Kinnara Thai — Restaurant in Los Angeles

BEWARE: THIS RESTAURANT CHARGES 18% GRATUITY REGARDLESS OF PARTY SIZE OR POOR SERVICE

I've been to this restaurant a few times previously on week days and the hostess/waitress, food and service were always exceptional.

The owner/mgr tainted my recent experience to the point that I am giving a one-star rating. This last visit left a bad taste in my mouth as the owner/mgr appears to have a bias toward none-asian patrons.

We arrived @ 1:40pm and before we could get comfortable at our table, the owner/mgr told us that they close at 3pm. We never felt welcomed after that point. We ordered side salads to start, but they were served after we received our entrees which defeated the purpose.

The restaurant is small and it was easy to see that the owner/mgr was devoting her time to the other two tables as she frequently hovered over the other tables, but not ours. We had to inquire about our salads twice. After all the food had been served, the mgr never came back to check on us. My lunch date had finished her water and the owner/mgr came to refill her glass, but we had already finished eating and had asked for the check by this time.

Since I had never paid the checks previously, I didn't know that the restaurant automatically adds an 18% gratuity to the check regardless of party size or quality of service and food.

Based on the service, I informed the owner/mgr that if they are going to automatically add an 18% gratuity to all checks, then at least provide good service. I told her that the service she provided to our party of two was bad as I witnessed her hovering and catering to the two other tables that had parties of four and six respectively.

The mgr became loud, defensive, and started over talking me. I asked her to lower her voice--she did not. She kept stating that the the gratuity is listed on the menu. I told her that I was not disputing that information--I was disputing the poor service. She went on and on and then inferred that we were rude in how we asked for things. I asked her at what point were we rude? She just walked away. First of all, other than our food, the only things I asked for were extra napkins and the check. Other than that, we didn't see her which is the point that needed to be made.

She came back and said that if I didn't want to pay the gratuity she would remove it. Since she offered, I told her to remove it--she didn't deserve it.

I was going to pay the entire check, including the $11 gratuity. However, my point to management is if they are going to automatically charge patrons an 18% gratuity, they have a duty to at least provide good service--notice that I didn't even say excellent service.

Finally, the owner/mgr needs to be respectful. She also needs to tighten up and at least pretend to like all patrons who visit her establishment. Her biased behavior was beyond obvious.

Needless to say, we won't return to this...

I had not been to a Thai Restaurant in quite some time, my reservations are usually caused by bad tasting noodles, too spicy to the point you can't enjoy the food, or the protein often times isn't fresh.

The boyfriend and I have always had a curiosity and I finally had a craving for Pad Thai, which needed to be addressed and not overlooked. So we decided to go to Kinnara and I must say I am glad we did!

We shared the food, as the servings are quite plentiful. We ordered a small Tom Kha Soup with Shrimp, each spoonful was creamy and flavorful. The sweetness of the coconut was well balanced by the lemongrass and galangal.

We then proceeded to attack a well executed spicy beef salad with fresh cucumber, tomato and grilled, savory, mouth watering tender pieces of beef.

Shortly after our two entree's arrived, a Pad Thai with chicken and Drunken Noodles with Shrimp, accompanied by a side of steamed white rice. The Pad Thai with chicken was such a delightful surprise, the noodles were soft, fresh and with each bite a delightful hint of citrus was left lingering in my mouth, if I had to guess, I'd say orange. The Drunken noodles packed the right amount of heat to my heart's content, the smokiness of the sautee was present, however not as overpowering as other places I've been to, which can ruin the dish entirely.

I do have to apologize for not uploading pictures of the amazing food we had, but when you're too preoccupied with your fork and spoon, enjoying each delectable bite, your phone becomes a nuisance. They do have drinks as well and they are delicious, at least what we had this time. We ordered a Lychee Mojito, Lychee Martini and Mango Margarita, all equally tasty and fancy. As soon as I go back, I promise an update with pictures of the delectable...

I have eaten here three times but will not again. The first time I ate in and had the red curry which was overall good. The second time I ordered online and the food took forever to arrive! That time I ordered a vegetable and chicken dish and it was dripping in oil. EW! The third time I ordered online and quickly called to make a change to the order (add chicken to the dish) and was told I had to place another order online ($20 minimum) and I could not cancel the order because they had already started to prepare it. My boyfriend rode his motorcycle to the restaurant and tried to pay in person for a side order of chicken. They were reluctant but after talking with them for a while they agreed. When he was done paying she insisted he bring the food back to me (despite not being able to transport it on his bike) rather than deliver it (which I paid extra for). When the food was finally brought to my apartment they made me go out front of the complex instead of coming to my unite and...