Emerald Royal Thai Cuisine

This is the very definition of hole in wall.
It’s not noticeable – green exterior and easy to miss if you’re driving down Venice. It’s next to the creepy Jurassic museum.
It’s usually very empty. The only night it’s had more than one other party was randomly a Monday night around 7pm. Otherwise, expect an intimate dinner.
My friends and I love:
–Pad Thai: they can do just tofu without the other mixed veggies. They can do that for most orders but you have to be explicit you just want the tofu added… I said no veggies out and they’ve literally given me just noodle and tofu… no bean sprouts, no onions lol
–Pad See Ew
–Shrimp & Crab Curry: it doesn’t come in a liquidy, stewy, soupy form as you’d normally expect. Because of the crab, it comes out looking like an egg scramble. Packed with flavors and yes they can do it without shrimp.
–I forget what it’s called… number 78? It’s the glass noodles. It has tomatoes, mushrooms, onions. Yummy!
Mango with sticky rice is seasonal and that season starts now! They give you almond cookies and fortune cookies at the end with your check, a rip out of the notes they took on their pad. Hard to read so good luck if you’re splitting the bill! Food isn’t amazing, but definitely good. Nice because there’s no wait.

The steamed dumplings were delicious!!! We also tried and really enjoyed the mint chicken with white steamed rice. The staff was nice and considerate.

Overpriced with small ass portions. I recommend Thai boon or Swanya. The curry bowls come with rice and salad and are still cheaper than this place and their food is tastier.

We ate here and ordered the Pad See Ew, Pad Thai, Tempura vegetables and Beef and Veggies with rice. For starters, none of the food was Thai in any kind of traditional sense (no ingredients that suggested thai flavor: thai basil, lemon, etc.). The food was greasy. The meals were flavorless, almost suspiciously so. The Pad Thai tasted like it was made with ketchup. The only thing I can imagine is that we ate here close to closing time (arrived at 8:20). Perhaps it was a bad night. I would like to think we had an unfortunate experience, but… it was terrible.

this is a local neighbor Thai restaurant in culver city that serves pretty much what you would expect from a neighborhood thai restaurant in culver city. The food pretty much tastes the way that you would expect from a neighborhood thai restaurant in culver city. So you’ll be able to find pad thai, pad see ew, red and yellow curry, and some other Thai staples. If you want more spice let them know and you’ll get it.
If you order food to go and spend a certain amount you get a free thai ice tea. The staff is nice and this might be a place you would go if you didn’t feel like cooking and were craving Thai food, but didn’t really want to go that far from where Emerald Royal Thai Cuisine is located and weren’t feeling terribly picky about your food.

The Unilocal reviews advertising how wonderful the fried rice was lead me here to find possibly the worst fried rice I’ve ever had

I ordered from here on eat 24 because I had eaten at the restaurant twice and the food was good. Big mistake, the only thing that was good was the free Thai iced tea I got with my order. We got a ton of food, we ordered the pad Thai, pad see-​ew and the appetizer sampler with the egg rolls (the veggie egg rolls were the only good appetizers of the four that came in the sampler). The quantity was big but the quality was poor the appetizers were soggy some seemed like they were not fully cooked. I almost threw all the food away but my boyfriend made me feel guilty about the $ 40 I had spent, so I found a way to repurpose the super bland noodles. I mean how does a Thai place mess up pad Thai? Anyways you are better getting take out somewhere else.

An absolutely lovely experience. My family (including my dog) ate a delicious meal on their quaint patio. Even better than the food, was the absolutely lovely service. Everyone was so helpful, patient, and kind. It’s what the eating out experience should be like

Decent, local, not expensive Thai. Authentic for the most part– you can certainly ask them to pep the grub up to indigenous spice level and they don’t put a ton of sugar or vile gloopy brown goo on everything.
I prefer it for take out than dine in as it’s a little tired– but a good choice for a cozy night of warmth.

My mom used to take me to Emerald Thai when I was little all the time. The food was amazing. We then lived out of state for 20 years and just moved back. We were so excited to learn that Emerald Thai is still there and going strong. The food is even more incredible than I remember. I highly recommend the flaming chicken, Thai toast and crab curry. This is a culver city must-​have.

This is our favorite local Thai place. Yes it’s small and outdated with no frills attached — but dang their food is delicious.
Great flavors and service. Sometimes their food is inconsistent. Mostly regarding the heat/​spice level and cooking of the meat (sometimes their beef is overlooked and tough).
Our favorites are the green curry (sooooo good!), the coconut soup with chicken, hot mint with beef (be careful, this one is spicy), mixed vegetables, and the yum with beef. Thai toast is good too. Oh and their chicken skewers with accompanied sauces are delicious. Mee krob is great.
I like the fact that this place is a family run joint and focuses on flavors rather than the rest of the overpriced shi shi places in LA that are all show.
Not a place to go to see and be seen if you know what I mean. But if you’re wanting real tasty Thai food, then check it out. You won’t regret it.

Our food was good. Plenty of Thai basil and hot green peppers in the dishes that call for them. The food did not seem too salty either, unlike at many places.
The dining room does not have a particularly wonderful ambiance, more bare bones feeling so if there are not many people there, you will want to create your own wonderful ambience with sparkling conversation.
I recommend this restaurant as long as you focus on the food, and are not looking for beer or wine. The food was good, and prices fair. Service was also good, friendly and quick. We got fortune cookies and almond cookies with the bill. Thank you!

I always order foods here for pick up or delivery. They pack the foods very well so your foods don’t get cold. My favorite is wonton soup with shrimp. It tastes subtle and just right for me. Curries and fried rices are good, too.

Well I’m going to star with the coconut sea food soup is excellent and the mix chow mein. … the place looks clean and the prices are ok…

Very very average Thai food — we’re regulars at Thai restaurants around the west side but this was definitely towards the bottom rung. The fried tofu appetizer was inedible (really really chewy) and the salad was very bland. The pad thai was OK but was very non thai. The only things we really enjoyed was the Pad See Ew (⁴⁄₅) and the peanut sauce dressing on the salad.

Bland. Boring. They may be Thai, but their food doesn’t act like it. Service was good and they were nice, but I’ll stick to the more authentic places elsewhere in town.

I must agree with Bria. This place has a special place in my foodie heart as well!
The exterior isn’t very eye-​catching (in comparison to say Natalee Thai) and it’s usually quiet. However, don’t let that discourage you from trying it out. I’ve never had a bad experience with their service (delivery, take-​out, or dine in) nor with their food. I always leave with a content stomach. They are the only place where I can honestly say I LOVE their wonton soup. Chicken, no shrimp, just the way I like it. I’d also recommend their pad see ew & pad thai!

This place is always quiet but food is very good.
I have eaten their green curry, pad Thai, and pad see ew with Tom yum soup. Last vist my wife ordered Tom Kar soup. Coconut based soup with lots of veggie and chicken. Very good.
I recommend this place if you feel like Thai and talk to your partner in a quiet place. I’ve been there about 5 times and 3 out of 5 we were alone in the restaurant.

I ordered pad kee mao, and it doesn’t come with noodles. To be fair, the menu mentions nothing about noodles. This is the only Thai restaurant I’ve ever been to that serves the dish without them. Also, the curry does not come with rice, but rather white toast.
I called to ask if this was correct and the guy just laughed at me…

I would give Emerald all the rating stars in the world if I could. This place has a special place in my foodie heart.
First of all, my family has been going here since before I was born (so that’s over 20 years) and I practically grew up at the tables at this restaurant.
Emerald doesn’t look like much on the outside, but that’s what makes it such a hidden gem. Thai restaurants lie up and down the street that can’t even compare to their food. It’s sad seeing all the people packed into those restaurants because they don’t know what they’re missing just down the street.
Emerald’s interior décor of little knick knacks from Thailand and emerald green booths set the scene for the best Thai meal.
Most of the restaurant’s staff know my family and are always very friendly and happy to see us. And if you become a regular (and there’s no reason you shouldn’t), you’ll be greeted with the same warmth. I see the staff happily chatting to various parties when eating here, so you can tell there’s a bunch of people who come back for Emerald’s food.
My family and I come here quite a lot, so Nid, the owner we very often see, knows our order by heart and never has to write anything down. Recommended dishes: Pad thai with chicken and shrimp, yellow curry with chicken, cashew chicken, wonton soup, coconut soup, mango and sticky rice, thai iced tea.
Their pad thai is the best I have had anywhere. At most other Thai restaurants, I find the pad thai having a weird flavor and the sauce too liquid and wet. Emerald’s is PERFECT as well as all the other food we’ve tried there.
Every time I go to a Thai restaurant I always compare it to Emerald and nothing has come close. This is honestly my favorite restaurant and if their food was the only thing I could eat for the rest of my life, I would totally be ok with it. If I ever move out of the area or this place closes down, I will miss it terribly.
Do yourself a favor and visit this little Thai place. Just do it. Maybe I’ll see you there.