Emporium Thai — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Overall: 4.5/5

We did a walk-in around 9 PM on a Wednesday night and were seated right away. The ambiance is modern Thai but they played jazz music so it was a very unique setting. We love the little mini table lamps which elevated the tables' settings and provided a nice black and gold contrast. As it got later into the night, a lot of college students came in to dine so that was unexpected too.

The service here is also very great. We were constantly checked on, and everything we ordered came out in a timely manner. The waitress was kind enough to comp me the mango sticky rice dessert if I wrote a Yelp review as their 22 years opening special.

Emporium Thai provides their own interpretation of classic Thai food. They're different in that their flavors are lighter than the typical umami/salty/savory taste that are associated with Thai dishes. (I can see why some people wouldn't like this style.) We really savored each bite because it was so different and it allowed us to taste the different ingredients and their freshness.

Southern Curry Soft Shell Crab ($28.95): This order came with 1 rice served in a metal container similar to Korean restaurants. The rice was delicious. It had the perfect texture, taste, & level of stickiness. The crab curry was served in a Thai looking pot. They gave I think 1 crab cut into smaller pieces. The crab wasn't as crispy as I would like it but it did have some flavor by itself. The curry is not thick/dense like at other Thai restaurants but has a more liquidy consistency. It was not salty, had a nice coconut flavor, and is lighter so you can eat it by itself like soup. The vegetables were fresh with crunchy textures. We got level 3 (medium) spice level but I didn't taste anything.

Phuket Wings ($14.95): This order came with 6 chicken wings/drums on a bed of cabbage & carrots and topped with a sauce that is the same one used in the southern curry. The chicken were a little bit dry and would be better if they were a bit more crispy but they were good nonetheless. The sauce is what gives the chicken flavor and a small kick of spice which I think is a level 4.

Spicy Mango Martini ($11): I had low expectations for their drinks but it was actually really good! The glass was actually bigger than what most bars will give. The martini also had a beautiful presentation with a mango slice on the rim of the glass and chili pepper flakes on top of the drink. The drink itself is a bit thick so I think they used a mango puree. It was sweet and had a spicy kick from the flakes.

Cardi B Mango With Sticky Rice ($12): The dessert has a cute presentation with their sticky rice shaped like a heart. The rice is warm and drenched with their coconut sauce which is light but has the right amount of sweetness. They really have mastered how to cook rice here since this sticky rice was just as perfect as the regular white rice. It goes really well with the cold mango.

I would definitely come here again with...

Good for fast food delivery, late business hours, romantic atmosphere and Thai coffee. Bad for authentic Thai, lack of knowledge of table service (although our waitress was nice and warm)

Kitchen was closing at 10:30, we arrived few minutes before. Place was full and busy. At start the hostess didn’t wanted to take us, offered to take out but we said we’ll be done before it closes and she agreed.

Food came out fast, hence just ok decorated but

Unfortunately very cheap, basic and fast made (big chunks of broccoli). Both dishes Pad Thai & Fried rice too little vegetables and poorly spiced for authentic Thai.

There were missing some key ingredients like Garlic Chives, Bean Sprouts, the unforgettable tamarind sauce taste…

In both dishes we found burned parts and Pad Thai had slight burned taste at some parts of the dish…

Our table was at the kitchen entrance, we heard staff loudly interacting with each other.

!!! Just in front of us a server lost the lid of a ‘to go’ container in the way to take to a guest, she picked it up from the floor and brought it to them, they use it as a to go box for their food straight from the floor…

Fantastic mango smoothie that reminded my partner of her years living in South Thailand and my ice Coffe has been one of the best so far, in funky plastic containers and plastic straws.

We enjoyed a nice jazzy piano music. Great art on the walls, wooden separation walls and half dimmed lights made a very cozy atmosphere.

Though the end of the romantic scenery was abruptly ended with switching the main lights on and switching off the music while the plates been still in the tables and bills not payed.

Earlier the delivery guy stood in front of our table with others in line standing delivery guys. Waitress was way to busy to direct them.

As improvement suggestion: there is enough space to separate the delivery waiting line, order taking corner and the common dining area.

It’s very unpleasant to eat your food with a nervous and stressed delivery people around.

Toilets could use some renovation and better cleaning.

Good place in a great location, with a ton of potential if the management train their staff in the basics of service:

Removing the dirty plates from tables, ours were piled up for long time, the waitress stopped by our table 3 times and skipped taking them, then finally took them at the same time she dropped our credit card after have swiped for the payment) and Higher up the quality and presentation of the food in consideration with the prices they charge.

Hope this feedback will improve the current business and customer experience in this cute and...

This restaurant was not a great experience. Start- When we got to this restaurant we sat down and they didnt have plates for all 8 of us. Soon as we sat down no water and it took them a good 10 minutes to get our water filled and the lady our waiter was taking a break and talking to a fellow employee and not giving us water. When they gave us our water we ordered. Nothing wrong was with the order but later on something wrong was with the order. Also the lights were out and one of the employees were looking at us and not giving us a light that we can use and is working so we had to grab a other light from a other table.

Middle - When we got our food we got our soup. The soup was not bad but very spicy. But when we got our main course is where everything went downfall. So we got our fried rice first came quick. But we had to wait a pretty good amount and there weren't many people in the restaurant. The green beans came out second and it was the best of the food. The thai basil was good but they could have added a lot more spice as it was very bland. They gave us 2 rices as we ordered 2 chickens but our waiter said we ordered only 1 chicken. We ordered another chicken with more spice. Then the second fried rice came out after 20-30 mins. We ordered chicken and no eggs but they gave us chicken and egg fried rice. We told the waiter we dont want it but she said in a rudely response “I cannot take it back”. She could have said this in a politer and better way. Then our second chicken and as i said we wanted it more spicy this time they put no sauce and it was more bland than the 1st chicken. This was the worst out of all the foods. Then we ordered one more rice and they gave us cold rice and never gave us steamed white rice. That was it for the food.

End- When we were done we asked for 2 boxes. It took the lady 10 minutes to just get 2 boxes as she was talking to a fellow employee. There was nobody anyway in the restaurant. When she bringed out the bill nothing went wrong.

Conclusion- I do not recommend this restaurant there better places we have had in Michigan or places near there. Also they had a 18% gratuity and the service...