White Elephant — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Overall: 4.6/5 (dine)

Saw lots of raving reviews so we had to try this place. We got there late Saturday afternoon so there was nobody seated and service was a bit slow. They had to put together two tables to seat the 4 of us. They have a nice white marble table and wicker chairs. Their menu is very clean and easy to read. They have both classic Thai dishes and some fusion options. All their entrees are big portions too.

Ube Thai Coffee ($5.50): I barely tasted the ube but my cousin could and liked how subtle the flavor was. The prominent flavor for me was the condensed milk so it reminded me more of a Vietnamese iced coffee. The coffee itself isn't as high in terms of caffeine so you can still enjoy this coffee later in the day.

Peachy Sunrise ($6): My husband got this drink which was really good! She said it was made with sparkling water so whatever the second ingredient was, it's delicious!

Basil Chicken Wings ($14 for 6): The wings were a tad small but full of flavors and crispy.

Pad See Ew With Beef ($20): The noodles were somehow soft but had that smokey flavor. Their beef was also tender.

Drunken Noodle With Pork Belly ($18): My husband and I liked this more than the pad See ew. I like the variety of veggies and the fact that the noodles don't taste/feel oily. The pork belly was okay since I don't think they really marinated it. He got spice level 2 which is super mild to me. He got a side of garlic and onions ($1/each) on the side which adds a nice crunch texture.

Honey Pork Belly ($19): My hubby tried the honey pork belly and didn't like it as much as his pork belly in the drunken noodles. He said the pork belly was dry and didn't really have a lot of the honey taste.

Coconut Milk Fried Chicken ($18): You get to choose your greens and side. I got the crunchy kale which was good. Got a side of jasmine rice to eat with the chicken which was standard. The fried chicken batter actually tasted like coconut milk which was pretty crazy. I don't know how they do it but it also didn't taste oily or heavy. All the flavors were on point. If you want something different, I recommend trying this. The sauce was also really good and the perfect compliment for the fried chicken. It's not as umami as fish sauce but packs the perfect punch of flavor...

terrible expereince!! worse customer service we ever had! Had a date night here the other night and the lead manager was so rude they blame their staff memeber for being "new" but he could of handled it on his own. Besides the " customer service" portion the food was really not good! I think the only draw about this spot is that it is located in a decent spot but getting there you will be met with A LOOOOT of homeless people doing crack right outside of the spot and this is not a one time occurance, we actually heard other people said they had the same expereince and would not go back.

Coming back to their respond to this:

Obviously this restaurant can not take responsibility for their terrible negligence in dealing with such a simple easy situation that THEY cause! Before even sitting down, I asked simply if they would accept me even though I showed them that I was invited to come dine at the restaraunt. They said YES, please sit. I sat down I showed them once more hey I just want to make sure I can dine here because this was a last minute visit from myself. ( most restaurants usually would say yes, we still want to take you in as I am providing them with FREE content shoots) They took my order sent in all the food and ONLY at the end of the meal they did the bait and switch for this situation. I find that ridiculously unprofessional. If you wanted me to pay for the food please state this in the beg and as I have in the beg. Aside from everything, everything else I wrote about this was truth and not base off of the terrible expereince I had with the owner...

The White Elephant plays a very significant role in Thailand’s culture and is the namesake of this exciting, delicious restaurant in Downtown LA’s Spring Arcade building. Thai inspired dishes with modern and contemporary twists are highlighted all throughout their carefully curated menu and best enjoyed when shared🫶🏼

Protip: we ordered dishes that we typically would not get from the usual takeout/delivery suspects (not getting the Pad See Ew here felt like a crime💔) and it was the best decision ever. ✨Trying these new (for us) dishes completely opened up a whole new, bold flavor profile and gave us a renewed appreciation of how dining in opens you up to new experiences✨

We had: 🌺Hibiscus with a Passion (Sabé Blanco, Italicus, hibiscus, passion fruit, lime, orange, tajin), 🌹Summerful Bliss (Forever Summer rosé, Hana Lychee sake, Prosecco, agave, lime), 🍣Salmon Tartare (chive, shallot, masago, egg yolk, ikura, crispy rice paper), 🦐Royal River Prawn (charred river prawn, shrimp popcorn, prawn beurre blanc, Thai chimichurri, bread crumbles), 🍛Yellow Curry (turmeric curry, potato, white onion, carrot + Jasmine rice), 🐟Crispy Branzino (ginger beurre noisette, maitake, squid ink oil, fried onion, crispy basil), 🥭Mango Blue Sticky Rice (butterfly pea infused sticky rice, fresh mango),...