Anajak Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Oy, where do we begin. We were so excited to dine here. We specifically flew across the country from nyc for a dining experience at Anajak.

We were a party of 2, arriving at 5:30p to get on line for Thai Taco Tuesday, starting at 6p. It didn’t take long to be seated. We were seated outside at a shared table.

It started drizzling when we sat. When our apps hit our table, it started to really rain. Anajak did not put up umbrellas or offer anything to help mitigate the rain. For the price range of our dinner, we expected a little more effort and consideration of the guest experience.

Regardless of the rain, we were still stoked to try the food.

We started with the tostadas, the kanpachi ($17 per) and the chutoro + uni ($29 per). It was beautifully plated and presented. The quality of the raw fish was very good, but its freshness was drowned out by an overpowering cloying sauce. The sauce was all you could taste. We also got the striped bass fish tacos ($18 for 2), which were not only underseasoned but also underwhelming. Texturally everything was very soft, from tortilla to the fillet, even though it looked like there was a good sear on it.

We were so excited for the thai fried chicken ($34). It looked so good in photos and in reviews, but we were ultimately disappointed. It had a good crunch, but the meat itself needed a lot more salt. Inside the crunchy exterior, was texturally dry meat.

We finished with the Dungeness crab fried rice ($28), which was sadly kind of mushy. Similar to the fish taco, everything was uniformly soft. We were not even sure if this really counted as fried rice, as it seemed to lack… the fried aspect.

We spent $270 after tax and tip for 2 people. We did not feel that the experience matched the price, especially given the quality of the food and service. We are both industry folks so we understand that it might have just been an off day, but it was nevertheless super disappointing to plan a whole trip across the country for a honestly mediocre experience. We ended up canceling our second dinner reservation at Anajak later in the week following our experience at TTT.

I think the tipping point was spending $270 to dine in full rain, having to ask multiple servers for another plate when our current one got too wet to put food on. We weren't sure why guests weren't moved inside, as there were empty seats inside. We thought it was first come first serve so we weren't sure what the empty tables inside were held for. Regardless I think we would have forgiven the rain (as we understand it doesn't rain often here), had the food been really good.

Our final bill didn't include our bottle of wine ($80), and we had to point that out to our server. We thoroughly enjoyed our bottle and our somm was very helpful, so we wanted that to reflect in our bill.

We wish our experience was not what it was and that Anajak had stayed as a figment in our...

I’ve lived down the street for years and even went to Anajak before the remodel. While the food is definitely better than before, the overall experience wasn’t worth the month-long reservation wait.

When we arrived, we only waited a couple of minutes for our name to be called—totally fine. At first, based on the hostess’s direction, we thought we’d be seated outside, but she brought us inside and we were excited. Then she kept walking—past two empty two-top tables—and seated us in the corner at a tiny bar top attached to the window overlooking the outside diners. Awkward. We asked if we could sit at one of the two-tops and were told they were saved for “handicap accessible.” Weird, but okay. Moments later, two visibly able guests filled those exact tables.

Ordering was also odd. Two servers are supposed to take care of you, but by the end it felt like none. We had to order everything at once, so we went for the fried chicken, cabbage, BBQ pork ribs, and shrimp pad thai. The fried chicken came out immediately. It was tasty, but honestly lacked seasoning. Everyone raves about the sauces, but the sweet chili tasted like the Kroger brand I buy at Ralphs. I actually preferred the chicken plain.

Next came the ribs—delicious—but sharing dishes at a small bar top attached to a window was far from ideal. The plates sat empty for a while as the small space got louder and louder, making conversation tough. After a long wait, our server finally let us know the rest of our order was unexpectedly delayed. Eventually, the cabbage and shrimp pad thai arrived. The pad thai was incredible (I was surprised for $28 that it only came with 4 shrimp. They were so delicious, I wish they served more). The cabbage looked great, but one bite and my throat was on fire. I can handle spice, but this was next level and there was no warning.

Overall, the food was a 9, but the vibe and experience were a 5. Definitely not worth the high price, the impossible reservation process, or waiting a month...

I had heard a lot of amazing things about this restaurant, so I was elated when I got my first reservation back in June. My first visit was as a party of two, and we enthusiastically ordered 2-3 appetizers and mains, plus noodles and rice. We also ordered a very nice bottle of wine because we wanted the full experience. From the start, we felt very rushed to order, despite asking for more time. On the plus side, the food came out quickly and was delicious. However, we had not even gotten halfway through before our plates were cleared to make room for more food. Once again, the mains that arrived were amazing. Could not say better things about the Panang and Brisket curries. In terms of timing, we had the same experience - had about half of it cleared away due to timing. We were probably in and out in a little over an hour. I do understand that schedules have to be maintained in order to keep other reservations on track, but it wasn’t the best experience to have to chug our very expensive bottle of wine and take bags of food home.

Flash forward to my second reservation yesterday, this time with a party of four. I won’t belabor the point with every detail, but the overall experience was the same (same server as the last time as well). I would assume that this is just the vibe of the place, but there was another party of four sitting next to us, who arrived at the same time and did not receive the same treatment. They had time to sit and chat, enjoy their wine and eat at a leisurely pace. We were walking out the door after having ordered about 8 courses and they were barely eating their appetizers.

Maybe I keep going wrong by ordering too much food, thereby putting too much pressure on the kitchen to quickly turn things around.

All of this said, the food was great which at the end of the day is what is most important. I just wanted to provide honest feedback because experience is a key contributor to overall enjoyment. ...