Yai may be minimal on beautifying details and setting, but this underscores the whole point. The focus is on serving authentic, delicious Thai food. You'll find Yai next to an unassuming mini-mall and a 7-Eleven – keep this in mind, as you may need a Slurpee to quench the fire in your mouth afterward. Get started with a hot-and-sour tom yum goong soup or a papaya salad. Noodle dishes include seafood lard nar and glass noodles with vegetables. House specialties such as barbecued duck curry and crispy whole fried trout round out the menu. Beer and wine available. Serving lunch and dinner daily.
Where the Locals Eat rating
Top 100 Restaurant, Los Angeles
"Yai is as authentic as they come, a bare-bones restaurant serving informal ‘people's food,' the sort of things you don't really find in Ventura Boulevard Thai places, a walk on the wild side of the Far Eastern palate."
—LA Weekly
"This casual Hollywood eatery offers little in the way of ambience. ... But inside, tables full of Thai families and dressed-down Hollywood locals noisily swap dishes and contentedly slurp noodles. ... It's like Thai soul food."
—CitySearch.com
How others rate Yai
Zagat 2009
21 food rating (very good to excellent)