27 N. Garfield Ave., Alhambra 626-300-9083
Type: Thai
Quality: !!!! Price: $$-$$$ Ambience: **
The Chicken Tom Yum soup here is perfect for me: sour and flavorful. There's almost nothing better on a cool winter evening. Mint Leaf Chicken and Beef Panang are also good. I've tried many dishes here. Although none of the others particularly stand out, the food is generally very tasty. It's located across the street from the Regal movie theater, so it's perfect for grabbing a meal before a show. For the price of a soft drink and popcorn there, you could get a three course meal here! Although the place is clean, it's quite cramped. The tables and chairs are very close to each other, so if you're on a romantic dinner/movie date, it won't be cozy at all. Parking is a mess. There is valet parking behind the restaurant. You might be able to park in the limited number of free spaces behind the restaurant, but they are stacked, so might have a hard time leaving. It's better to park across the street at the movie theater structure (last time I checked, this was legal and encouraged by the restaurant).
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 202-456-1414
Actually, it's: 498 S. Rosemead Blvd., Pasadena 626-578-9684
Type: Thai
Quality: !!! Price: $$-$$$ Ambience: ****
This is another decent place. As with Thai purple, there are many tasty dishes here. I wasn't that impressed with their Pad Thai, unforunately. The owners recently remodeled the place, so I'm giving an additional star for their efforts. Supposedly, the owners of the restaurant also own Thai Paradise in San Gabriel It's located on the east side of Rosemead Blvd., so you'll need to make a U-turn if you are going southbound on Rosemead Blvd.
909 W. Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel 626-570-8887
Type: Thai
Quality: !!! Price: $$-$$$ Ambience: ***
Yet another decent Thai restaurant. This one has more of a Chinese influence in their dishes than some other Thai restaurants I've been to.
1525 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena 626-356-0404
Type: Thai
Quality: !!! Price: $-$$ Ambience: **
Pataya is located across the street from PCC (aka University of Colorado Blvd.), so its prices are noticeably cheaper than most of the other Thai restaurants. But the food is still pretty good. Disclaimer: the parents of a friend of a friend own this place. It doesn't affect my reviews, but I thought I'd let you know anyway. But if you ask them for a discount based on this, you're on your own.
9426 E. Las Tunas Dr., Temple City 626-286-7795
Type: Thai
Quality: !! Price: $-$$ Ambience: **
Contrary to popular belief, Adam and Even were not banished from this restaurant. But I have voluntarily banished myself from this restaurant. The food isn't bad, but there are much tastier dishes at other Thai restaurants. The food here has a significant Chinese influence. I prefer my Thai food to taste like Thai food instead of Chinese-Thai. If you like that style of cooking, then you'll like this place.
3684 Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead 626-572-7711
Type: Thai
Quality: !!! Price: $$-$$$ Ambience: ***
I like this place a lot, but I don't go here often because my kids don't like spicy foods. And this place serves some seriously spicy foods. Normally, you can order mild dishes at Thai restaurants, and they have no zing in them. However, when we ordered mild dishes here, they had quite a bit of kick to them. The food was great here. They advertise their "award-winning Pad Thai." I'm not sure what award it was, but the Pad Thai lived up to its hype. And they have a pretty good website, too. This is located near Target on the west side of Rosemead Blvd. just north of the San Bernardino freeway.
411 E. Huntington Dr., Ste. 103 Arcadia 626-447-8845
Type: Thai
Quality: !! Price: $$ Ambience: **
Located in Restaurant Row, Basil is a bit of an anomaly--it's not a chain restaurant unlike 95% of the other restaurants. The food is decent but not spectacular. It's nothing to write home about, but I'm obligated to write about it here.