Elephant East — Restaurant in Dallas

Let me start by saying the restaurant is beautiful. It is very small and quaint but the Thai decor and ambiance are lovely! The restaurant overall seemed very clean too. We had a reserved party of 10 and the staff accommodated when we needed to add 2 more ladies. Even though it was tight, they made it work for us. Our server was so sweet and kind throughout the service, however it was just him for our large table and maybe one or two other servers for the restaurant. My friend ordered the Cat’s Meow cocktail and it was tropical, light, creamy, and delicious! I ordered the Spring Snow and thought it was a little tart and had a smidge too much lemon, it was good though. My bestie ordered Thousand Smiles cocktail and it was delicious even though I’m not a mezcal lover, but it was great for mezcal or smoky drink lovers. We ordered the Shishito Peppers, Spring Rolls, and Bang Bang Shrimp as appetizers and the Bang Bang and Peppers were bomb! The spring rolls were nothing special but had fresh ingredients and beautiful presentation. We unfortunately waited over an hour to get our entrees even when others entering the restaurant were receiving their meals within 15 minutes. We were STARVING! Granted the apps were delicious, we were trying to save room for our main meal. By the time it all came out, several of us didn’t like our meals, so had to wait even longer and some girls just ate it because they were so hungry. I sent back my bulgogi since it was basically ground beef with ginger. It lacked so much flavor and had no sauce. Several ladies ordered Pad Thai and they hated it. I tried it and it was not good at all. It lacked so much flavor and the noodles were overcooked. Literally the worst pad Thai any of us have ever had. They did mention the chef had only been there a couple days but still. I apologized when sending my plate back. I hate sending food back, but I wanted to enjoy my meal out. The server was very kind and we switched it for the Tangerine Beef. It was delicious. A smidge tough but the crispness was great and the flavor was on point! My friends ordered the Honey Chicken and Sea Bass and both were Fabulous. So delicious. The sauce on that sea bass was amazing and it was cooked to perfection. The honey chicken was definitely enough to feed 2! I would definitely order that next time. Several gals ordered the Vietnamese Espresso Martini and sent it back due to it being too creamy. Highly recommend: Bang Bang Shrimp, Shishito Peppers, Honey Chicken, Sea Bass, Thousand Smiles cocktail, and Cat’s...

This place was a real disappointment once my husband and I got our food. Yikes.

To order take out, we had to go in person and place the order at the bar. We initially tried to order from our hotel room through the phone number listed on the website. Figured we would have been directed to place the order online, but we obliged and made a trip over to establishment.

The hostess and the waiters/waitresses were really nice, so that was a plus. We were guided to the bar. After placing our order, we were told it was going to be a 15-20 minute wait for the food to come out and were asked if we wanted to place drink orders. At first we said no, but a minute later, I ordered a drink. After ordering the drink, I said to my husband "I bet the food will be out in a few minutes". We laughed and sure enough, the food came out soon after I made the joke. So I had to chug my drink so we could get home to eat the food.

We got: Chicken Pad Thai, Honey Chicken, Chinese Broccoli, and House Kimchi

Chicken Pad Thai - The entree was extremely watery and sweet! The noodles were ripped. The egg was SCRAMBLED EGGS that were broken up as huge chunks and thrown in the dish. There were no peanuts or even a hint of peanut flavoring. But man, was it SWEET! I've never had pad thai that sweet. Like, white sugar sweet.

Honey Chicken - Another watery entree. I think the chicken was suppose to be fried and crispy, but was soggy instead. There was no flavoring whatsoever. I guess the most flavoring that could be tasted throughout the dish was the oil it was cooked in, if that makes sense. Extremely bland and watery. Chinese Broccoli - Watery, again. Lack of seasoning. Crispy shallots were not there. Broccoli seemed a bit under. Extremely toothsome.

House Kimchi - Watery! Now, I know kimchi is suppose to have juice, but this was not juice. It was water. As if they thawed it in the microwave. The leafy components were ALL mushy. The vegetables are suppose to have a bite to them and these did not. And once again, lack of seasoning! With kimchi at that! Extremely confused.

All in all, this place ain't it. Everything seemed to have been microwave, which makes sense as to why our food came out as fast as it did. Until they tighten up whatever is happening in the kitchen, go somewhere else to have Asian food of any...

I'm really torn by this review but I'm inclined to give honest criticism hoping the new restaurant will listen and improve.

Let's start with the good: Decor and atmosphere is absolutely beautiful, grand entrance, intimate setting, overall impressive. I also loved the service, shoutout to the GM Johnathan for his energy and trying to make everything better, very attentative and I appreciated the complimentary dessert at the end that sadly saved the main courses. (maybe because I told him my husband's dish was overly salty.)

On to the bad, unfortunately atmosphere and great customer service doesn't justify mediocre to downright terrible food. Nobody at my table was really wowed or enjoyed the main courses. My pork bao appetizer was probably the best thing I tasted. My husband's drunken noodle was overly salty (friend ordered the same dish and agreed). I will say the GM did offer to switch out dish, but we didn't want to go through the hassle as everyone already started eating; but props to them for trying to make it right.

My sea bass was also unfortunately underwhelming. $42 for a piece of fish on top of grilled bell peppers and onions.....that's it. While the fish was moist and tender, I can cook way better at home with better presentation. It was honestly a bit boring. I probably should've ordered the surf and turf as it's hard to mess up steak and shrimp.

My friend's pad thai was the worst. I usually love Asian fusion....when done right.... but it was an insult to call that dish pad thai, all I tasted was vinegar and half cooked veggies; the person who approved that dish needs their taste buds checked. Pad thai is a tamarind based sauce with a touch of sweetness, and this was anything but. Call it something else, but don't butcher pad thai.

I didn't taste my friend's curry, but they also said it was salty without any sweetness to balance the flavors out.

The menu is interesting, but was all over the place. They had korean, thai, vietnamese, Chinese, but unfortunately none of the flavors were fused right and lacked balance. I hope they can listen to the reviews and improve; maybe hire a chef who actually understands asian flavors. Pretty and Instagram worthy, but sadly my party and I won't be back to try...