Message: | I find it very puzzling why Sanamaluang is so popular among this website. I've been to the one on either Sunset or Hollywood Blvd (I always confuse those two streets). For reference, I've tried their Beef & chicken satay, larb, curry beef/brisket noodle, BBQ pork noodle, prick king chicken curry, garlic-pepper chicken, combo-fried rice, thai ice tea, and the green boba ice drink. I was with a group of friends, which is why I had the opportunity to try the variety of dishes listed.
I was not at all impressed with the quality or quantity of the food & drink, and the service was downright crappy.
The Thai ice tea is Ok, it's not bad, but it's not anything special either. In any case quantity of the teas is nothing exeptional either, considering it's filled with 70% ice.
The Green Boba Tea was horrid. I agree it's very sweet, plus it has some sort of gross jelly-bean/cough mendicine like flavour to it. Perhaps this is popular among the Thai, but I found it unappealing.
The curry brisket soup noodle (actually it was called beef; I find it very frustrating when people use the term beef for brisket) was very bland and tasteless. There wasn't much beef, and what there was, I recall was filled with more tendons, blubber, and gristle than meat. It wasn't filling either. This has got to be the worst noodle dish I've had in my life.
On the other hand, I felt the BBQ Pork noodle wasn't too bad, but it was nothing special either. I've had much better at some Cantonese noodle places in Hong Kong, or some in Vancouver, that I can't recall. I would think there must be better places in LA for this Chinese dish.
The Garlic-Pepper beef was nicely spiced and flavorful, but the meat was too tough and dried off. It was mediocre at best. It does have some potential if the meat was cooked properly, but otherwise I've had better versions of this dish elsewhere.
The prick king chicken was also bland, unrefined, and was rather a tiny portion. I did not care for it all.
The fried rice was average, also mediocre IMO, and the portion size was nothing to write home about.
Needless to say, I thought it wasn't a very good restaurant at all. But I thought, maybe I was there at a bad time, especially since it was very crowded when I went there with my friends on a Friday night back in June. I decided to go back there on August, on a Moday night, around 1AM, IIRC (they close late).
This time, I ordered the Duck Noodle, Larb, one of the curry dishes (sorry, I can't remember the name), a pad thai, and a thai iced tea. Again, the food was nothing special, and I had to order this much food for myself to get full. The total came out to be around $20, and I gave only a $2 tip (service is unattentive, unfirendly, and generally lousy whether or not they're busy IMO).
I usually agree with you chowhounders, but I must say I find it difficult to do so here. I feel Sanamaluang is really more of Thai fast food joint, with the least refinement, quality, and service possible. If the portions were slightly larger, or the prices were lower, or if I had a VERY small appetite, I could see the value. But apparently that's not the case as I see it. I would be much happier at McDonald's instead. At least I get full for $6, with all other factors held constant. |