Rambutan Thai in Silver Lake

[vsusan2004]

I haven't seen any mentions of this restaurant when I did a search. Have you been? What did you think?

Rambutan Thai
2835 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

[umeakai]

I just went here for the first time this past Friday night. I've never really been to Silverlake because it's well outta my way, but some friends wanted to go, so I went along. I've heard good things, especially because I've been told that they are related to Tuk Tuk Thai on Robertson.

When I got there, I'll admit I was a little grouchy because I couldn't park in the lot and ended up parking quite a ways east on Sunset. When I entered the restaurant, my party had not arrived, so they sat me at the bar. I didn't want any drinks, but the people behind the bar completely ignored me and never even handed me a menu. They only handed me a menu when one of my other friends showed up. After being seated and placing orders, our meals came out relatively close in time (judging from other tables, the dishes don't tend to arrive together, but rather in five minute intervals). I had ordered the duck curry and it was so salty that even after dumping in my rice I could not eat much of it. I would have sent it back, but I didn't want to interrupt the conversation of my friends and potentially insult the friend that purports to love this place. On the whole, I wasn't impressed with the food quality - despite the salt issue, it was not spicy at all and the $11 price tag seemed high.

Perhaps I got an "off dish" - my friends really enjoyed theirs; however, I'd tried the spicy egglplant and again found it to be rather salty and the veggies cooked to the point where they were beyond recognition because they were so mushy. I'd have to agree with some of the other posts above - cool and trendy inside with nice atmosphere, but just a shame that they don't seem to put that same effort into the food. Overall, left a bad taste in my mouth and you can definitely get better more affordable Thai food elsewhere.

[tatertotsrock]

It is a bit of a "cold service" type of place which I don't like..the other brother/sister places like Tuk Tuk and Chadaka Thai (in Burbank of all places) I like a whole lot better. I usually use it as a last resort if the wait at Gingergrass (Vietnamese) has a long wait. The apps are good..Larb; Curry Dumplings; shrimp toast etc...
Chadaka is a whole lot better if you catch yourself in Burbank...the best Happy Hour because the drinks are amazing and worth the price even at full price...sitting at the bar is great, the music is always good...the lunch specials are amazing...the Musaman is excellent. The service here is great!

[afs]

fun place for Thai tapas I always prefer to wait at the bar for a couple of soju drinks before eating.
Foods good, I liked the beef tapa dish

[mojoeater]

I prefer the Pho place just a couple doors down.

[smonkey]

i've been a few times for comfortable neighborhood spot- more for the drinks and atmosphere than for the food, although i have liked the food. i usually order the grilled salmon with ginger and mushrooms and/or the tom yum soup. their brown rice is great. i also like some of there cocktails - although I don't think they have a full liquor liscense so their drinks are made with soju. I liked the phuket sunrise - soju with mango juice and champagne, and another one with sugarcane...

[bulavinaka]

We've been a couple of times and found the food good, not great... The place itself definitely is nice, but I'd be willing to sacrifice a some niceness for more umph in the food... I guess if you're on the celeb watch, they do seem to pop in there, as we did spot a couple of celebs both times - and it was around "linner" time...

[rednyellow]

I like it. It is definatly Thi-ish for the hip set, but it is a good spot.

[sambrown3]

Great space, nice service, tasty and inovative food. A solid neiborhood restaurant.

[silverlakebodhisattva]

Rambutan is Thai food for the self-styled hip cognicenti. The couple of times I've been there, I found it to have better food, and to be significantly less self-consciously "cool", than many other Silverlake-adjacent "concept" restaurants. Completely different that the new Yai, though; Rambutan has something which could be called decor or atmosphere; Yai, while it has tasty food, is pretty much tables, chairs, and walls.

[estone888]

I liked it a lot when it first opened, but the past few times I've been I've felt that they've toned down the food way too much and that it's been rather bland. Nice atmosphere, and some dishes are still pretty good, but it seems to lack the complexity of flavors - not just spicy hot - that I expect from really good Thai food. Last night I ate at the new location of Yai - Vermont at Hollywood, next to Rite Aid, behind FatBurger - and it was excellent, as well as a lot cheaper than Rambutan.

[Bon Vivant]

Some things I think that they do well like most of their "Thai Tapas." I like their pork chop and their vegetable dishes. They deliver. Nice space. However, it is a bit pricey and probably most people feel, me included, that you can get much better Thai food for a lower price just a few miles west. It is cheaper at lunch though.

http://myculinaryadventures.blogspot.com

[Newkie]

My feelings exactly. The food is good, but not any better than any other much cheaper Thai places. It's very lively with good looking people, so I'd go if you want a fun night out, but not if you're only interested in the food.