The Silver Lake House (by Leela Thai) — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I am a big fan of Thai food, and I've tried many good Thai restaurants in LA and OC areas. Honestly, I was very very disappointed: the 4.7 rating does not fit my expectations at all. First of all, street parking is very tough because it is on the main road where many cars pass by. I'm not sure the parking area in the back of the building is for the customers. Second, they do not provide tap water, so you should expect to pay extra bucks for Arrowhead. Third, I'm healthy guru who tried not to consume much sodium, and I often advise my mother about cooking less salty food. But, what this restaurant served was so salty, even for my mother who consumes lots of salty food. I started to think they deliberately made the food very salty so that people wouldn't be able to stand without drinks.

The two extra stars come from the outdoor seating's environment and vibes. The trees were outstanding and good place to eat and chill. It would be better when you go during evening when it's dark and the lights are on. However, there were so many flies that we were so distracted from trying to enjoy the food.

Since it's in Silver Lake area, the atmosphere around there is generally good, and it's a couple of minutes away from the lake by walking.

I eat Panang Curry wherever I go for Thai food, and this place's Panang Curry was a big disappoinment for me. Pad Thai was too salty. Generally, everything is salty, so I asked later dish to be made less salty. But, I believe this place's saltiness may suit for...

First time here, but grew up in the 90026! We ordered several dishes here:

1. wonton soup: the soup itself was just okay but the wontons were nothing special, could have done without this dish
2. drunken chicken dumplings: these were amazingg, definitely recommend these. The dumplings and the green curry broth were fantastic!
3. pad thai: the pad thai was just okay as well, could definitely had been a bit more flavorful
4. glass noodles: these were delicious! Got them with no spice, but next time would definitely go with a low spice level.
5. bbq chicken: was very tender, fall off the bone and the sauce was sweet and absolutely delicious
6. mango sticky rice: Omggg fantastic! Must try!

While we were here two of our entrees took about 25 minutes to come after we had received our first entree, which was rather disappointing since we had ordered these to eat individually and not to mention the table next to us was a party of at least 8 and their dishes just kept coming one after the other. We were seated outside, in the corner so no one came to check on us once, it wasn't until I was able to make eye contact that someone came to ask how we were doing. After one of our missing dishes came, they didn't seem to know that we were still waiting for a second.

The service recovery however was great. The person who took our order came to personally apologize.

If you come on a weekend, there will definitely be a wait, we waited 30-45 minutes to be seated. Parking can definitely be hard to find...

Nestled in a little pocket of trendy restaurants, The Silver Lake House (by Leela Thai) scores on nice patio ambience, attentive service, and good selection of Thai, Chinese, and other Asian dishes. Having lived in Thailand six years, I was excited to try my favorites: Tom Kha Gai, Penang Gai, Som Tum Thai, Gra Prow Nui,. Goong Kratiem Prik Thai, Khao Soi, and Pad Thai. The soup was good, but lacking in ingredients... no ginger root or lemongrass stems, but instead only chicken, mushrooms, and oddly, cabbage. The Penang chicken was ok and as expected. The papaya salad was very good. The basil beef was the biggest disappointment. This dish is a favorite I have everywhere (with chicken) and it was lacking flavor and had tough beef. The garlic pepper shrimp was all wrong. Normally it is dry crusted with black pepper and garlic. This was just smothered in sweet chili sauce that is normally used for spring rolls. The khao soi was almost right, but the noodles were wrong... ramen type noodles were used instead of flat lomein type noodles. And there was no chicken drumstick! Finally, the pad thai was just ok. I've had way better two minute street pad thai in Thailand. All in all, good portions, decent prices, friendly service, great ambience, and...