Elephant Ear
Elephant Ear, an interesting name for a Thai restaurant, has been on my list for quite a while. In this area near the theaters, there is an ongoing rotation of Thai restaurants. We happened to catch a Broadway show, so I made a reservation for two people at 6 PM. When we went to the restaurant after our show, they mentioned that there’s a 1.5 hour limit for dining.
Ambiance & Service
The interior was very festive with elegant elephant-inspired decor. Because there was a large party here due to a post-marathon early dinner, the restaurant was quite busy and loud when we arrived. When we sat down, they immediately came to our table and urgently rushed us to order. After that party left about 15 minutes into our dinner, the servers were less hasty on getting us out.
The service really is no different than a lot of Thai restaurants where they try to rotate the tables as fast as they could. Another example of an annoying service behavior was they came with over their mobile kiosk and simply showed me the bill on the screen. When I paid for it, they immediately walked away quicker than I could even say “wait” since I wanted to get the receipt.
Food
The Lychee Thai Iced Tea ($8 - left) and the regular Thai Iced Tea ($8 - right) came in the typical glass mug. The lychee Thai iced tea was very sweet, and the Thai iced tea tasted like any other Thai iced tea.
The Papaya Salad ($16) came with shredded green papaya, dried shrimps, string beans, tomatoes, and peanut with chili lime dressing. This was ordered mild, but it was a bit spicier than expected. Overall, this tasted just OK. It tasted like it was scrappily and hastily put together as the ingredients and dressing did not really have time to soak with each other.
The Sauteed Tiger Shrimp with Scallop & Squid ($28) came with crispy garlic, chili flakes, kaffir leaf, lemon grass, and served with sea food dripping sauce. They also came with a side of rice. This was actually pretty good. The crispy garlic and sea food dripping sauce added a nice crunch and flavor along with the rice. The shrimp’s shell was mostly edible if you chew slowly. The shrimp itself was plump and cooked well.
The Chicken Pad Thai ($20) came with all the normal pad thai things. The noodles and flavor of this are very familiar, so there was nothing really special about this.
Overall Impression
Elephant Ear Thai was overall a very average Thai restaurant that had some highs and some lows. The service was very disappointing, and the food itself was very similar to other Southern Thai-type restaurants.
Yelp & Google Jabs
Heard a lot of great things about this Thai place so I decided to order a dish through Uber Eats! Since I got my food through delivery… - Seafood drunken noodle: 6.5/10 (I fear it was wayyyyyyyyyy too bland! I had to bring out my sriracha to dip the food because it was tasteless. Maybe the seafood watered down the sauce when it was cooking….?)
It’s disappointing when Elitists review restaurants based on delivery.
Quite truthfully the best curry I’ve had, the texture, heat, and flavor was on point and very authentic.
The restaurant’s flavor was very similar to most Thai restaurants in the city. In this area, I think there are better Thai restaurant options.
Revisions
- Nov 2, 2025 - Initial revision.