Kalaya

jui guay: steamed rice cups with shiitake mushrooms. Our least favorite because there was no mushroom flavor. The spicy soy sauce is quite spicy. Think we should have ordered the more traditional dumplings instead of this dish. gui chai: crispy garlic chive rice cakes. Delicious! Came out piping hot. Very crispy outside. The flavor inside reminds me of the chive dumplings you can get at dim sum. The spicy soy sauce is SPICY, same soy sauce as the jui guay dish. sua rong hai: grilled skirt steak. Very tasty dish. This was the least spicy dish out of everything we ordered. The nam jim jaew dipping sauce tasted like fish sauce, lime, and fresh cilantro and scallions. I enjoyed making a lettuce wrap with the steak and sauce. The steak was cooked perfectly medium/ medium rare. gaeng pu chakram: crab curry with sea beans. This was extremely too spicy for us! Our waiter told us this was 6/10 on the spiciness level and there are three other curry dishes that are much spicier. We could not finish because the heat was too much for us. This dish has a good amount of crab meat- super flavorful curry. A lot of depth to the curry. This entree also came with an egg that was soaked in fish sauce and lime juice. It also came with a stuffed pepper in curry sauce which was a much milder curry that I could handle. I ate most of my rice with the curry from the stuffed pepper dish. I got the lychee negroni cocktail but with alcohol ... didn't like this much because I thought there will be a lychee flavor due to the name. There is actually no lychee flavor in it, I only tasted honey and orange. Overall the food and experience were wonderful. I would go back to try other things on the menu- definitely will go back to try their lunch menu.

Most of meal was great - highlights:Shaw muang Gui chaiPanang nua and paniang mooLeast favorite was the moo yaang prik. It was very overcooked/dry. Would not reorder.Drinks were nice. Enjoyed myself there.

We had an absolutely amazing Thai feast at Kalaya! This restaurant has been on my list to try for a little while, and it did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend going with a group because the food is served family style, and then you also get to try a lot more. Everything we got was delicious, with my personal standout favorites being the duck salad & branzino. I'm still dreaming about that branzino salty/spicy/tangy sauce! The only thing to note is that a lot of the food is on the spicier side, so you have to be good with spicy to try a lot of the menu. The cocktails, however, have a sweetness that balances amazingly well with the food. I'd highly recommend the coconut one. Also to help with spice, a lot of the dishes come with sides that help cool you down (with the surprise best help being the soft boiled eggs in fish sauce!). The only negative about Kalaya is that the service isn't the best. They don't pace out the food well, so we actually ordered in several shifts to try to avoid getting an overcrowded table (pro tip!). Other than that, however, everything was great & I'll definitely be back!Food: ADrinks: AAmbiance: B+Service: B-

What a beautiful space inside - Kalaya is a vision inside and beautifully decorated. I've been here before and the food was too spicy so wanted to return and see how the food tasted today. It did not disappoint. We went with the tasting menu which came with so much food! Some of the food didn't have as much spice which was disappointing. We still left with full and happy bellies! The service was great except to get drinks, that took quite a while multiple times. I'm not sure if the bar was backed up?

Kalaya was such a pain to find a reservation for, and it required a $40 charge per guest if you had to cancel within 24 hrs in addition to a $15 parking fee, so I had to admit that I came feeling skeptical but the food, the service, and most importantly, the experience really proved to be worth all the hoops I had to jump through.The space is quite large and open, with potted palm trees and a large skylight in the center. My only complaint is that the open kitchen needs better ventilation because towards the end of my dinner, the dining room seemed a little smoky towards the back. The bar area is quite large, and their drinks were delicious. We ordered a classic Thai iced tea ($8) that was on the weaker side in terms of tea flavor, as well as a lychee negroni ($10) that had a very floral quality with a touch of citrus to it from the jackfruit and yuzu, and a tom kha colada ($10) which I thought was a very creative spin using Thai aromatics like galangal and lime leaf. We started out with the shaw muang ($18) and the daily special, the pla muk thod kreung ($22). The shaw muang were so small and delicate, perched atop sliced cucumber with dainty pleats. The pla muk thod kreung was a Thai style calamari, with squid dipped in a curried rice flour based batter that was so incredibly light and crispy. I absolutely loved the sweet chili dipping sauce it came with! For our entrées, we ordered the gaeng pae ($35), which was a SPICY goat and lamb curry that came with unlimited jasmine rice (extremely necessary to offset the spicy curry), nam pla khai tom (hardboiled egg pickled with fish sauce, lime and Thai chili), and pickled cucumbers. I cannot understate the spice level of this curry, but with all the rice and refreshing sides, I did find it manageable. We also ordered some less spicy entrées including the sua rong hai ($39) which was the classic "crying tiger" grilled skirt steak served with nam jim jaew and sticky rice as well as gae golae ($36) which was a charcoal grilled half chicken glazed with a sticky sweet coconut and tamarind sauce. It came with a heaping bowl of fragrant sweet coconut rice, colored with turmeric, and sprinkled with crispy fried shallots. Personally, I thought the coconut rice was too sweet for my taste, but it was very well-received by the rest of the table. For dessert, we had the Thai Tea Tiramisu ($14) and one of their famed seasonal shaved ices ($18). This particular one was a pineapple coconut shaved ice, with ribbons of strawberry purée and pandan sago sago on the bottom. This was definitely worth saving the stomach space for! Overall, I was really pleased with the food and the service. Our waiter, Michael, was very knowledgeable and gave us excellent menu recommendations. One of the co-managers, Fran, checked in on us a few times and helped organize a little birthday dessert moment for us as well, and made our dinner very memorable and special too!

I selected Kalaya as a birthday destination after reading numerous reviews. The restaurant is in a building that looks like it used to be a large warehouse with tall, lit palm trees in the middle of the room. As we waited for our table, a manager and the owner greeted us. I later saw her walking around talking to guests and would have loved to chat, but she didn't stop by our table. We started with the shaw muang appetizer (chicken dumplings) which was good along with the pra ram long som (pork tenderloin appetizer). We also shared the pairing of two curries (beef and pork), the colossal crab meat stir fry, and the yellow curry with chicken. I loved that this food had some spice and flavor. The yellow curry with chicken was especially spicy and one of the managers brought us a cold tea to cool our palates. Despite that, I thought thank goodness for a restaurant that doesn't tone down its food. Everything was unique and delicious. Being quite full, although I had read about it and it looked delicious, I decided to pass on the shaved ice dessert. When I asked for a small birthday size one which we would have paid for, our server said they didn't have anything smaller. Being that we were there for a birthday celebration, some acknowledgment of my birthday would have been appreciated. We left with no happy birthday, no candle, and no dessert.

Returned to kalaya and had an even better food experience! My friend was visiting from out of town, so I took her here and glad I did. Our waitress was absolutely amazing! Very friendly and knowledgeable. We were stuck between two entrees and told her to pick and surprise us.We ordered the achara to drink, kanom jeeb Nok as our app, nua pad king as our entree and shaved ice for dessert. Everything truly deserved a 10/10! Each dish continued to get better and more complex. I will 100% reorder the stir fry and shaved ice! Unfortunately, the cocktails are consistent with my original review a few months ago. My friend and I were not fans of Achara. She tried a lychee mocktail and asked if they can add alcohol, which they did but still were not fans. The dessert sadly took 20+ minutes to come out and we had to leave for a show so we had less than 5minutes to eat it. The shaved ice was truly something I still talk about till this day and was the best thing I ate! Highly highly recommend coming here!

Kalaya is an awesome restaurant in the Fishtown area. 100% ensure you have a reservation before visiting as walk-ins are usually unsuccessful. I trusted my server completely on dining recommendations and the food did not disappoint! My friends and I shared everything from appetizers to various entrees which is the suggested way to go! The flavor profile of every bite is powerful and full of life. The service was amazing and extremely helpful for providing suggestions and advice. The restaurant itself is lively, bright and makes for an enjoyable dining experience during daytime.

Came here on a rainy Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm with reservations and it was bustling! My friend and I waited for about 20 minutes for our table to be available, the entryway can get a bit congested with several parties of various sizes waiting to be seated at once. The building is interesting bc it looks to be a converted commercial office or warehouse-type industrial building with a major face lift. It's lofted with an open airy sunroof and a plot of live tropical trees in the center of the restaurant. Give them props for making the ambiance simultaneously tropical and modern while still very relatable with keeping the roof beams and terracotta color flooring. Aside from the bar and bar seating on the left side of the restaurant, there is banquette seating around the walls and stand-alone tables in the center. At the back of restaurant are the kitchen and pass through. After seating we were given menus and time to decide. We asked our server which dishes were more or less spicy and decided to go with one spicy--Khao Soi Nua ($30)--and one not--Nam Prik Kuhn Pu ($26). Unfortunately the second dish was actually more spicy than the khao soi which was a bit disappointing bc I was trying to avoid spicy food bc my stomach wasn't feeling the best prior to lunch. That being said it was on the medium/hot spicy side (compared to most American food, though squarely in mild/medium for truly SE Asian peoples) and an enjoyable level of spice had I not been trying to avoid it. The first dish of beef khao soi egg noodles, coconut milk, mustard greens, chilli crisp and crispy noodles. Was it a tasty plate of food yes, great execution--noodles had a slight chew, beef was tender, mustard greens added a salty slight bitter kick. Though having eaten many bowls of khao soi before I didn't feel the chili crisp was necessary or added to the dish that was already full of flavor. The second dish of caramelized pork belly with tamarind, guajillo chilis and dried shrimp, served with nam pla khai tom and jasmine rice--this was kinda a braised preparation of sorts, served with a side of pickled soft boiled egg. The pork was tasty though I felt the flavor was kinda blown out by the spice. The egg was delicious with the vinegary touch and crunchy sweet zing from the red onions both surprised and impressed me. Also am I the only one that's slightly weirded out by eating from bowls where the coating is visibly chipping in multiple places? I understand the retro aesthetic but it kinda felt like I was eating from bowls bought from a vintage yard sale. For drinks we ordered a Thai iced tea ($8) and a house-made pandan coconut Thai soda ($8). I enjoyed the soda, it brought SE Asian flavors in a light floral and tropical blend. Aside from the misinformation on spice level, this waitstaff were very hospitable and helpful, coming to check in on us regularly. It was an interesting experience to see SE Asian food represented in a more fine dining atmosphere. The majority of the diners were non-Asian so it's terrific to see SE Asian flavors and techniques cutting through in the greater landscape of the American food scene. Though from what I tried here, I've found similar dishes elsewhere maybe with less upscale ambiance, at a more affordable price point.

We came here for lunch, with a reservation (as the restaurant was pretty packed so there could've been a wait otherwise). The interior is so pretty and spacious, it was really hot though - unsure if that's because it was incredibly hot outside or if it's always hot inside. Our waiter was the best part of the experience, super friendly and gave great recs and explained the menu really well.The food however was definitely overhyped beforehand, which could've affected my opinion, but I didn't find it to be anything too amazing. We tried most of the apps and enjoyed the tofu and chive cake (despite it being a bit greasy). Then for main meals we got a chicken curry, crab curry, crab fried rice, and tofu entree. The crab meat was delicious cooked very well, and the actual curry had a spicy kick to it. The chicken curry seemed to be a favorite. We finished with a Thai ice tea tiramisu cake which was decent even though the Thai ice tea flavor was super subtle. Overall, it is a bit pricier than I'd have liked but I guess you're also paying for the experience and ambience as it did really feel like an authentic Thai restaurant.