Elephant Cafe' by Tan — Restaurant in Karon

Saw this restaurant recommded from Trip Advisor saying go visit. The food was ok however while eating our food we noticed several stray dogs outside the restaurant and I asked the staff if they could get them in off the road because while eating my food, I could see what was happening (dogs in road) & it was stressing me out, making me feel really sad 😣 this restaurant is right on the main road through Karon & the coaches that were going past were going so fast it was bad (in the UK they would have been done for speeding! I know it's different in every country, so this is just an observation & what actually happened). The dogs were just left roaming around & by time we left he restaurant, where there was initially 2 dogs outside ended up with about 7 dogs all together. It just made me feel very on edge eating there & sad as you can tell they are hungry 😢--- it was hard for them to understand us as well. There was only us, 2 young backpacking girls & 2 young Russian guys in restaurant so not busy. The staff were very attentive to the very loud guys...

I wouldn't go back there again as didn't feel relaxed at the Elephant Cafe & overall kept feeling on edge all way...

2023 - 5* rating

Pad thai - 8.5/10 Kailan vege with cripsy pork - 10/10 Glass noodles with seafood - 9/10

Overall a great place for dinner. Food was good all over. Service was super fast and environment was enjoyable. Will not think twice to come back again

2025 - 2* rating I rarely return back to my older reviews and update them but I can't help but do this because the quality has fallen so drastically that I think a change in ratings is necessary. My previous visit was so pleasant and amazing that when I return this time I made a bee line and came back to try the delicious food that I had on my prior visit but I was gutted.

Tom yum soup was utterly tasteless and just spicy. Namtok beef taste nothing like a good old namtok dish. All I could taste is soy sauce and something resembling oyster sauce. The seafood stir fried with curry paste was alright but they had capsicum in them. As I recall very well, there is NO capsicum in any thai dish ever. I am sorry but I will never ever return to this...

We reached there by 910 pm and were seated almost immediately. Took few minutes grab their attention and get the menus. While taking orders they told us that there were 4 orders ahead of us and it will take time. We were ok with the wait. There seemed to be a lot of confusion going around at the counter. at 940 we called the waitress that we want to add a dessert order and she told us that they can't take any orders because of police. We thought it was because last order maybe 930. Anyway, after few minutes we started seeing people leaving angrily without having food. Not sure of what's going on we asked if they will serve us food, the waitress told that they have cancelled all orders because of police. Not sure why but the wait staff was not very good or proactive at communicating. Chef Tan was at restaurant. Least I expected was for her to come and explain the situation. We left 955 without food scrambling to find a place to eat as most places close by 930. Would have given 0 stars...