MIYA มีญ่า — Restaurant in Altadena

We love their food and vibe, even the plates and all the decor are all well thought out, carefully curated. Their food is generally good, we tried Thai fried rice (full of flavor), Som Tam (delicious and I like that they added carrots and Thai eggplants, but not savory enough for my liking), Rad Na (love how they scorched the noodle to the point the edges of the noodles were crispy); Pad Thai (when they were very new it was more savory but now it’s rather sweet. We prefer it less sweet but I like the chives and chewy noodles. I liked it better with crispy pork bits—more unique that way too). Thai tea was good. Not too sweet, strong flavor.

Service is decent but this place is pretty small and can get very busy so I think their level of service is reasonable. It’s hard to tend to people when there’s a lot going on.

Overall very clean and we love what they did to represent Thai culture and yet add their own twist here and there.

The only thing that really disappointed us was the automatic service charge of 18% that’s not up front. With how busy it can get, it’s hard to pay attention to what’s going on. We didn’t notice the service charge and added tip as usual when the tip screen came on. We asked for the receipt later and realized there was a service charge and we paid “additional tip.”

For transparency, it should be clearly visible, front and center on their menu and the screen or even mention it verbally...

We spent just under $100 on a meal that had a lot of serious issues…

First, they told us to wait for the rice when they served our food, and we politely waited until the meal was cold until we went to the counter and were told there would not be any rice. They overcooked all their batches and there was no rice to serve. No white rice, sticky rice, or fried rice.

They served us curry without bowls or spoons. I had to ask three times for spoons. The second time they handed me one spoon and one fork! They were walking around to the table apologizing that they had no spoons. Our meal was already cold and wasn’t tasting great so we weren’t enjoying the shenanigans.

Because they had no bowls or rice, we scooped the curry onto our plates, which was a new experience for us. As we scooped the curry from its serving dish, out plopped a soup spoon which had sunk to the bottom of the curry. I was surprised that they lost a spoon in a dish and sent it out anyway.

The waitress asked if she could get me a soda, and said “I know, I’m sorry, this is really bad”. I don’t drink soda. I just wanted a hot meal.

This meal was surprisingly expensive. They also didn’t stock their condiments. We also asked the food to be made spicy and with the exception of the green curry had no spice … even dishes like pad kee mao which is traditionally cooked with...

I have been having Thai food for most of my life. Or since the late 80s when I went to high school at a school that was nearly half Thai.

A friend who lives near strongly - and I mean repeatedly - suggested we try it while house sitting for him this weekend. He’s always given the best advice and this was no different.

The flavors here transported us to a family dining table, and to Thailand itself. Smoky. Vibrant. Tender. Subtle. Shocking. Addictive. All words that rushed to mind, and most of them from the scent alone.

We liked it so much we might need to move to this part of town. And have committed to going to Thailand soon.

We got the Crab Fried Rice, which was a less crab forward and greasy version of a favorite of ours. The Panang Beef was what really got me swooning. It’s been awhile but it reminded me of a blend of flavors from Panang and Masaman dishes I’d had in the past just so so much more complex. I don’t know what they’re doing back there in that kitchen but I can’t wait to try the rest of the menu over time.

If you’re in the neighborhood I’ll house sit anytime! 😅

Note: we didn’t dine in so cannot comment on service, but the space itself was as tasteful as the food...