• 5
• Lovely Ambience, Wonderful Service, Delicious Food

Los Angeles is not short of vegan Thai restaurants. There were 23 until Araya's Place opened last week. You might ask yourself if LA is really in need of additional Thai vegan restaurants. While I find many of them to have similar mediocre food, I cannot say this of Araya's Place. Way back in 1987, Araya became the first vegan Thai restaurant in Seattle, and the restaurant has finally made its way to Los Angeles. How is the food? Delicious, not too salty like many of the other veg Thai restaurants I have been to. The service? Perfect. The waiting staff and owner were very attentive and friendly. The ambiance? They spent over 150,000 dollars renovating the space, and it certainly shows, with large black-framed mirrors, wooden accents and shelves, spices and plants on the walls, and overall a lovely ambiance. We ordered Thai spring rolls and a papaya salad as an appetizer. Warning! Thai food can be very spicy. Even though we ordered a "2" on the spicy scale, had we ordered anything higher on the scale, I think my mouth would have been on fire. I found this Papaya salad to perhaps more delicious than any papaya salad I have had. The spring rolls were very tasty and nicely presented, but pretty standard tasting. For the main course I ordered an avocado curry. This dish is very flavorful, and adding brown rice to the meal is essential if you want something to absorb the delicious curry sauce. The presentation of all of the dishes was delightful and I appreciate that they add live-food touches to each dish. Araya's Place is a welcome addition to LA's Thai vegan scene. I recommend this restaurant highly. The ambiance, service and food are all top rate.