Chiang Rai - Tustin — Restaurant in Tustin

Chiang Rai has opened their restaurant in Tustin recently, and we got to try out the place that won a Michelin star. The menu is extensive with a variety of options in regards to spice level, noodles/rice dishes, and soups.

We came as a group of 6, and we ordered a lot of food. Here were some of my favorites. I didn’t get take a lot of photos because I was too hungry and fat, but the photos were asthetically pleasing.

The Tom Sa Pla was my favorite. The fish ebahbcdd the soup flavoring and was balanced exquisitely with the mushroom and red onions. Be careful of the peppers in it as one of my friend struggled and needed to step outside. Thai spicy isn’t for the weak.

The Sai Uao sausages were delicious. The lemongrass stands out in it which I loved. It has a slight kick of heat to it that wasn’t overwhelming. I could eat this with just a side of sticky rice.

The salmon Thai sashimi was the only image I took. As you can see it is very pretty looking, and the quality and taste matched the level of how great this photo looks. Fish was A1 quality and the dressing/sauce that coats the fish was incredible. The mint and garlic slices enhances the freshness of the dish.

There were plenty of other dishes we got that were all incredible. I would recommend the Khao Soi as it is super popular and it was tasty. The fried rice Khao Soi was also delicious. The sausage that came with it reminded me of nem nuong.

One last note is the drinks. They didn’t have alcoholic drinks when I came, but the non alcoholic were great. The matcha orange tea is something I recommend getting. It is like an orange creamsicle mixed into your favorite matcha drink.

Service and staff were welcoming and nice. We did have to wait a bit, and I appreciate the staff member acknowledging that. She was apologetic and communicative on expected wait. They were very attentive with water and what we needed. I would just suggest to make reservations...

Another Thai restaurant that I wanted to cross off my list to try, so here we went.

Midnight chicken with Roti: 3/5 - good but not special. The dipping sauce is straight out of a Thai sweet chili bottle. Roti was good and complimented well with the wings.

Pad see ew with beef: 2.5/5 - average. The taste was abit odd, mixing of some sweetness and somewhat bitterness afterward, not clean taste. The flavors were also off, didn't get a signature smoky "Pad see ew". The beef texture was spongy like it was seasoned with baking soda , I got some pieces very mushy. Definitely not a high quality beef.

Panang with pork: 3/5 - pretty good but more like a yellow curry-style with a ton of bell peppers. Slightly sweet and rich coconut flavor and taste. The pork was a slice cut instead of stew cut, so asically their Panang is a soup base then they just add sliced meat per order to call it a day. Also the meat texture was spongy like seasoned with baking soda.

Crab fried rice: 3/5 - good but not great because didn't see much crab meats and the flavors were not garlicky, peppery, and smoky. Not sure if the fried egg was supposed to be runny when cut into it but the yolk was all set.

Mango sticky rice: 4/5 - pretty good but the coconut flavor was not robust. The texture was softer than I've normally had from Thai restaurants, however I prefer it this way.

The service was good for an hr but then we were rushed to leave so they could have a table for waiting guests. It was abit of turnoff...

Btw, they dont have an alcohol license so no alcohol is served or bring-in is allowed.

Anyway, the food was disappointing for the hypes, and pricey for low quality meats and preparations... one timer for...

The very anticipated Chiang Rai has now opened in Tustin. The line at the door was crazy on a Sunday 10 minutes before opening. We were lucky to be the last group seated at the bar in the first round. Highly recommend getting here early to avoid the wait or plan at least an hour+. It’s new so you can tell they’re trying to get into a rhythm so the service was a bit subpar and we left feeling fairly underwhelmed by the experience. We waited more than hour for our food as with many others! This is definitely a place where you have to order the right thing or you’ll regret it.

Chicken Satay - 2/5 For 4 tiny skewers of grilled chicken accompanied by a cold sauce and a side of sickeningly sweet cucumber salad. Came 35 minutes after ordering it.This felt like daylight robbery charging $16 for this!

Pad Thai with shrimp - 3/5 If you add shrimp they give you 6 for $3. I’d say that’s worth it. Portions were on the small to average size. Good but nothing remarkable! Came 50 minutes after ordering it.

Khao Soi with chicken - 3/5 Probably the best of the three dishes we tried but still underwhelming. My mom said she didn’t think the food was hot enough. Soup was tasty, maybe could be a bit more flavorful. Came 1 hour after ordering it.

Would I come back here? No. Would I recommend it to others? Maybe if you have 2 hours to kill for a lunch and...