Kalaya Philadelphia Tripadvisor Reviews - Kalaya Philadelphia - Buy Reservations
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20 Reviews
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Flavorful Thai food that excels. Go there.
Awesome Thai food. Flavorful, sensibly spicy. The branzino was to die for, with some heat, moderate citrus, perfectly cooked. Other items comparable. Food nothing like the usual neighborhood Thai restaurants that predominate. Moderately large venue but conversation and service were excellent. Prices not inexpensive but reasonable. If you have been to Jitlada in West Hollywood, CA, which could be the best Thai restaurant in the country, you will see a real resemblance. If we lived in Philly we'd be here all the time. By the way, the listed address is incorrect. The actual address is 4 West Palmer St, Philadelphia 19125. And the name is Kalaya Philadelphia, I believe. I asked, and the 9th St address is several years' old.
Be the first to ReplyGreat Food, but......
Food at Kalaya is very tasty and unique with an incredible mix of flavors and spices. Nothing we had was overly spicy which was nice for Thai based food. The service was very good as well. The decor is okay, some fun stuff but not particularly interesting. The big but - this area in Fishtown is a dump and makes going here feel unspecial and unsafe. Narrow streets, everything under construction, trash, several sketchy people along the way from the parking lot. Just be prepared.
Be the first to ReplyA real taste sensation
You may think you know Thai food. But Kalaya will give you an education. And an amazing meal to boot. The flavors come alive with every dish--done thoughtfully, fancifully but without pretense. Despite the din of a packed dining room and people hovering for tables, the staff is practiced in being cool and calm but never detached. The people they serve are happy to be there and they are too. You may not know everything on the menu when you come in, but you won't forget them when you leave. If going for dinner on the weekend, book well in advance. It'll be worth it.
Be the first to ReplyAll we hoped for
What a great dinner. It was all that I hoped for in all ways. The food was outstanding and service was very good. The room was lovely and a great crowd. Flowere dumplings were amazing and hot, just short of too hot but hot. Crab and huge scallop curry in coconut sauce was beautiful and wife's beef stir fry was great. Mustard green side was very nice and the pilot noir was very good and decently priced. I believe it was the owner circulated to make sure and a nice touch. Warning, I guess, parking is challenging but if you can parallel park, and willing to maybe walk a bit, it's fine.
Be the first to ReplyEnjoyed the food, but a little pricey.
Recently dined at this restaurant with family and really enjoyed the food. All the food is healthy and very tasty but felt it was a little pricey. Being a vegetarian I really appreciated all the different veggie and vegan choices on the menu. I did not care the decor or the ambiance, it was very load and therefore had a hard time hearing the conversation at our table. Loved the signature drinks.
Be the first to ReplyGreat & spicy with good service Skip it is yuo don't enjoy spicy food)
The dishes are shared by the table. We started with the shots in which you took a bite of a piece slice with spices on it then the shot These were delicious. The curry chicken and sesame chicken were the best. The goat and lamb curry were excellent as well. The prawn was large and interesting. Some of the dishes were very spicy, causing us to sweat and requiring lots of water, but not so hot as the spices masked the flavor of the dishes. The service was good. Popular, reservations hard to come by so we ate at 5;00 pm
Be the first to ReplyStunning Food
I had an amazing meal at Kalaya, every dish had the wow factor. The flavours were incredible - so fresh & zingy. Their curries certainly have bite! Donโt miss the Lum Yong cocktail & their showstopper iced dessert, Nam Kaeng Sai. Service was faultless from the lovely Michael. Kalaya is no longer at the address on South 9th Street as listed here, it moved to bigger premises in Fishtown over a year ago.
Be the first to ReplyYour taste buds will thank you!
REAL Thai food!! Each dish was better than the next!! This is the best Thai food you will find outside of Thailand. Donโt go expecting American-Thai food โฆ just be open and enjoy all the flavors!!! Only small complaint was that this dishes came out a bit rapidly, so be sure to tell them to slow things down. Otherwise this was an unforgettable meal and we canโt wait to return!!
Be the first to ReplyThai One on Here!
Kalaya lives up to the hype! It really is that good. A true party in your mouth! We had the spicy chicken dish, oyster dish and both types of dumplings. The cod fish bird dumplings were amazing! We canโt wait to return. A must visit when in Philly!
Be the first to ReplyMediocre food, great ambience
Our bar seating was terrible, end of the bar where everyone picks up drinks, my chair was hit numerous times. Also for a high scale restaurant with a top chef, you would think they could do better with catering to vegetarians. Everything was cookie cutter and couldn't be taken out or added because it was already prepped. Maybe 4 main/app dishes total out of the whole menu. Our drinks were great. Beautiful decor and ambience. Tried it and done, won't be back.
Be the first to Replynickel and dime
There is a reason itโs tough to get a reservation- the new location is gorgeous. The food is very good, however as great as it was, there were some oddities and upsells. Our server informed us dumplings come in orders of 5, and encouraged us to add on a 6th dumpling for an additional cost. I looked around the restaurant, not a single table had an odd number. It seemed intentional to sell them in 5s then request tables add an additional. At the bottom of the menu it also informs that every bill will have a 3% charge to pay the kitchen staff- knowing that not a single bill would be under $200 that night seemed crazy that their prices didnโt already account for paying the staff. It was good but felt overpriced- ecsp for Thai food, itโs hard not to have very mixed feelings about them nickel and diming guests for fine dining.
Be the first to ReplyNever again
Poor hygiene from the wait staff and a very unappealing restroom experience. The same guy that took the plates from another table went and folded someone's napkin without washing their hands. There was someone with a mullet that did the world's worst job of cleaning and sanitizing the table and then turned around and placed silverware on the bare surface of the table. Not a single drip of sanitizer or maybe a second towel after you scrubbed up spots and then pushed the dirt all over the place. I guess to just even out the filth. I didn't even get to my food yet, which was bland and excessively priced. I barely made it home before I had to sprint to the bathroom. Flat. Out. Disgusting.
Be the first to ReplyBirthday night out
Attend Kalaya last night and it was very impressive. The staff was excellent they all were very attentive to my wife and I. The food was unbelievable, if you donโt eat spicy food please do not try any of their spicy dishes. The grill squid was wonderful, the dumplings were very different from what I was used to. The main dishes are something you truly want to share. You must have the salads itโs more then you can imagine. I also heard they do also family style but you must safe space for dessert. There shaved ice is a treat. That place was packed so I suggest you make reservations.
Be the first to ReplyWay too expensive and mediocre food.
We were looking for Thai food and came across Kalaya. We were able to get seated outside in the wooden crates they setup for outdoor dining. The seats were terribly uncomfortable. Once seated, the waitress informed us that there were no food substitutions allowed and that they could not adjust the spicinesses of the food. Being pescatarian and preferring moderate spiciness on our food this severely limited our options. And then there was the outrageous price. Some entrees were $75 with most ~$40 or more. We ordered a mushroom salad that was definitely too hot to enjoy and the glass noodle prawns which were overcooked and tough. A glass of tea and the total was over $100 (with tip).
Be the first to ReplyExpert service to guide you through a Thai food experience
โAlohaโ from the friendly staff and your in for a great experience. We sat outside in the cozy Philly street dining box and had a fabulous meal. Beautifully delicious dumplings and spicy hot beef salad. The meat so tender you could cut with a spoon. Top it off with sticky rice and Thai ice teas. We loved it. Thank you. This place is a South Philly Thai gem in the Italian Market.
Be the first to ReplyThai Gem
As others have noted, very pricey, but you can check the website beforehand to see if this will be an issue. Food is outstanding, and I offer two caveats. 1) I assumed our online rez was for an indoor table. They tried to seat us outdoors in one of those Covid-cabanas with a heater. Chairs were basically flimsy bridge chairs, and the ambience, of course, was very subpar considering the prices. I raised a small fuss and was seated inside, thankfully. I also noted that a deuce table remained empty the entire time we were there. 2) Your server will try to get you to order too much food. I noted people walking out with doggie bags, which is not unusual per se. However, we are big eaters and were not able to finish the dishes they recommended. You do not need a salad, a curry, a soup, an entree, etc. I would have been fine with just the shrimp noodle dish (pad thai chaiya). Tons of huge shrimp, broth, veggies, noodles for $39. Definitely worth it. Servers very friendly. Will definitely go again. Would have offered 5-star review if not for the caveats.
Be the first to ReplyGood food, very EXPENSIVE
The food was generally good. A few things were outstanding, others somewhat disappointing (e.g the pork belly pieces had HUGE pieces of fat). The service was friendly. My biggest gripe is that prices are very high โ higher than pretty much at any other Thai restaurant weโve been to.
Be the first to ReplyBest Asian restaurant in Philly? Best Thai on East Coast? Yep, so far as I know.
You know how you're sometimes torn between sharing a secret you don't want to get out, and wanting to do right by people you respect and honour? I've held off on this review, because I don't want competition for seats. Kalaya was great pre-pandemic. Great, but tiny, and super, super loud inside. One of the few wonderful Philadelphia innovations of the pandemic is street seating, and restaurant tables where once out of town diners were competing for parking spaces with hostile locals playing savesies. Kalaya outdoors has doubled, perhaps tripled, its space, and it's magnificent. The space, that is. The food is better. The American version of Thai food seems generally to have been debased even quicker than other Asian cuisines, with the sugar and the over-sauced goop amped up an order or two of magnitude. You know the drill: the four curries, different colours, same flavours, the pad thai and drunken noodles and if you're really, really lucky, maybe some fish cakes. Throw all that expectation out the window here, open your mind and palate, and let yourself be guided by the expert service. Be honest about your spice tolerance. When they say it's hot spicy, it's hot spicy. When they say it's nuanced and the ingredients cut the heat, that's true too. There are some easy going routes in. We haven't tried the crab rangoon, but it's there, as are some fried rice dishes, and all of them smell good when they go by. But if you're adventurous, then just give your spice tolerance, any allergies or aversions, and your level of hunger or willingness for leftovers, and be guided. Because most of these dishes you will not have had before. The rotating selection of dumplings/appetizers are without exception excellent. Elegant too, with the kind of presentation that enhances the taste. The salads and appetizers are superb (also seasonal -- shrimp ceviche style, plump, the pickling transforming the texture of the protein, wow). The shredded duck salad, which seems to be a year-round staple, is extraordinary. Every bit of the duck meat, skin too, with toasted rice powder added to the sauce for texture. Exceptional. We've tried most of the curries by now, I think, by visit six or seven. The dry red curry tofu will challenge the expectations of even the most carnivorous human re vegan food. If you associate goat meat with bad Caribbean take away after a long night of too much drink, then try the goat curry. And if you think the idea of pickled vegetables stir fried with greens and egg sounds weird -- which it does when you first contemplate it -- think again. You'll note I've avoided trying to reproduce the Thai names of the dishes. I don't know Thai and I've yet to learn more than a handful of food words and the succinct, decidedly unpretentious descriptions of the dishes will help you choose what you want with no fuss and no embarrassment. Also, don't come expecting Asian take-away prices. If you do, there'll be sticker shock, which is totally unwarranted. Philadelphians are used to paying 20-30 bucks for an entree of mediocre red-sauce pasta and a secondo piatto that could have come off a bistro menu in the Godfather movies fifty years ago. You'll be paying at that price point here, but for some of the best non-western food you've ever eaten. (And it's BYO, so consider that part of the bargain!) Seriously, this is a twenty minute walk for us, but it's worth an actual commute. And outside the Vetri/Solomonov empires, how many Philly restaurants can claim that?
Be the first to ReplyFabulous mango and sticky rice combined with excellent take out service
I visiting Kalaya's Thai Kitchen in the 9th street area of Philly when COVID restrictions were still in place, so food was available via take out only. Service was fast and friendly, and the sticky rice and mango was excellent, including presentation.
Be the first to ReplyGreat Dinner
The food was excellent. The people were incredibly helpful with picking out our dinner dishes. Can't recommend it enough.
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