Tuk Tuk Thai -- Thai Restaurant & Catering in Sawtelle, Los Angeles — Restaurant in Los Angeles

The food here was mediocre at best but service we received was bad. We went to place on Friday the 13th in May 2022 (bad omen maybe for the day that it was ??) around 9PM. We knew that the place was supposed to be open till 10PM and the waitress also reminded us that the kitchen the closes at 9:30PM. In retrospect, I did not catch the subtle up obvious hint when the waitress asked us if we wanted to dine in or carry out and whether we made a reservation or not. When we said we were there to dine in, she told us we could seat anywhere that we wanted. The restaurant was sparsely populated at the time, so we gestured the waitress to a seat outside. There were four tables with just one seated by a couple, so we picked one that had four seats for us. The waitress left us menus and utensils on the table and quickly left. The table however had some type of liquid on half of it as did one of the chairs (water perhaps?). But the waitress was nowhere to be found. We stood around for a little but then swapped out the chair with another empty table and got ourselves seated. We than tried to wipe down part of the table with the napkins she left behind. Anyway, the waitress came back after 5-7 minutes to take our order and we promptly ordered: Tom Yum Soup, Pineapple Fried Rice, Pad ZEE EW (Wok fried Noodle Rice) and Bangkok Steak (well done!). I noticed that was around 9:15PM. The soup was served within the next 5+ minutes and so did the Pineapple Fried Rice and Pad ZEE EW; this was around 9:20’ish. We would have liked to have a chance to eat the soup before getting into the entrees as they would all go cold but, oh well, so be it. The soup however was way to salty! It was as if it was cooked with chicken that was overly salted to help preserve it (?), who knows. We did not say anything and continued with the entrees, neither of which tasted anything to write home about; they were just garden variety okay. We were almost done with the entrees less the Bangkok Steak which did not show up. Around 9:45PM, we were almost finished with the food and the waitress came by to see how everything was; we told her that the Bangkok Steak did not turn up and we would like to cancel that at this point since we were done eating and the kitchen was closed already. She hurried to the back of the restaurant and came back saying that the Bangkok Steak was being made well and will be out in a few. She brought us the Bangkok Steak in the next five minutes around 9:55PM when we were done dining. I told the waitress again that this came out late, but she acted as if she didn’t hear me. Anyway, I proceeded to eat it as we weren’t going to throw it out. However, I took one look at the steak and could tell the stake was rare as best. I took one piece and after chewing for a while, had to spit it out as it was raw! The rest of the pieces looked as if they just cut off the meat of a poor cow screaming in the back. It was gross! The waitress would not come back to our table anymore and instead sent in a waiter who asked us if he could pack those for us as it was 10PM and the were closing. In exchange I told him that the beef is totally raw. The waiter immediately suggested he take it off the bill which I had suggested to the waitress 10 mins ago. All in all, I went to this place based on reviews online, but my experience showed something totally different. It could very well be that this was an anomaly, and the soup was just too salty for unknown reasons. How about the fact that they served raw steak when I mentioned well done? I think not; I am guessing that the waitress forgot to put in the order for the steak until I prompted her at 9:45PM and that’s why it was barely rare. I would take away a couple of stars for the soup and the steak, but I will take two stars for the way the waitress handled out seating and dining. I would not go back to this...

Tuk Tuk Thai is a delightful little Thai restaurant located right in the heart of Sawtelle's vibrant dining district. My friend and I decided to try it out on a Sunday evening and we were both extremely impressed by the friendly service, speedy cooking, and delicious flavors of the dishes we ordered.

As soon as we walked in, we were warmly greeted and promptly seated by the hostess. Our server came by right away to take our order - shw was very friendly and helpful in explaining the menu items we were interested in. We started off by sharing an order of the spicy Sriracha chicken wings, which had the perfect crunch and zing from the chili sauce. The chicken was moist and fell right off the bone.

One dish I highly recommend is the chicken khao soi - this is a creamy coconut curry noodle soup from Northern Thailand. The broth was incredibly rich and complex, with warming spices like curry, clove and cardamom. The egg noodles were tender and absorbed all the flavors of the broth. The chicken was also perfectly cooked with a nice char. My friend got the kao man gai chicken, which is Hainanese-style poached chicken served over rice with a sweet and salty ginger sauce. The chicken was so moist and flavorful - a simple but excellent preparation.

To drink, we decided to try the pandan Thai iced tea, which had an intriguing nutty floral aroma from the pandan leaf. The tea was creamy and sweet without being overpowering. We also got a small carafe of chilled sake, which was deliciously crisp and smooth. Overall the prices were very reasonable, especially considering the high quality of ingredients and care taken in the cooking.

From the warm greeting when we first walked in to the caring goodbye from our server, the service at Tuk Tuk Thai was outstanding. Our food came out quickly and all of our needs were promptly attended to. You can tell the whole staff takes pride in providing an excellent dining experience.

I highly recommend Tuk Tuk Thai if you're in the Sawtelle neighborhood and craving authentic, fresh Thai food. With their friendly service, fast service, incredibly tasty dishes, and value prices, this little restaurant should be on your radar for all your Thai...

I came to Tuk Tuk with the expectations that it would be a run-of-the-mill neighborhood Thai joint, and in many ways, I think that's probably the best way to describe it.

Taking the advice of other Yelpers here, I ordered the green Thai Curry which was good--but didn't come with any rice. As Hanna P. stated, I had to order two additional orders of rice to really get enough to accompany the curry. Also, they must have turned down the spice meter since these other reviews, because I asked for it to be EXTRA spicy, and there was only what I'd describe as marginal heat in the curry.

We went there on a Monday, and strangely, they were completely out of any kind of deserts at all. I'm not typically a desert person (my friend was), but found it extremely odd that they could be out of EVERYTHING?! So...does this mean that all of their deserts are store-bought off site? Or the chef just got lazy? Not sure....

As a plus, I will say that the ambiance inside was surprisingly nice for a small neighborhood joint. They definitely put some thought to make a bit more clean and modern than your average Thai food restaurant (especially compared to those in Thai Town). It's even a place I would say you could bring a date, if you wanted to go to a low-key neighborhood Thai place.

Was it the best I ever had? No. Were the prices reasonable? Sure. In summary, if I had a craving for Thai food and didn't want to travel east, this would probably be a place I would return to, but not necessarily a first...