If you’re the type of person who always orders pad thai at restaurants, well, you can’t sit with us. While the traditional Thai dish is definitely on point at Natalee Thai of Beverly Hills, there are so many more amazing and authentic creations that are just as palatable, and much more adventurous!
Me striking a pose against the cool architecture of the restaurant.
My colleague Hunter and I took a trip to Natalee Thai, a restaurant with 2 locations which has become an LA favorite in terms of tasty Thai dining. While many locals frequent both the Venice and Beverly Hills restaurants, if you haven’t heard about Natalee Thai yet, now’s your chance to stop by! Both offer slightly different menus, so it’s worth it to go to both 🙂
As you may know if you’ve been hanging out in the LA area lately, it’s been HOT! The perfect thing to cool down? A fresh young coconut! Served to our table with a cute tropical umbrella, the refreshing elixir from the coconut cools you down as well as provides nutrients, electrolytes, minerals and bioactive compounds that are great for your body’s digestion. Perhaps we should have had one AFTER we tried all of the food!
Steamed Mussels
We started our delicious multi-course meal with the Steamed Mussels. Served steaming hot and topped with Natalee Thai’s homemade lemongrass broth, lime leaves, tomato and basil, they were delicious!
The best part was the homemade “seafood sauce” that is traditionally served along with Thai seafood dishes to add an extra kick. It’s comprised of lime juice, thai chilies, garlic and cilantro. Each Thai restaurant has their own special way of making it, but in my book with these great ingredients, you can’t go wrong.
Seafood Sauce
Next up was the hot, soothing soup. If you’ve ever been to a Thai restaurant and have not had soup, you’re missing out!
Tom Yum Soup with Shrimp
It was hard to decide between the Tom Yum (Chicken and Mushrooms in a lemongrass hot & sour broth and cliantro) and the Tom Ka (Chicken and Mushrooms in a coconut milk lemongrass broth with a thin slice of galanga ginger and cilantro), so we got both. Hunter opted for Shrimp and I chose the Veggie version, which was divine.
Tom Ka Soup with Vegetables
The best thing on the menu was by far the Soft Shell Crab. Two words : Order It! Lightly battered and fried, two soft shell crabs served topped with spicy yellow curry sauce will rock your tastebud world! This dish should definitely be considered as the house specialty. In addition, we were informed that the seafood served at Natalee Thai is sourced directly from the local market, fresh, every morning. You could definitely taste it.
Soft Shell Crab with Curry Sauce – YUM!!!
The Black Mushroom Ginger also sounded good, so we ordered that with a side of brown rice. The dish comes with your choice of chicken, beef, or pork wok fried with sliced black mushrooms, white and green onions, fresh ginger, in traditional Thai brown sauce, done Natalee style. This was a tasty traditional choice, and you’ll never go wrong ordering it.
Black Mushroom Ginger
Per our lovely waitress’ recommendation, we opted for the Steamed Sea Bass Sole Filet. From the minute it came out of the kitchen it was tender and not over-done. If you’re not in a sea bass mode, you can also order the sole, and both dishes come with green onions, ginger and black mushrooms, are garnished with cilantro and served with steamed baby bok choi. It’s definitely a healthy option! And not to mention, goes along great with the seafood sauce 🙂
Steamed Sea Bass
There are so many more delicious dishes to try at Natalee Thai, but after this fabulous lunch, we were stuffed. Oh wait, don’t forget dessert! Mango Sticky Rice is a very traditional Thai dessert, and Natalee Thai does it very well. The mango slices were so fresh and juicy, and the sticky rice was cooked to perfection.
Mango Sticky Rice
If these photos aren’t enough to get excited to go try Natalee Thai, you’d better stick to your boring pad thai elsewhere! But alas, Natalee Thai does a great pad thai too.
We hope to see you there soon! And don’t forget to mention that TGIFguide sent you 🙂 Bon appetit!
**All photos on this post are sole property of TGIFguide.com
Written by Jacqueline Chambers
Jacqueline Chambers is the founder of TGIFguide. She uses her innate skills as a natural “connector” to serve businesses, brands and individuals in the LA area and beyond.
