Nara Thai Kitchen in Irvine

My first time trying out this Thai restaurant. I love that they also have outdoor seating to bring my dog out with me. We ordered Thai iced tea and crab fried rice along with the sea bass, which was absolutely unbelievably delicious, and topped it off with the mango sticky rice for dessert I love all the dishes that we ordered tonight. It was fresh and authentic. I am definitely going to be coming back regularly. Highly recommend the restaurant if youre craving Thai food. Lita our server was absolutely delightful and amazing. Thanks for the great service, and keep up the good work.

If you have other option, go for it. Now! Highly NOT recommended for the following reasons: 1 Food: everything is too salty or sweet. It doesn’t because it is Thai food. It’s either that they have no confidence on their food quality or that the chef didn’t know what he/she was doing; 2 Price: they put very small note on their menu that they charge mandatory 3% inflation charge regardless of party size. Really? I can’t think of a nice reason that anyone would do this. Do you want to make your customers think their food is not that expensive until they see a SURPRISE 3% adding on their bill? Why don’t you just add it into your price directly? Do you think you would remove this charge one day? 3 Service: Server never comes to the table to check on you regularly. You would have to wave your hands really hard to get them. We asked to please bring the desert together with other dishes and confirmed twice and still got it at the very very end. They don’t serve. They don’t remember your conversation and they suggest you to give them a minimum 18% tip on top of that 3% inflation charge. No way!

Amazing experience. The restaurant was very lovely and stylish. Perfect lighting and atmosphere. Staff was attentive and nice. We ordered the Chicken Satay and Fruit Salad to start. They both were very tasty. The Satay was moist and flavorable. The Fruit Salad had a spicy dressing on it that paired wonderfully with the sweetness of the fruit. The 2 main dishes were Yellow Curry and Filet Mignon Pad Se Ew. Both excellent and presented beautifully. This was honestly a hidden gem. Also priced very reasonably. Will be coming back here over and over again. A great date night idea for sure.

The taste of this place wasnt bad; it reminded me of the food I ate in Bangkok, so far so good.The service was slow, and most of the food, including dessert, had already been sold out when I came. We were only there for 1.5 hours just for the soup and rice with egg, but I will return to try the food for dinner.Ill still give them 4* as an encouragement and because this is kinda like their soft opening and everything need to take time to improve.P/s: the price is quite pricey when compared to the portion.

This amazing filet mignon penang curry is fire . The curry taste is perfectly balanced, not too sweet like most currys ive had in socal. 100% a must try! Also recommend this coconut roti, so crispy and yummy!

Elevated prices. Portions could be larger. Location is great but you feel the price of rent when you order. $20 for noodles is outrageous. I was sick, so pretty desperate for something good to eat and placed my delivery order.Unfortunately, the noodles were rather sweet and not what I’m used to getting from any other Thai restaurant. Also, there’s no option to add condiments (pickled jalapeños, hot sauce, Chiles etc).The Tom yum was delicious. Broth very flavorful and a nice spice to it. Overall this could be a good spot but the pricing and serving size needs to be adjusted accordingly.

- Beautiful, fancy and modern decor, nice dinnerware that intend to provide fine dining experience.- Nice and tasty Thai fusion food but in small portion and at elevated price.- Really not sure about the owners pricing strategy and market positioning. It really tries to differentiate itself from other restaurants in the area through the interior decoration, pricing and serving portion, but is it right for its location.This restaurant is beautifully decorated and gives a different feel than most nearby restaurants. It presents itself as an option for fine dining experience for more formal/special occasions or business oriented customers. All these are also fully reflected in its serving portion and pricing. The portions are smaller and each dish is $5 - $10 more than normal Thai restaurants nearby. But again, I feel this restaurants owner is not targeting those who just want to have a quick bite and big portions. The question is: is this in the right location? Its in a residential neighborhood after all. Also, is it really worth paying that much more?The food is good, to be fair. However, I cant help but feel being ripped off. A vegetarian stir fried dish, with no tofu just vegetables, steamed rice, and a bit of salad with no dressing costs $20 at lunch time. Its lunch menu is not lunch special but what they only serve during lunch. An entree starts from $20 for vegetarian option and goes up as you add meat to it. I asked to look at the dinner menu and found dinner is actually cheaper than lunch. I just dont get it. And do I really feel the food is that much more superior than what other Thai restaurants can offer that Im happy to pay so much more for? Definitely not!I guess if this restaurant were at a tourist spot, a business or shopping/retail area, a busy nightlife downtown district, where there are people from all over places for a special time, then the concept of this restaurant makes sense. But in a neighborly residential area? Im not sure. After giving it a try, its not a place I will visit again. It hurts my pocket even though I can well afford it and I would still feel hungry afterwards. And because of its location, it most likely wont be the place I invite my friends to go to for birthday or special occasions. There are plenty more options in the Spectrum, and the downtown of nearby beach cities where I have other places to go to after a meal.I wish the owner best of luck in the success of this restaurant.

Amazing taste - very authentic Thai food.. glad to have it right in the neighborhood. Ordered fresh rolls - those were my favorite amount everything else that was outstanding.Price was bit high but everything is expensive these days and especially rent in Irvine is not cheap. Only feedback I have for the owners is to review portion size, there is potential for improvement there.I wish them the best and I am sure they will do great in long run. Pleased with customer service as well, Lita was great host.

Wonderful food. Very authentic. Great service. Friendly staff. Highly recommended.

I was excited that a new Thai restaurant opened in OH plaza, but I am not sure if Ill come back again unless they make some changes. It seems most of the reviews so far are for dinner, but I came here for brunch on a Sunday. The idea of Thai breakfast/brunch definitely intrigued me as I have not seen that before, even when I went to Bangkok years ago.First, I do want to say the taste of the food is pretty good and didnt disappoint. However, I can only give it 2.5-3 stars for the reasons below.I ordered the Thai omelette because I was curious what that would look like. To my surprise (an indifferent kind of way) it was just a fusion of Japanese omurice, except they used either shrimp or bacon as topping, and they used Thai curry served on the side and Thai jasmine white rice (not fried). The curry tasted pretty good with a slight kick, and the egg was perfectly runny, so no doubt it tasted good. My disappointments were mainly the portion and lack of ingredients. For $16, you get a very small bowl of rice underneath some runny eggs (maybe only 2 eggs in total), topped with a few small chopped pieces of bacon and one grape tomato slices in half for garnish. The curry is served in a small tall shot glass that you can pour yourself on the egg. I understand that $16 is pretty standard now for brunch, but for the amount of food you get, there are much more and better options all around (like Jinbei next door). Im not a super big eater, but I wasnt even 1/3 full even with half of the pork skewers (also $16 for 4 sticks and a very small portion of sticky rice). Despite the taste, I was actually expecting more for a Thai brunch. It sounded unique, but what I see is more of just a variation of Japanese omurice, but with less ingredients and lack of originality.My friend ordered the Hainanese chicken rice, and again, for $16 portions were small. The taste was good, but not great. I would say its not any better than say Capital Noodle Bar, which to be honest isnt exactly the gold standard either. So it is a little disappointing.The atmosphere is nice. The remodeling done after La Sirena closed down is a nice refresh, and the gold colored rustic utensils are a nice touch and can be appreciated.I can only speak for brunch, so maybe dinner is better. However, I cant recommend this place for brunch unless you are not hungry and just want a small bite.One last note, my friend ordered the Thai ice tea for $6 and it was overly sweet and filled with ice to the top on a glass that looked smaller than 12 oz.