White Elephant

You walk in to the restaurant and you are enveloped in the tranquility reminiscent of Nonthaburi, Thailand. As you enter, there are an abundance of plants and calming water features. We were greeted and seated promptly by the host. Décor is tasteful with many traditional artifacts with the elephant highlighted obviously, the room was very clean, and there is that nice ambiance of Thai without being too kitschy.
We ordered the Coconut Chicken Soup and Chicken Satay to start. Both of these dishes were spot on. The peanut sauce accompanying the Chicken Satay was a pleasant surprise. I also ordered the Thai Iced Tea, which was made perfectly and in a very large glass.
For the main course we ordered Mango Curry and Tamarind Chicken. The Mango Curry had copious amounts of chicken and shrimp. The mango and curry flavors blended beautifully and created a real mouth party. The Tamarind Chicken was sweet at first, then sour, and then had a smoky aftertaste. I am a big fan of the multi layers of flavor that truly made this dish stand out.
For dessert, my girlfriend and I shared the Molten Lava cake. It was surrounded by mango, raspberry, coconut, and chocolate sauces which were artfully designed to make this an artistic dish and the flavor did not disappoint. I would honestly go here JUST for the dessert, yes it was that good!
The service was attentive without being obtrusive. Despite others stating the price was a bit high, I adamantly disagree.
The taste here is unique and as I sit writing this review a day later, am salivating at the prospect of finishing off he Mango Curry for lunch.
This restaurant was spectacular. I cannot believe a place this good was just a few minutes from the black hole of dining which is NE Philly. I have been by this shopping center a countless number of times and never considered that anything this good would be there. I was wrong and highly recommend!

Fantastic Thai restaurant with a pleasant ambience! The lunch specials are a great deal ($ 9.95 for a soup, salad and entrée), and dinner is yummy, too.
I came here today for the lunch special and thoroughly enjoyed the red curry and lemongrass soup. The soup had a tang to it, and a good mix of onions, mushroom, chicken and other veggies. The red curry was fantastic; the sauce was full of flavor and there was lots of broccoli, chicken, bamboo and beans cooked perfectly and portioned well. I’ve had the pad Thai here previously, and it’s also great. The price is a great deal for the top-​notch food.
The entrance boasts plants and a small waterfall, giving the restaurant a serene and relaxed feel. The whole restaurant is elephant themed, playing off of the name: it’s fun and tastefully decorated! Elephants appear as statues in the entrance ways, the centerpiece of paintings on the walls, the table clothes and even the bathroom mirror. You can also hear soft, soothing traditional Thai music.
Overall, I’d highly recommend!

ooh, we were pleasantly surprised by everything here. the food, the service, the décor. we had the tom kha gai, pad thai, drunken noodles, chicken satay, and thai tea — all excellent. would definitely recommend if you’re craving thai and in the area!

So I have to say, this is one of the best Thai places around! My dad, fiancé and I came for dinner on Christmas Day. The place was packed! We had the money bags and orange shrimp appetizers to start. My fiancé ordered the Rolling Stones, it included stuffed shrimp with crabmeat with Thai noodles. He really enjoyed his meal. My dad got an combo of shrimp and chicken pad Thai. I got the chicken pad Thai. It was so good, I literally couldn’t stop eating it! For dessert my fiancé had the banana bread pudding, I got the hazelnut pyramid and my father got the dark chocolate mouse cake.
The waiter was extremely nice and everything came out promptly. It’s always a great experience here

Amazing lunch special. Great décor, friendly staff, great food. Very pleasantly suprised about the kid menu. The spice levels for the food were awesome and loved the menu.

I ate dinner here and it was a nicely cooked animal of some sort. The owner John is a great guy. He’s so friendly and knows how to run a resteraunt.
I would give this full stars but I must not ever five a review all five stars. It’s against my moral code.

They will never let you down, all their dishes are traditionally cooked and meticulously served! Very neat ambience and polite staff makes your appetite crave for Thai even MORE!

I know I’m guilty of having lower expectations for dining out in the burbs … but that just makes a good restaurant there stand out more. And that’s exactly the case with White Elephant — a fine Thai restaurant in the Huntingdon Valley. Though this eatery is in a shopping mall, when you walk inside the restaurant you are in a very attractive environment with lots of plants and Thai artifacts and paintings. The host warmly greets you and your server follows suit. The food is very enjoyable here. Lemon grass and Chicken coconut soups were very much in line with those of other good Thai restaurants. An okay although not memorable Thai chicken salad followed the soup course. And then I ordered the Massaman curry which was spicily enhanced by a side offering of chili sauce. This is def a suburban restaurant I could return to!

White Elephant is my favorite restaurant. There are so many amazing aspects of this restaurant, it is difficult to know where to begin. First of all, the food is phenomenal. As a vegan, it is very helpful that there is an entire vegetarian appetizer and entrée menu. I always get the Som-​Tum salad, which is a shredded cabbage salad with a sweet dressing and topped with crushed peanuts. It’s delicious and I often leave my plate completely empty, even finishing the leftover dressing. For my entrée, I get the Jay Curry– Massaman curry, with no tofu, extra veggies, and brown rice. The massaman curry is a peanut sauce curry with broccoli, potatoes, cabbage, onions, string beans, other veggies, and peanuts. It is so full of flavor and incredibly satisfying.
Other dishes that are recommended by friends and family members: Chicken Satay, Corn Cakes, Mango Curry, Siam Noodle, and Himmaparn.
Secondly, the staff is very kind, attentive, and willing to customize your order depending on spice level, if you dislike a certain ingredient, etc. You feel very comfortable as everyone is so friendly.
Third, the restaurant itself is very clean, with soft lighting, and lovely elephant décor. It is very warm and cozy, with ample seating.
I cannot recommend this place enough. I eat here at least once a week and often get takeout, as well (which I also recommend). Seriously, by far the best restaurant in the area.

Good food, but they advertised a $ 9.95 special for appetizer, soup and entrée if you checked in via Unilocal.I did this and was told it was a mistake and that the Unilocal offer needed to be revised to say in-​dinning only. They wouldn’t honor it and that’s False Advertisisng. That’s the deal they always have, so why check-​in if you get nothing in return, m except being MISLEAD.

The White Elephant lives up to its name in decoration and atmosphere. It was our first time there and it was not disappointing. Compared to a few Thai restaurants in the area, the seating was more spacious and the food comes in a pricey but large quantity.
On a silly-​side note, for the chopstick users out there… They aren’t the higher quality chopsticks, but the flimsy ones that you get with the pre-​made sushi from grocery stores.
If you aren’t tired of reading this review already, the food quantity can be a bad and good thing. Regarding the Pad Thai, my girlfriend said that without the Lemon Grass Soup (which was sweeter than most we’ve had and not spicy), she would have been tired of the strong peanut flavored Pad Thai. (She had many bites of my dish to help out as well). Since she had the lunch special, we also enjoyed the crispy roll (the sauce was great — tangy).
As for myself, I enjoyed the rich taste of the Drunken Noodles, which wasn’t spicy at all (though it slightly disappointed me, it didn’t upset my stomach). In both dishes the vegetables were well cooked and we enjoyed the ratio of vegetables and meat to noodles.
The atmosphere gets an B+ even if some don’t like elephants. The food gets an A. And the service gets an A+. Hope you enjoy your meal there like we did.

I went here for lunch one day with a co-​worker. We both got the $ 9.95 3 course lunch special. I got the pad Thai and he got the curry chicken. He had all good things to say about his entrees, but I felt the pad Thai was a little flat. Although the menu did not indicate that it was spicy, I’ve never had pad Thai that didn’t have some heat factor– even if it is a mild heat. Also, just from a flavor point of view, it just was missing something.
Overall though, it was OK. Not the best and not the worst experience I have ever had with Thai food and would go back. Especially for the lunch deal.

Came here for lunch with a couple of classmates, one whom had never had Thai food before and my, was it a bad first experience for her. 3 of them ordered pad Thai that was bland and soggy. My green curry had more of a milky coconut flavor and lacked spice. However, hats off to their lemongrass soup which was delicious! I would come back for the soup :)

I found this place on Unilocal and read the great reviews, so thought I would give it a try. I was not disappointed and neither was my Mom or cousin!!! We went for lunch and were very pleased with every course of the 3-​course lunch special (only $ 10!). Our waiter was absolutely amazing (and patient) in helping us decide what to order and explained all the different sauces and curries. We also never had to ask for a refill on water or anything. Excellent service!!!
I had the Lemongrass soup which was delicious and I would go back just to have that again! My Mom and cousin were eating only vegetarian options (for Lent) so they had a soup with a mushroom broth instead of a chicken broth and both said it was very flavorful and delicious. I got a spring roll as my appetizer that came with a good sweet and sour dipping sauce but the roll was nothing spectacular. My Mom and cousin got the house salad with a peanut dressing that they loved.
For our entrees, I ordered the Chicken Panang and my cousin ordered the Veggie Panang. It was a level 2 spice so it was moderately spicy but I probably could’ve even gone up one more. It was very flavorful and good despite the chicken being a little dry. I would still order it again. My mom can’t handle spice, so she got the Thai veggie dish which was a level 1 brown sauce. I tried it and it was very good. It’s a nice alternative if you don’t want curry. I heard some other close diners who got sweet & sour sauce and sesame sauce and they both raved about their dishes as well. It sounds like you can’t go wrong with whatever sauce you get, it’s all made fresh by the restaurant and really good so it’s just a matter of what you’re in the mood for.
I will definitely be back with my husband since there were quite a few items on the menu I’d like to try, plus I’d get what I had today all over again! My Mom also told our waiter that she’s bringing my Dad back!!!

We are big fans of NE Philly’s House of Thai on Cottman Ave, so I was a tad hesitant to try this place. But we were looking for something new so we figured, «What the hey.»
Ambiance: the décor is a tad dark and overdone, but elegant nonetheless. Elephants are the starting attraction here. Obviously. But there is a lot of nice stuff to look at and adds to the enjoyment of being there.
Service: servers and food runners were pleasant and efficient; not cloistering or anything. Just fine.
Food: we ordered the corn cakes which were excellent. I got the tamarind chicken special and she got the massaman Jay Curry. The sauces had just the right mix of sweet and savory. We finished it off with a molten chocolate cake and some jasmine tea. Everything was really well prepared, fresh tasting and GOOD.
Price: it’s a just tad on the high side, but it certainly tastes worth it.
Overall: a truly solid restaurant. If you’re into Thai, it’s a great place that puts their own spin on things. I’d definitely recommend.

Eh.
To start off, the service was below average. We arrived and no one was around to seat us. After being seated, it took a while for our order to be taken.
I got the Evil Jungle Princess, which is a medley of vegetables, a side of rice and chicken mixed in. It wasn’t as flavorful as I was hoping. The sauce was a little bland. Everyone else in my party got the pad Thai, which they all really liked, except one was served without any sauce.
The décor is awesome if you like elephants.
Overall, I probably wouldn’t come back, however, if I did, I would definitely get something else. Two **.

As the tweenies say… O M G!
This place is amazing and their prices are surprisingly reasonable. They have been at this location for over a decade, so you know they have a large amount of return customers. Had dinner there with a larger group (7) and almost everyone enjoyed their meals immensely — like 4 out of 5 dentist surveyed — you can’t please everyone! Anyway, speaking for myself, I recommend the Lemongrass Soup as a starter. We had an appetizer sampler, which included everything and boy, where they good.
My main entrée was Crab (100% crab, no stuffing) over a large portabello mushroom with jasmine rice and julienne veggies on the side. The wasabi sauce was wonderful, and served on the side so you can control your spice level.

Came here for a late dinner with the family. Struck out with the kids and wife (who wasn’t feeling 100%) but I really liked my meal and would come back.
First of all, the service here was impeccable. Friendly, accommodating, and quick. I haven’t had as good of service as at The White Elephant in a very long time.
If you have kids who are not adventurous eaters, do not come here. My son was able to get an «off-​the-​menu» chicken fingers and fries with ketchup, but who wants to come to a Thai place for that?
We started with the appetizer sampler platter and I also asked for the Moneybags which are crisp fried dollops of crabmeat in a pastry. These were the hit of the night and they came with vegetables of carrots and others with some sweet/​sour dipping sauce like honey. The appetizer sampler also had some delicious choices also with a «salad» and it seemed only I really liked them all. There were some fried items, and some steamed items each with a different filling and tastes.
My wife ordered a mushroom soup which she did not like and it was taken off the bill. My «Rolling Stones» entrée of crab-​stuffed shrimp with some pasta and the same salad of carrots and vegetables was very good. It rated a 2-​pepper of 3 for spicy heat but I did not think it was even close to that and needed a lot more. Wife had a Caesar Salad which was a little different… almost a full head of romaine lettuce left whole and grilled with dressing and croutons. Unfortunately she said it tasted like charcoal but again to the restaurant’s credit, it too was taken off the bill. Daughter’s chicken pad tai was very tasty and nothing wrong with it, but she, too, is not adventurous enough to like it. We took most of that home with us.
The restaurant is BYOB and there was a boisterous party nearby who took full advantage of that. And, there is no corkage fee!
Overall, I really liked the place, and my wife liked the décor a lot. Many mentioned about this being a good date place and I’d agree.
$ 89 for 4 not including tip.

As far as Thai cuisine goes, many places have sold into an American version to capture larger customer bases. The White Elephant keeps true to authentic Thai cuisine with many of the spicy basil flavors that you would encounter in Thailand.
I’ve never been disappointed by The White Elephant, which is why I keep coming back for more and trying different dishes.

This restaurant was spectacular. I cannot believe a place this good was just a few minutes from where I live. I have been by this shopping center a countless number of times and never considered that anything this good would be there.
For appetizers, a friend and I shared the tulip dumplings and crab wontons (a dish on their specials that night) The crab wontons were delicious and the dipping sauce that came on the side was a fine compliment.
For dinner, my friend had the pad Thai which was really good and I ordered the rolling stones (butterflied stuffed shrimp in panang curry sauce). This was by far the BEST STUFFED SHRIMP I’ve ever tasted. The restaurant takes pride in the food they make and the dishes are an work of art.
Now on to the best part of the night-​DESSERT. I would venture here for the dessert alone and I usually never order dessert but I took the advice of fellow Unilocalers and I wasn’t disappointed. We ordered the molten chocolate cake and the mango coconut mouse. Amazing is the only word to describe the taste. It was truly THAT good.
The service was on point and its BYOB which is another plus in my book. I plan on going back within the next few days-​yes, I am serious. I am beyond excited about this place.