Natalee Thai Cuisine

I love the decor and the food and service are excellent. I often stop by for take-out on my way home from work. Wonderful place for a casual dinner or a lunch.

Pros: food, decor, price

Cons: parking

Posted 01/06/06

Located on Venice and some random cross street, the building is hard to miss with its aluminum space-ship outer decor. The main dining room is average size and is always packed. The hostess made a valient effort to sit us promply unlike other LA hostesses who BS their way through the night and say "there isn't anything available now" with 15 empty tables around. The food is above average and does not lack flavor whatsoever. I recommend the Thai iced tea, spring rolls, and the spicy beef dish (truly spicy, not for teenagers). Our server was nice and was able to substitute white meat chicken for dark meat at no x-tra charge.

Pros: Trendy crowd, Decor, Spiciness of food

Cons: Trendy crowd, A bit noisy

Posted 12/03/05

We consider ourselves to have a sophisticated taste for fine food. We enjoy eating out, eating authentic ethnic food. Natalee Thai has become one of our standby guaranteed satisfying dinner options.

The food is fresh, tasty, unique and satisfying. The prices are amazingly reasonable for Los Angeles. The decor is energetic and refreshing. The service is good.

This is not a fine dining restaurant, but if your expectations are kept in check, you cannot deny that this restaurant offers excellent value. The quality of the dishes cannot be matched at this price level.

Our favorites include the Pad-See-Ew and the Ginger Penag. You can ask for all white meat chicken. The dishes can be requested low oil preparation without sacrificing taste. We recommend the brown (natural) rice.

Thanks for the continued excellence, Natalee!

Pros: Value, Taste, Freshness

Cons: Crowded, Noisy

Posted 12/01/05

I tried this place years ago and was let down, but with all the great reviews on this site, I decided it was time to give them another try, so I ordered in for the fam. What I got was rediculously high priced small portions of food that was just okay. Not sure what people see in this place, but it's back on me "do not bother" list.

Cons: meager portions, expensive, mediocre food

Posted 11/27/05

I always wanted to come here seeing how the structure looked appealing. This place has pretty unique decor. everything is quite 3-dimensional with curvacious lines througout the walls. The food is really good for the price. It isnt the best thai ive had but for the not so bad LA price its good with me. it does get a bit loud inside, also make sure u getthere early as it takes a while to get a seat (took us about 20 min)

Pros: food, price

Cons: loud, line

Posted 10/24/05

I'm from the SF Bay Area, where Thai food is a must, and this is as close as I have gotten to the Thai Food from back home. The Curry Panang is a must, and the price is more than reasonable. Parking is not a problem, which is rare for a restaurunt in L.A.

Pros: Great Food, Ambience, Inexpensive

Cons: Crowded on Weekends

Posted 09/11/05

Been coming here for some time and it's always good. Great traditional Thai food, and the sushi is as good as any Japanese sushi bar I've ever been too. The servers are in a class by themselves. This place is known for its fantastic service, food, ambiance, and prices. You get real value for your money. Delicious satay, pad thai, chicken or seafood coconut milk soup, curry dishes, special fried rice, and like I said, fine sushi and rolls too, just to name a few. Easy parking, well managed with attn. to detail, and clean.

Pros: Stellar Thai food, Charming servers, Outstanding value

Cons: Can get really noisy

Posted 08/07/05

Me and my family always order food from Natalee's. We usually order takeout and eat in front of the TV, though we have eaten at the resturant a few times, and though it's a bit small and crowded the atmosphere's pretty nice. I'd recommend the Hot Stuff with Chicken or Beef, but dont eat the gren thing that look like leaves, your tongue will burn. Overall this is one of my favorite resturants in LA.

Pros: Great Food, Friendly service

Posted 05/11/05

We love Natalee Thai! The food is delicious. I particularly love the California curry (it's like yellow curry) with chicken and the Korean BBQ beef. My husband always gets the Monsoon noodles with chicken. Everything is very tasty and spicy. I like that brown rice is available, too.

The waitstaff is very friendly.

My only complaint is that the place is crowded and the parking can be difficult.

We have ordered delivery a few times and they come within 45 minutes usually.

Pros: brown rice option, delicious food, prompt service

Cons: crowded, hard to find parking

Posted 04/25/05

Worth a try if you are in the neighborhood, and worth a drive if you are not ;)

Posted 02/16/05

I'm from Arizona. I visited my friend and she recommend me to eat at Natalee because she loves chicken Sa-te, tsunami, and hot stuff. I love to eat Thai food and Natalee's food is very authentic Thai. Even I had to wait, it's worth.

Posted 11/14/04

Being a Culver city native Natalee Thai is definately my local favorite. I have been comming here for many years even when it was located across the street. I love everything from the California curry to the Korean BBQ beef. The service is always fast and friendly, which adds to the great atmosphere the new decor creates.

Pros: Atmosphere, Price, Food

Posted 11/11/04

I know that place since it was located on the other side of the street. Their food is just average Thaifood. To me, Natalee is just another take-out or delivery food place. Sushi is awful. The decor is totally out of style. If I am really in mood for Thai food, I would not choose there, but will drive afar to the Sunset x Hobert area.

Pros: Convenient, Average taste

Posted 09/18/04

The place is nicely decorated and clean The food is good and consistent. A nice place to go for lunch.

Pros: food

Posted 07/04/04

Came here with my ex-gf a year ago and we had a great dinner. The food was far from authentic but we were hungry so we didn't really care. The service was good and the ambiance in the restaurant is nice. We didn't get to try any of the drinks. If you're looking for a nicer Thai restaurant... give Saladang Song in Pasadena a try. Both Natalee & Saladang are on my top 5 thai restaurants list.

Pros: Ambiance, Service

Posted 01/19/04

I've been to Natalee Thai many times for lunch during the work week. If you time it just right (just before noon) there's no wait. It doesn't take long for the place to fill up though. I usually go with a group and we each pick a dish and share. The only dish I ever tried that I didn't care for was the duck and I don't think it had to do with the preparation of it. Everything else has always been great and it's a fun place for a relaxing meal.

Pros: Delicous Food, Good Variety

Cons: NOISY When Full, Service Can Be Slow

Posted 07/28/03

If you can go there during the week or order in if you live in the area because on weekends this place is packed! You've got to try the Chicken that comes flaming to your table, juicy and flavorful. "Natalee's Rice" is a spicey delight and the "Heavenly Medley" is well, Heavenly. For a starter please try the shrimp roll.

Pros: atmosphere, food, crowd

Cons: crowded, waiting

Posted 05/14/03

I've been to Natalee Thai twice now and am convinced it's the place to go for Thai on the Westside. Watch out for the Smart and Final parking lot though, you might get towed (or warned and have to get up in the middle of your meal to move your car).

Pros: Food, Price

Posted 02/23/03

Natalee thai is a wonderful resteraunt with great, delicious food.

Posted 01/11/03

Perhaps paying more attention to the food instead of the decor would garner this place more praise. It was surely chic inside, but I think that's to distract you from the food completely sucking. The panang barely had any taste, the phad thai was uninspired, and the chinese broccoli was overcooked. Very nice staff, but you can't eat them either.

Pros: Price, Atmosphere

Cons: The food

Posted 01/04/03

Natalee is best Thai restaurant in L.A.I like a pad thai. thai chicken. and my favorite is beef salad.other dishes are very good too.

Posted 12/23/02

Great food, friendly and helpful service. A definate repeat. Not as anticeptic as their website makes it out to be. Only been to the Beverly Hills location on Robertson/Olympic. Service was almost too fast, as they wanted to clear plates before I was finished eating. I would definately go back and order in pieces rather than all at once if I wanted to take my time.

Pros: Food, Speed of service, Variety

Cons: Almost too fast

Posted 11/08/02

Everytime we go by Natalee, there is a line out the door. Even for take out, you will have a long wait. However, the food is very very good. Many unusual and creative dishes, and the service is friendly, even though it takes awhile.

The only drawback is that its NOISY in there, so don't try to have an intimate conversation while you enjoy your pad thai noodles.

Emrald Thai, just up the block, is a just as good, less expensive option.

Pros: Great Dishes, Friendly Service

Cons: Crowded, Noisy

Posted 10/28/02

Just when you need it, each dish has it's own delightful burn. Try Kra Thong Tong for a good appetizer, Adaman soup for loads of seafood, and the Maha Jumlong curry for a veggie fix -- but then again, everything is great! It gets crowded early, but the turn-around on tables is pretty fast.

Pros: fresh produce, large portions

Cons: crowded, poor parking

Posted 10/09/02

Excellent Thai food in westside also service is like you are one of family.

Posted 10/06/02

The only ethnic restaurant we've been to that has a cool, if not overly hip, motif, Natalee Thai was a pleasant surprise. Good for couples, groups and even business lunches.

Go for the atmosphere as much as the food. Service was good, too.

Pros: Good value, Savory, Chic

Cons: Limited parking, Not cozy

Posted 07/27/02

I went on a busy Saturday night with friends, and found the experience quite pleasant. With a million Thai restaurants serving similar cuisine, this one stood out due to its tasteful decor and fairly hip atmosphere.

Pros: atmosphere, friendly staff, inexpensive

Posted 07/19/02

Love the groovy decor. The food is excellent and so cheap! Definitely worth a trip to a nondescript area on Venice Blvd.

Posted 07/11/02

The food at Natalee is consistently fresh and tasty. Also, you can order dishes any way you like (with or without ingredients) and they always happily oblige even the pickiest diners.

Posted 05/31/02

We eat a lot of Thai food and Natalee rates way up there. The chicken in all their dishes is really high-quality, moist, tender and lean. Only problem is, it seems like all the dishes we've had are lacking flavor. Yet, we keep going back because the ingredients are so fresh and tasty.

Pros: The chicken

Cons: Light on flavor

Posted 05/17/02