Yum Woo Sen.
Everything is wonderful and the staff are very courteous. You can specify how spicy you want things and even when you make your food very hot it still has flavor. I love to order the special Thai Spicy (not listed on the menu). This is seriously hot and not for those who do not eat hot foods every day; I had to prove to them that I could handle it at first by showing them the tattoo I got in Thailand. I generally recommend "hot" to friends who like spicy food but are not extensively familiar with Thai food.
It really brings me back to eating in gourmet hole in the wall restaurants on Kao San Road or Soi Sukkumvit and home stays I did around the gulf of Thailand. The sweet Ro-ti dessert reminds me of this food court near the walls to the old city Chiang Mai. I only wish they would occasionally have some really authentic specials like Jok (rice porridge), northern sausage and Nam Prick (pepper paste), or Kao Soi (I'm very partial or Norther Thai cuisine and it is so difficult to find good Northern food here).
Since I have returned from Thailand, friends always ask me "since you've been there, which restaurant is the best and most authentic?" I always say Arwan. It is the best, everyone I bring there gets hooked! -
Review from Maria W.
Long Beach, CA
4/22/2012
We may have a winner! This particular location has been home to a string of different Asian restaurants, the last few being Thai, a favorite food of mine, but none have lasted.
I finally got to try out Arawan and I have to say we had a delightful dinner. We ordered:
Tom Kha - ordered it medium spicy but didn't find that it had any kick at all, and they used regular white mushrooms instead of straw. Not a huge deal, but a little disappointing - still delicious.
Drunken noodles with duck - med spicy - did not disappoint. Flavorful, and enough heat to bring on a little sweat. I really enjoyed this dish.
BBQ Chicken - a whole cut up chicken that was a bit on the dry side, but came with plum sauce that made up for it.
Green Papaya salad - yummy!
Portions overall were satisfactory and typical. I felt we had good value for the money which is always a plus.
Service was prompt at the start of our meal, but we were left sitting longer than we should have been at the end. We had to ask for to-go containers and for the check. It wasn't busy enough in the restaurant to have been overlooked, so I don't know what the delay was.
In summary...I'll be back. -
Review from Desiree G.
Long Beach, CA
4/1/2012
**They are now Closed on Mondays and Do Not Deliver anymore!
Four stars because of the customer service. The guy who helped me was very nice and multi-tasking while giving me my to-go order.
I'm only basing my review on customer service and the quality of food.
-My order was correct and ready when I picked it up.
-I had the Wonton soup, Lad Nar noodle with chicken, Drunken Fried Rice with chicken, mild, and a Thai Iced tea.
I'll start with the not so good and end with the good :)
-Thai Iced tea was too sweet for me. Maybe that is how it is traditionally made- I like mine on the lighter side.
-Lad Nar noodles were alright. I mainly ordered them because I was craving broccoli, which is it supposed to come with, but instead the green vegetables in the noodles look more like spinach leaves.
-Wonton soup was good. Really helped me feel better after a week of having the flu.
-Drunken Fried Rice -amazing! I've had DFR from other places but this place does them right! So good.
Looking forward to trying the other dishes since I moved to this neighborhood now. -
Review from Ronjini M.
Los Angeles, CA
Updated - 1/13/2012 3 Check-ins Here
They may say I only have two check ins here, but if you all saw how many times we've really eaten at this place I would be the ambassador of Arawan by now. We come here all the time for our go-to meals.
Recently, I also tried the drunken rice. SOOO yummy. Their pad thai is actually very good too. We try to stay away from Pad Thai, since its sooo commercial and go for the other stuff. Their Green Curry is delicious. We are definitely regulars now.
We don't get delivery though. It takes forever. I think the same guy that works the register, also delivers, its just better to walk or drive over there from where we live. Also, they say 15 minutes, but it always takes 20-25 so just a warning. It's definitely worth the extra wait though.Listed in: My Neighborhood Faves
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/10/2011
Damn you Chris J. for getting here first. I am so glad that Arawan opened up near our place. There… Read more »
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Review from Mark A.
Redondo Beach, CA
5/14/2012 1 Check-in Here
If you like Thai food and you live in the 90807, this place is for you. We've tried a couple of other Thai places in the area since we've moved here last year and this one is by far the best. Haven't eaten in since we usually just order to go (note that they don't deliver any more), but the place is always clean and the service is friendly and nice. The food.... yummers.... this is what we've had so far: yellow curry, wonton soup, beef salad, pad thai and everything is delish. Prices can add up, but the portions are really nice. Go and try for yourself.
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Review from Janna C.
Long Beach, CA
3/31/2012
Had the Shrimp Fried Rice....it was soo Yummy! Lots of flavor and many shrimp. I love how Arawan Thai is generous with their shrimp. This the 1st item I have tried here so be back for more updates and reviews for this place from muah. :)
The atmosphere is peaceful and cozy. Fun to meet up with a group of friends or simply eat by urself. Real Plants! Lol and a nice Fish Tank decorate this restaurant. Nice empolyees. Come in and Enjoy! -
Review from Roselin M.
Long Beach, CA
1/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
I went here this afternoon for the first time and I loved it. First of all, I am a pescetarian (the only meat I eat is seafood) and they have so many options for me!
The lunch special, I think is from 11-3? and comes with an egg roll, salad and a choice of lemonade or thai tea. I am a boba addict though, so I ordered the regular Thai iced tea with boba since the lunch special one doesn't have any boba.
The regular thai iced tea with boba was a little large for my liking and was $3, which is pretty good I guess. It was a little too sweet, but I loved it anyway.
You can choose Mild, Medium, or Spicy and also the type of meat, but they had tofu and veggie options. I had the Cashew Nut tofu and it was great. Tasted really good.
I should probably state that I don't eat Thai food very often so I am not an expert on Thai food, but I liked it enough to want to take my friends back! -
Review from Chris J.
9/30/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I'll preface this by saying I'm not an authority on Thai cuisine, as this is only the second time I've had any. Also noteworthy was that used to be another Thai place, so at least the Thai-vibe in the building is still consistant.
I started with some veggie egg rolls and a Thai iced tea. Rolls were what I expected and six of them are enough for a hungry guy (hey, I just had breakfast that day). I tried the Pad Prik Khing with beef; here you can pick your choice of meat, a nice touch. I asked for medium spicy and I was suprised that it wasn't ass-blaster hot; had a lot of flavor but not that volcanic burning spicy.
Thai ice tea was interesting...same orange color as my booth, the walls and the plum sauce for my egg rolls, but tasty and complimented the meal nicely.
I also liked they tell you what's in the dish, just don't ask me the difference between the different curries.
Open 11am-9:30pm all week, takeout but have a $15 minimum for credit/debit card orders (pretty easy to do here...my tab was $18.53 sans tip) -
Review from Thomas N.
Long Beach, CA
10/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
Arawan is a nice addition to Bixby Knolls area of LBC. The Tom Kha soup was excellent, as was the Panang Curry with Chicken. The menu is very extensive so will take some time to venture through all their choices.
The decor is nice and the place is clean...that is always a plus.
All and all hope they do well.
I am going to have them deliver tonight so I will see how that goes.
UPDATE...NOT A GOOD SIGN
I had rated this place 4 starts, but they just lost my vote for their failure to be able to do deliver on a Friday Night...Come On...I was told that their driver had not shown up today. They just sent out their menus in the mail this week. You would think that they would make sure to have a delivery person and a backup ready to go. I dont get it. Too bad, as I was so hopeful for this place. What is it with restaurants these days. I think they would do everything possible to get new business, guess I am wrong!!!! -
Review from Liz V.
Long Beach, CA
10/30/2011
Had our first experience with this restaurant this afternoon. Pad Thai chicken was yummy. Enjoyed the Panang Chicken Curry even, however the medium was not spicy enough for us and we will definitely try hot the next time. Only somewhat negative is we tried an order of the Golden Triangles...not bad but nothing at all special. Overall we enjoyed our food very much and are looking forward to trying out other dishes!
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Review from karla v.
Long Beach, CA
2/15/2012
I LOVE the food and service here. The servers are very courteous and attentive, so you can be assured that they will take care of u. The best Thai tea I've tried yet, and really good Orange chicken! Yum! Definitely recommend this place!
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Review from Kay S.
Berkeley, CA
12/13/2011
I love the glasses that the Thai Iced Teas come in. Everything we had was tasty!!! I am looking forward to going again or trying the delivery.
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Review from Cassie D.
Long Beach, CA
10/10/2011
Just as the others have posted, Arawan is an amazing place to experience authentic Thai food. I have been to many Thai restaurants and their verson of mild, medium, and spicy are seem to be the same amount of spicy, but this restaurant allows you to taste the difference in the "heat" they serve.
The wide variety of food makes it hard to decide on what to eat. They allow you to choose the type of meat you wish to eat and the way you want it cooked, which is different than other restaurants. I have ate here on a few occassions and have been extremely satisfied with not only the food, but the service as well. Awesome place to experience Thai food! -
Review from Terry I.
San Pedro, CA
10/30/2011
Great food. Has all of the traditional dishes, including soups, salads, main entrees, desserts and even drinks. Very nice decor. Courteous staff. It will be fun trying everything on their extensive menu.
