Silk Elephant

Awesome selection and authentic Thai with some cool fusion ones too. Not your typical Asian restaurant as their wine, beer, and cocktail menus are gantastic! I sat at the bar, had tapas and glasses of wine and we truly enjoyed ourselves! Friendly service and very reasonably priced to boot :)

Outstanding ding Thai!
The pad Thai is spicy and you want it to be with shrimp or chicken or veggies!
Lunch comes with a small cup of soup and an egg roll all of it was delicious!
I had the chicken and my wife had the shrimp it was just a hot enough at «5» to be spicy but not overly hot
The spice ranges from 1 – 10, I would like to meet the «10» folks! It would be off the chart hot
We also had the Thai iced tea which was like an iced latte with an incredible tea flavor it was sweet and refreshing and had a wonderful flavor
Lunch is a great deal in and out and the food is priced right!
There are at least 4 other Thai placed in that block of Murray and Forbes but I really enjoy the elephant!

Came here for their lunch special today and was pleasantly impressed. For $ 8.50, you get a WIDE selection of dishes (from fried rice to noodles, curry or salads), an appetizer (spring rolls) and a bowl of soup. I got the pad see-​u and while it was a little too oily, it didn’t taste bad. I particularly enjoyed the spring rolls too. I’ll definitely come back again for their lunch special and try something different from their extensive menu.
PS: for the spicy dishes, you get to choose your spicy-​ness from a range of 1 – 10.

I have never left a food establishment without actually getting my food, unfortunately, that was not the case tonight.
#1. Food is below average
#2. Service is horrendous
#3. After 2 hours of waiting, we still were not served a simple fried rice dish.
First, we went to the bar to try to order a drink. There was another couple that was there before us that also had been waiting to order drinks. We asked one lady and she quickly said she couldn’t and walked away. Then another girl who also couldn’t. Finally the correct lady showed up and we told her we would go 2^nd as there was the people before us waiting a long time. She pours them a beer and then disappears again without taking our orders or letting us know that she was coming back. Finally she comes back after sometime and we were able to order our drinks and an appetizer. Then we get seated in the back corner (which was fine except I am pretty sure it was the table to forget that night). We had to ask 4 different servers for forks all about 5 minutes apart from each other as we had order appetizers from the bar and then got seated and then the apps came. We had no way of eating he food. About 20 minutes passed and we had asked 3 servers who our server was because we still had not been able to put our food order in. Finally our very nice server came over and we were able to order fried rice. Pretty simple orders that should be relatively quick. A table of 7 sat down long after we did only to get their food and almost finish it by the time we were starting to ask where our food was. After we waited a while longer (at this point over an hour from time we ordered) I requested to speak to the manager. The server asked the manager right away who avoided our table for over ten minutes. I even looked at him and raised my hand to call him over, and still he wouldn’t come over. I had to actually excuse myself from the table and walk directly up to him. He did apologize and said they would start making our food soon. I was utterly shocked that they had not even started to make our fried rice orders after such a long wait and not being extremely busy. I was shocked that tables with large parties who sat almost 30+ minutes after Our group had almost finished their dinners and we were still waiting at 9:45pm. On principle, we had to leave. We couldn’t wait any longer for our food. We paid for our drinks and left. The only redeeming quality of the entire restaurant was our very sweet waiter. He was a gem and the only server in there that was sweet and helpful.

Stopped in the Silk Elephant on a whim yesterday for lunch and was not disappointed! The lunch menu is way to go for sure; the soup, salad, and spring roll are all tasty! Both of our meals were delicious and we had really good service. We will absolutely be back again!

Have always enjoyed the food here and brought an out of town guest for a special dinner. Was very disappointed. The waitress spoke such poor English that we couldn’t communicate to ask about how dishes were prepared. There was an unfamiliar fish on the special menu she was unable to describe at all, so I didn’t get it. The lamb tapas I had loved on a previous visit was cut way too thin, was well done and very spicy sauce, like an 8, when I had ordered medium and 0 spicy. Sent it back. She brought it back less spicy but didn’t get the part about the doneness and the same well done meat was still on the plate.
Crab cakes were very good. Seafood salad was undressed, totally bland seafood on iceberg lettuce. Pork chops were overlooked. It took forever to get the check. We saw our waitress way on the other side of the restaurant and had to ask another waitress for the check. She said manager was not in, was at the sister restaurant.

I tried the curry fried chicken and I was not disappointed. The portion was huge and the flavor was out of this world. We went to celebrate my brother’s birthday, and they were most accommodating for our large party. They also brought these delicious coconut rice bites that were phenomenal. I would recommend this place to anyone.

Paul was a great waiter. Food was delicious. Would definitely recommend 6 stars if possible. Highly recommend fresh rolls, lamb chops + mysterious awesome sauce.

Awww I love Silk Elephant and always feel bad if a place I like gets non 5 star reviews :) cuz Unilocal is all about what I like and dislike lol
I always get Red Curry Chicken when I get Thai and husb gets Pad See Ew Beef and we share. My opinion is that SE is the best thai in Pittsburgh. Where other Thai restaurants do an okay, but no depth of flavors curry, Silk’s curry seems like it holds 15 different flavors. That sounds stupid but I don’t know how else to explain it.

Been to silk elephant and it’s sister chain Bangkok balcony plenty of times, and the food here is good! I think the lunch menu is fantastic, gives you a wide range of dishes for 8.50 — 9.50 $. Here is what is included in the lunch menu:
–Soup (usually they have a delicious tofu vegetable soup)
–Side salad
–Excellent vegetarian spring roll
–Entrée (which is a smaller portion of most of the items off their regular menu)
I especially like their chicken with basil, and pad see eew. Their curry fried rice is another favorite. And yeah, the (red, green, pangang) curries are always good here. The ambiance is very nice, and the service is great! It was my favorite Thai restaurant in the area, until I Sukhothai opened up nearby, which I have grown more fond off.

I went here for my 1-​yr wedding anniversary this past weekend and really liked it. My husband got the duck curry and I got the pad thai with beef. Our waiter was really soft-​spoken and nice. We gave him a big tip because he was great. Our portions were a good size, the taste was great and the ambiance is very upscale. The prices were regular (between $ 13 — $ 18 for an entrée).
The seating is very tight and I felt like they were really making people squeeze into their narrow booths and chairs. The customers on either side of me kept brushing up against me and dropping my coat. I would come back but only in warmer weather on a week night to avoid the density of people.

Nice tapa menu with well prepared Thai food. Great selection of noodle dishes and curries. The prices are fairly reasonable for what you are getting. It won’t break the bank but you won’t be getting much change from a $ 20 either.
My complaint isn’t really a complaint. The service here is almost too good. Like take a sip of your water and it is refilled within a minute good. Look like your meal is done and someone is there to grab the plate. It’s just a bit much and if you’re trying to have a conversation I find it distracting. I’m just not used to that type of service either so it could «just be me».
Located on busy Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill Silk Elephant is a good choice amongst the many options for Thai cuisine in the area. It’s a small place but does have a nice little bar area, seating that faces Murray Avenue (for people watching) and a dining area if you want a more date-​like atmosphere.

The food was good but the service was below average. The whole party was not served any utensils until we asked for ones and even when we did the waiter who brought them kept putting them in a bizarre manner. Also, the waitress who waited on us annoyingly asked us if she could move the plates when we were still working on them.
What was most surprising was that the restaurant charged gratuity of 20% in the check without asking us and we had to head back to get a refund and change the amount for tip after learning that the tip was charged without asking us about it.
When I got home with a couple of small boxes in a brownbag from the restaurant, I found out that all my pants and shoes were spoiled due to the leakage of sauces from the packed food. They probably did not even know how to pack the leftovers after all the wrong servings and charges…

I went to the silk elephant today for lunch. I enjoyed the soup and salad which came with my entrée. The spring roll was quite tasty. My entrée was the chicken fried rice. I selected a 6 on the spicy option. My food was delicious and the service was great too.

Ambiance was pleasant, staff seemed well-​trained and attentive, but the food wasn’t that great for the prices they charge.
We ordered one «tapas» dish, vegetable dumplings, and 2 dinners – Mussaman Curry Chicken & one of the specials (listed on the white board outside the entrance) of Pumpkin Curry Chicken, and we probably just should’ve stuck with tapas. The dumplings were 3 for $ 3.99, and the dinners were priced at $ 14.99 and $ 16.99, respectively, which, for the portions, were ridiculous prices.
We got complimentary sticky rice rolls which were good, but that was about it.
I say go if you want something that’s just a «middle of the road» dining experience. There’s nothing BAD about Silk Elephant, but there’s nothing exceptionally marvelous about Silk Elephant either.

I’ve been here many, many times and never had a bad experience. The staff is extremely attentive and the prices are very reasonable considering the more upscale ambiance of the place. The live dance is also a great addition to a dinner, but I’ve only been there to see it once.
The lunch specials are a great deal and priced really well. I’ve heard it before and I’ll repeat it here — get the corn fritters. Seriously, you can’t come here and not order them with your meal. My other favourite staple here is the coconut water served in a wine glass with generous hearty chunks of coconut at the bottom that you scoop out at the end… Yum!

We got moo goo pork and shrimp dumplings and duck curry. The dumplings are ok I guess, but definitely not the best ones I had. The duck curry is really good. They have pineapples in the curry. The only downside is that it’s a little too spicy and greasy for me. Also I ordered level 10 spicy and it turned out to be not spicy at all.

Silk Elephant has good food. We enjoyed our meals, and the atmosphere is nice: somewhat upscale with a Thai influence but still comfortable. The service was very attentive.
However, for Thai in the East End, you can get better food at better prices.

I LOVE Silk Elephant! The food is delicious, and the service is outstanding! I am an event planner with
. I’m the main organizer for a group called Pittsburgh Dining N’ At, and an assistant organizer for ten other Meetup groups. When I plan a dinner, I often cross-​post the event on multiple Meetup groups, resulting in quite a few RSVPS. I have now been to Silk Elephant with a large group of people TWICE in 2013 on major holidays, and both times they did an outstanding job of accommodating our needs.
My group went there for dinner on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day 2013. Both times, the food was fantastic and the service was excellent. I asked for separate checks, which is not easy in a group of 18 people for Easter, and 12 people for Christmas dinner. The event planner and the wait staff went out of their way to help make these two dinners a huge success. Everyone had a great time and raved about their food. I look forward to going back again soon, since everything on the menu looks so good. I took a lot of pics of the food, so you can see for yourself the delicious food we enjoyed. I highly recommend Silk Elephant.

Blah! It’s been a long time since I had a meal I disliked so vehemently. Thank you for reminding me what an awful dining experience is really like, Silk Elephant.
When I walked in I had such high hopes and even debated trying a few of the specials that were listed on the board by the front. One visit from our waitress later and I knew asking about the specials would get me nowhere — saying more than a few syllables confused her and someone from the bar actually came out to my table to confirm what my wine order was (Merlot) for her. So, determined to get food rather than waste time explaining the menu to the person who should have been able to tell me about the menu, I ordered a few basic items, sat back… and proceeded to sip on a really, really weak and bland glass of Merlot. Ick.
Waiting for the food I noticed just how loud everything was in here. They turned down the lights and lit candles to try to add some calming atmosphere to the place, but I have no idea why they bothered; every time a waitress even put silverware down you could hear it across the restaurant. This place is just noisy, because of the acoustics and because the items in it make incredible amounts of noise when clicked together.
And my food? Ugh! My horrible dumplings tasted like something you’d get from a box in the frozen food section of a cheap grocery store, and the soup was tasteless — LuLu’s noodles has more flavor than my soup did. I want to note (and I hope the staff reads this), I may have asked that my food not be spicy, but guess what? Not spicy does not mean no flavor!
Horrible, horrible experience all around. I will not be back, not for drinks and certainly not for food.