Erawan

A remarkable place in every way. Being from the west coast of the U.S. We get plenty of top notch Asian cooking, but being on vacation in Europe and getting Thai food this good? Amazing I tell ya! The service, the menu, and a dark, yet inviting environment all go together to make a great experience. There’s a tiny bar where locals wait for their take out, and we were able to observe the interaction with the Erawan folks and their clients. Every exchange was as if a family member you dearly love had just dropped in. What a great final meal, and overall experience this place was. When you’re finished with your meal, an Erawan employee walks you to the door, and it feels just as natural as it can be. Hip, hip, hooray for Erawan!

After trying to eat at this place without a reservation it became clear that this place is too popular for that sort of approach. So I made a reservation a couple of days in advance and we were finally able to try out the Thai food. It was a wonderful experience: the food was super tasty, serves what great, and the atmosphere very relaxed. This one is going in my favorites list!

Decent Thai for Europe and friendly service. Priced we’re quite a bit more than in expected at 12 – 20 euros per plate but you could feed 2 people off one dish if you weren’t ravenous. The Phad Thai was decent and fresh and the green curry had a nice flavor.

I went on a Thursday evening and was seated immediately.
The service was incredibly prompt and efficient!
Ordered the tofu with mushrooms in red curry. The taste and flavours were great, although not as hot as I expected (the menu indicated it was very hot). The curry was served with steamed rice — the portions are HUGE! If you order starters, I think one main course dish should easily suffice two persons.
All in all, a good place with tasty food and efficient service.

My favorite of the Thai restaurants I have tried in Haarlem. Good food — always reliable, and we have tried quite a few dishes. Nothing disappoints. I would not give it 4 stars if I was in the USA, but for the Netherlands, it is very good. I think it is toned down for the Dutch palette :)
I’m always happy when they give pik nam pla… for people like me that like a little fire with their food!
And you might want to bring a sweater, the past two times it was quite chilly inside.

The first thing I noticed as we entered Erawan was the steamy aroma of fresh boiled jasmine rice. Rice lovers know what I am talking about. It was the kind of aroma that pulls you inside and makes you want to spend an evening there. That’s exactly what we did, with added conversation and culinary adventures.
While Netherlands excels in almost every thing, there is a definite and well-​acknowledged dearth of authentic dining experiences. Finding the gems takes efforts and months of living here. Luckily for us, we had the local authority otherwise known as Tanya V. carefully pondering over our dining options for the evening. It was a spark of genius that triggered Erawan. The rest is history, as they say.
OK, enough of that.
The food is great! I had the yellow curry thing (was it number 77?) with veggies and extra tofu and cashews. Everyone tried something different. My food was delicious, and definitely the best Thai dinner I have ever had in my almost 3 years of living in this country. The aromas, I can’t stop thinking about them.
Portions were generous (filled us up), presentation was good, and the service nice and fast, just like at a non-​Dutch restaurant. When they say spicy hot, they don’t mess around, though. The fried rice was also delicious.
Next time I am trying some dessert.

When laziness struck our house and I didn’t feel like cooking dinner, Foodspotting showed me a picture of someone’s pad thai from Erawan Thai, and I made my boyfriend bike with me to get some immediately.
Instantly gratifying, the service was friendly and QUICK. Our spring rolls and dumplings were served soon after sitting, and my beautiful pad thai was just as delicious as it was pretty. Garnished with fresh cilantro, lime and peanuts, it was the perfect combination of salty sweet, with a little crunch. Can’t remember what he ordered, was too busy stuffing my own face.
We sat outside (it was summer) and people watching was great. We went on a Tuesday night and it wasn’t too busy; we were seated immediately. The prices were reasonable, and all in all, it was a great experience. Would go again.

Sawadee Kop, baby.
Not bad at all, and reasonably fresh ingredients. Naturally, it’s been somewhat adjusted for Dutch tastes, but not nearly as much as most Thai restaurants nowadays. The larb gai was particularly good.

Really good food, great service, decent wine list (for a Thai restaurant), and a place I will return to. I’ve usually stuck to the spicy chicken dishes here, but dinner-​mates have expressed satisfaction with lots of other dishes. Seems to always be busy, so make a reservation!