Yai Restaurant
(323) 462-0292
5757 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
34.1018
-118.3152
Neighborhoods: Central LA, Hollywood
What People Are Saying About Yai Restaurant
The Editor
Contributor
Citysearch
In Short
This casual Hollywood eatery offers little in the way of ambience, unglamorously sandwiched between a mini-mall doughnut shop and 7-Eleven. But inside, tables full of Thai families and dressed-down Hollywood locals noisily swap dishes and contentedly slurp noodles. The light Cali-Thai trend is forgone for homier, heartier dishes. It's like Thai soul food--crab rolls are meat-filled, deep-fried discs and whole catfish is presented hacked crosswise (bones and all), and topped with red curry.
User Reviews
Anonymous
February 14, 2009
This place was recommended to us by some friends. They said the Duck Curry was amazing so we had to try it. It wasn't very good. We won't go back. Parking was hard to find.
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eatupvicky
January 13, 2009
The last time I have gone in 2002 or so, I'll never forget the horror at Yai Restaurant. I have ordered seafood soup, which came in a metal container being boiled underneath. The taste was ok so we have almost empty the metal container. When I look at my serving bowl to get the last soup from the metal container, I found a oval shaped brown object. It was a R*@CH EGGSHELL!!! We complained quietly to a lady behind a register so that we wouldn?t disturb the other customers. A lady took the shell on a napkin to a kitchen for about 8 mins or so (can you guess what they were doing back in a kitchen? ) and came back. She dared show me a swapped shell. It was swapped with a chopped chili. We told her that we know how r*@ch eggs look like since we were in a pet industry and asked her where the original eggshell we had given to her. Then she started screaming that we just started complaining so that we didn't want to pay for all the food we have ordered, totaling only $30 or so. If I didn?t have $30 to pay, I?d go to a cheap take out place. She made no sense. She literally screamed and made it all loud for other customers who were enjoying their dinner. So we through money at her and left. We have, of course, contacted HEALTH DEPT for this matter. They have investigated and reported that their kitchen was filthy for a cooking environment. If you really want to eat Thai food, do not eat at here. My native Thai friend does not even recommend here at all. There are other good places on Hollywood.
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karlaross
September 13, 2008
Still reeling from dinner at Yai last night. We were heading to the Greek Theatre, so I Googled "best Thai restaurants in Thai Town." Yai consistently came up with excellent reviews, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I was warned about the funky atmosphere, so no problem there. I was even OK with the grime and dirt all over the plastic coated menus, that could easily be wiped off once in awhile. The first dish we ordered was crab rolls, which were neither rolled or had crab in them. They were sort of flat, excessively greasy pancakes made with fake crab. Ugh. Next came the pad Thai--shrimp were OK in there, but again the noodles were a pile of grease. BBQ pork is one of my favorite dishes, but not at Yai. It was an unseasoned, dry mess. I thought we could salvage dinner with a nice chicken dish in a spicy garlic sauce. I wasn't sure if we were eating chicken, pigeon, seagull, or some other mystery poultry, but I did try it. Did I mention the rice was good? We tried enough dishes to get an idea of what the food is like, and I was shocked at the abysmal quality of this place. I have never been steered wrong by public on-line reviews before. STAY AWAY FROM YAI!!
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Know Before You Go:
The restaurant accepts cash only, but if you're unprepared, the 7-Eleven next door has an ATM.
