So sad to see this place go! This was the best Thai food in OC. The quality was amazing and the food felt like it was made with love. Can't believe it's gone now :( read more

The restaurant is located in a small plaza, but it's connected to a bigger one with tons of parking. There's only 8 tables, but it's all 4 to 9 seater so they can accommodate big groups. They offer a lunch special on weekdays from 11-3pm. I ordered the beef pad see ew and the tom yum noodle soup. I don't eat seafood, so they were able to make the tom yum noodle with chicken instead. The noodles were packed with chicken, bean sprouts, cabbage, cilantro, and green onion. The soup was super tangy, but it wasn't my favorite. I loved the pad see ew since I had a ton of flavor. The portion for both their soup and the lunch pad see ew were good. Staff were friendly and checked up. There's a 3.5% charge for cards so they offer cash or Zelle payment. read more

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Thai Boat Noodle was great. A little on the sour side but packed with flavor. Adding some of their chili oil paste definitely it sly gave it a bit of kick. You get assortment of toppings throughout the bowl pork,meatballs, pork rinds, liver, and some innards. The bean sprouts and other veggies soaked up the broth well as I'm not particularly a big fan of greens in my soup. Overall price was justified as having come for the lunch special. read more

Royal King Elephant - Presentation - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

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Five stars for Royal King Elephant restaurant! I had this place bookmarked for years and now wish I had gone here ages ago. They have delicious food! The restaurant is a small little non-assuming restaurant located in a small strip mall. I walked into the restaurant and immediately was greeted by the owner Xay and her husband Dee. The place is clean and modernly decorated. There are a lot of great things on the menu, it was hard to choose. Gung Che Num Pa. Spicy Raw Shrimp. This dish was my absolute favorite dish I tried! Fresh raw shrimp served over a bed of cabbage, cucumber and tomatoes. Served with spicy chili sauce! This was like a Laotian ceviche. Grade: A! Spicy Basil Clams. Wow. Another delicious choice. A generous portion of fresh clams prepared in a spicy brown sauce. Served with red and green bell peppers and onions. Grade: A Intestines with a spicy sauce. Off menu item. Thick cut intestines served with a generous portion of assorted herbs. I've never had the dipping sauce before - it was a fermented tamarind flavored sauce. Fun to eat with fresh herbs and lettuce. They have all kinds of fun beverages here. Notable is the Lao beer, which is apparently difficult to find! Thank you Xay and Dee for a great and memorable dining experience. I'm a new fan of your restaurant. read more

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Food: 3/5 Ordered the Lao noodles chicken flavored soup and Lao sausages with Rice. Noodles soup was good with plenty of chicken. The taste reminds me of Asian season porridge honestly which is good! The sausage was a bit too salty for my taste. Service: 3/5 Service was ok, nothing to really rave about. Nice people. Ambiance: 4/5 overall ok decor, felt a little cluttered but love the overall theme. read more

Royal King Elephant - Lao chicken noodle - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

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Dinner with a friend. And a nice dinner it was. See pics of what we ordered. There were leftovers. Not much but keep in mind, it was only the two of us. To start - free and easy parking. Might have to walk a little bit but I'll say it again. Free. One of the things I like about places in Orange County compared to Los Angeles. Parking. Service was great. It appeared to be a one man operation. Probably wasn't, but I didn't look for others. The gentleman was a one man crew from what I saw. He handled the front of the house like a pro. Attentive. Friendly. Nice. All of the above. I don't know if he also did the cooking but whoever did, did an awesome job. I enjoyed the dishes in the following order: Crispy Fried Rice Papaya Salad Pad See Ew Fried Pork Rib Loved how the mix of ingredients all just hit the spot. The consistency, the flavors all just had me eating well past my limit - so thank God for adjustable rachet belts. I listed the pork ribs last, and though I ate most of it, I would have eaten all if they weren't so crispy. Not that it was well done and over cooked, it was as if they were double fried. I'll leave it at this - I'd have them again. They wouldn't be the first thing I'd order but I'd definitely eat them again. I enjoyed the food and this place is on my list of places to return to, to try more dishes. read more

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Located off Garden Grove Bl in Garden Grove. Parking is shared with the other businesses in the strip center. Place is not too large there are a good amount of tables. I had this place book marked for a long time since I do know the owner's daughters and wanted to try this place when they were working there but never did. My buddies have gone a few times and recommended to me as well since they also know the daughters. I got the crab fried rice and it was delicious very savory. The service was excellent as well. Overall a good experience here and I was glad to finally try this place. read more

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Mango Fried Fish (5/5) This is REALLY GOOD (was kinda cautious about getting it since it sounded weird but it totally defied expectations) Pad See Ew (4/5) Good, but nothing special Pad Thai (3.5/5) Was a little too sour for me - it mellowed out sourwise after a bit and ended up pretty good Crispy Fried Rice (4/5) A little too hard, but otherwise good. Not too sour (can avoid the sour pork if you want). My brother didn't like the sour pork in it read more

I really dislike leaving negative reviews, especially for small restaurants run by hardworking people like the older lady in the kitchen and the person at the front. However, I feel I need to share my experience. I ordered lunch here because I was craving Thai-style papaya salad. I also got the fried tofu Pad Thai. Unfortunately, both dishes were very disappointing. The Pad Thai was clumped into one large ball of noodles with no flavor at all, even after adding the lime wedge that came with it. As for the papaya salad--I honestly didn't know what to make of it. It had no taste, not even a hint of saltiness. It was just a mound of shredded green papaya with some red sauce, but no flavor. Sadly, this was the worst Thai food I've ever had. I really wanted to like it, but I can't recommend it based on this experience. read more

Royal King Elephant - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

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Amazing and authentic! Never thought I'd find an authentic Lao restaurant that serves actual Lao food, especially in OC. I came here based off Yelp and IG. Upon arriving there was a husband and wife duo owners having lunch at the back table. I originally went there for boat noodles but ended up ordering off the menu based on how delicious their posts looked on social media. My son ended up getting the boat noodles and I ordered 2 items on a secret menu lol. I tried his boat noodles while mixing it for him and it was delicious! It came with different cuts of protein, tripe, meatballs, and liver. I ended up getting their mee gatee to eat there and kua mee to-go. Not a lot of restaurants make mee gatee and can make it taste authentic, at that! My bowl was loaded with pork blood cubes, pork meat, and even had chicken feet! It's rare you get all that if you order a bowl down here in San Diego you'd be lucky if you get pork pieces let alone blood and chicken feet! Their kua mee also came with pork blood omg so good with some papaya salad! You'd never get that here in SD they'll only have noodles, no blood or it cost extra. Husband and wife were super nice and conversed with me during my lunch. Come to find out they're originally from Fresno no wonder their food is delicious! They also used to live in SD for a bit too in the V, he said lol. This is the place for AUTHENTIC! Will definitely be stopping by more often during my OC visits. Sister also hooked it up with extra kua mee for me too I wish I got their names but thank you euy I'll be seeing you guys more often! read more

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We've been coming here since it opened. Love this place. Great food & entertainment. Nice place to go to feel like home. They do catering for events and also do parties at this location. Please feel free to contact Xay @ RKE. She is easy to work with to plan your special event. read more

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Overpriced and underwhelming! A lot of misrepresentation of their food! When I called in to order for takeout, I specifically ask if they had pandan mango sticky rice, the person on the phone confirmed it. Lo behold, just regular sticky rice. The plate of jerky is one of the worst ones that I have had in the area. It is dry and lackluster in flavor. read more

Royal King Elephant - This is NOT pandan sticky rice - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

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Was craving for boat noodle soup and this is my to go for it, yrs ago. Great Lao/Thai foods. Still have the great quality of the broth. I ordered the lunch special of boat noodle soup and green papaya salad w/ crab (Lao style). The noodle is still fantastic, just less of meats but aok, the salad is abit puncheon for me but very tasty. Overall, still a "it" place. read more

Royal King Elephant - Papaya w/ crab salad - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

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Horrible food. Dirty utensil. Prepare to have your cash ready!!. They charged u for non-cash!!! read more

Royal King Elephant - Non-cash extra charge - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

Food: the foods here were so overpriced. I usually don't write reviews but I guess I have to for this one.. I ordered 1 Khao Piak and 1 jungle papaya salad for over $43! the noddles were a bit too thick the broth was ok. The papaya salad was too spicy although I said mild... it was ok only not the best. I won't be returning. Service: was ok the lady has a loud voice when took my order.. haha read more

Royal King Elephant - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

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The food was delicious and flavorful and perfect amount of spice. The service was quick. We didn't wait too long after we ordered our food. This is a nice family owned business. They have pictures of elephants all over the walls and elephant pieces on the table. I love elephants! We wanted to try their chicken wings and beef jerky but they sold out. We'll be back!!! read more

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We literally just left and his restaurant with disappointment! I had high hopes for this place, but unfortunately, the food was a big letdown. The mix papaya salad was shockingly flavorless -- and that's supposed to be one of the most pungent, vibrant dishes in Lao cuisine. How can such a naturally bold dish come out tasting like nothing? Truly disappointing. The beef jerky with salsa sauce didn't save the night either. The jerky was chewy and tough, and the salsa didn't taste homemade at all -- more like something straight from a jar, closer to a Pace Picante brand than a freshly made sauce. Even that sauce had more flavor! The pad thai was another disappointment. Flat, bland, and completely lacking the sweet-savory-tangy balance that makes pad thai special. The only redeeming dishes were the curry chicken and the crispy fried rice -- both were just okay, but they at least had enough flavor to keep us eating. Still, even those were not dishes I'd rave about. What made the experience more awkward was that after dinner, the server/owner looked genuinely surprised that we had barely touched the food -- and even more surprised when we didn't bother to take leftovers home. That should tell you everything. For the high prices they charge, the food should at least be flavorful. Sadly, this was one of the most expensive yet tasteless meals I've had in a long time. Overall: 2/5 stars. Curry chicken and crispy fried rice saved it from being a total disaster, but I wouldn't return. read more

This was the best Laotian/Thai food we've ever had it looks like a hole in the wall spot but food was delish and service was also sooo friendly! I forgot to look at the receipt but prices are ~$20 for everything and enough to share. Thank you @rachelsyoo for taking us Beef salad - vegetables were fresh and crisp, the sauce was so good with the sweetness and little acidic hit. It's a good balance from carbs and recommend! Crispy fried rice - All of the dishes were so good but I think this was the star for me it's crispy bits of rice w salty ham(?), so delish wrapped up in the lettuce. This was so unique and I def have to get this again Drunken noodles w pork belly - Great drunken noodles, def in the higher tier of drunk noodles we've had before! Can't go wrong w this one Instagram - @joangela.eats read more

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I tried this restaurant several years ago and thought the Thai food was pretty good. Came back with my daughter and brother for lunch this past weekend and we were the first customer at 11:30 am. We didn't think much of it. There was only one server that took our orders, brought out the food and also was cashier. When the food came out 25 minutes later, the pad see ew was lack luster and the stir fried noodles were clumped together, as if there was little to no effort in cooking the dish. The sauce that usually coats the noodles were absent, because all the noodles were clumped together. We asked for no spice and it ended up being medium spicy. The pineapple fried rice was burnt and the cashews were completely inedible. For the price and upcharge of selecting a protein choice, the restaurant tacked on another $5-7, because little did we know the pineapple fried rice only included pineapples and cashews, but no protein or veggie option. We spoke to the cashier, and they kindly removed the up-charge. However, the rice was extremely dry and felt undercooked. How does a restaurant make uncooked fried rice?! We also got an order of crying tiger and that dish might just be the saving grace of our meal. We ordered it medium well and the meat was still tender and cooked to our liking. Overall, I probably would not come back here. I understand that it is a mom and pop shop and there are times when things are slow. However, I was one of two customers in the whole place on a Saturday, so there's really no excuse for the lackluster food and uncooked, burnt fried rice. read more

About to order some food from them and realized I never wrote a review. Excellent food and service! Eggplant dish and papaya salad were so good. Support our local small businesses and not the fast food companies tripling their prices. read more

Went on a Saturday evening after a long day this place hit the spot. The server was super fast and friendly. The food is always delicious. read more

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Atmosphere inside is small but decently nice. My favorite dish is their crabs fried rice. Food was extremely greasy, Pad see eu was not high quality and tasted too cheap for the prices . Crying Tiger very chewy, . Friendly staff before but the last time I was there the owner was drinked with some people next to my table very loud and they let us to waited so long for my food came out . I think they're like to drink more than care for the customer! read more

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Royal King Elephant Restaurant. A cozy party, no one feels rushed. Whoever has been there once will never forget, Gentle, sweet, spicy, delicious. A place that holds the feet of many travelers. Good Food,Good Service And Sweet Restaurant. Recommend read more

Trying to find a decent Lao restaurant- and this place will satisfy your cravings From yummy Lao style papaya salad to raw beef salad and beef innerts soup - it taste like home cooking from my parents. Their angel wings are a great snacks as well. Service was good. We came on a Monday - and it was kind of quiet - just what we like.they play Lao music videos which added a charm to the restaurant. Better than Lao Vientiane restaurant. read more

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This spot puts the comfort in comfort food!! Everything was delicious and tasted super authentic--we got the thum, pork jerky and khao poon nam jeow which I haven't had in so long & it made me feel right at home especially with the warm service!! Can't wait to come back! read more

Royal King Elephant - Khao poon nam jeow, thum muk hoong & pork jerky! - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

Everything Laos style is amazing medium spice is the way to go cause it will be more spicy we always get the Laos salad and beef salad also drunken noodle and chicken larb read more

Such an amazing restaurant, low key but authentic and beautiful inside. Reminds me so much of my culture and home. The staff was great and knew exactly what we wanted when we came in. Vibes and music were fantastic. We were very specific on how we like our food flavored and they matched it perfectly. The food was actually incredible. read more

Royal King Elephant - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

So disappointing...came here for the fish larb, but apparently it's only available when there's fresh catch, which makes sense. However, we tried ordering 5 different items from the menu, none of which they had. Spicy raw shrimp was flat out disgusting. It was not the usual homemade Lao style sauce, but rather a cup of salsa rojo dumped on top of raw butterflied shrimp. I ended up washing off the salsa with my complimentary water, then adding it to our papaya salad, since we only got 3 shrimps with the order. That was a bad idea, because the papaya was already lacking in flavor. The beef salad was no better. Instead of the described BBQ beef slices, it was 4 pieces of par boiled beef slices atop a bed of lettuce and huge chunks of red onion and a couple of diced cucumber. This was also dressed in the same salsa rojo, just less of it. The raw beef larb was pretty decent. The spice level was perfect. The roasted rice was not ground properly and had a lot of big chunks, which made it a little hard to eat. The jungle combo papaya salad was pretty good, but it could've used a little extra flavor. There wasn't enough juice to mix the noodles in, but again there wasn't enough flavor to even allow the noodles to absorb. The pork rinds were so hard and stale. The morning glory stir fry was the only dish worth eating. I actually wouldn't change anything about that particular dish. Overall, I do not recommend this place, nor would I ever come back. I was really hoping to like this place, because there aren't very many Lao restaurants. It is unfortunate that this place is representing Lao food while not using authentic Lao recipes. Giving an extra star for the nice waitress. read more

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They need a better cook for their restaurant. Worst Lao food ever! Too expensive and the foods are not even that good. Not recommended. I suggest they hire someone who can cook. read more

This place is tucked in garden grove plaza by soju belly and rolled tacos dessert, near somi somi. Once walked inside the restaurant, you will see nice decorations of elephants and pictures of the food on the walls. I wish the pictures had descriptions or wish the photos were a little bigger, but the pics inside the menu made up for it. Order: the Laos sausages (hand made and not bought), tom yum soup, mixed papaya salad (Thai and Laos style), crispy rice, and pad Thai. My only complaint was the pad Thai isn't the original pad Thai style but little soggy, and there wasn't any chicken or shrimp in it. The service however made up for it, enjoyed the hospitality from a family ran business. Will come back to try the larb and the chefs specials! read more

One of the best Thai food in the OC. Make sure to get their chicharon, call ahead and ask if they still have it. read more

i've recently been craving a lot of Thai food, specifically the pad karpow due to a YouTube video. A friend of mine recommended this place, indicating that this was one of the usual spots. They did say that they often tend to lean on the laos side of the menu. they recommended the beef soup and the beef larb, rare, however, once I saw karpow I couldn't resist. The restaurant is in a little strip mall. when I entered it, it was empty and plenty space. It one of the places that you sat yourself. I ordered the thom zap which is the laos beef soup. As well as the karpow. The karpow was amazing. The flea route was wonderful. I just wish I had more rice to go with it. When the soup came out, the server was nice enough to provide me a side of rice to accompany the soup, which is not usually included. Both items tasted amazing. I will be coming back to try their beef larb rare, as my friend suggested. Though, I might order takeout next time. read more

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We came here for dinner and got the larb and papaya salad. I figured it would ok to order a medium and I was so wrong. My mouth was on fire the entire meal but the flavor was so good I just kept on eating. I'm now scared to come back, but I would definitely give it another try. read more

Great place. Good food and good vibe. Very authentic food with customer service. Definitely come back for more

Always a hit. This is authentic Lao/Thai food. Service is always friendly. I love the boat noodles!

It's been a while since I've been back and this was a very disappointing experience. I had the boat noodle today and it was salty. The flavors I expect are a bit sweet, salty, and sour but all I tasted was saltiness. As I was eating, I then noticed a piece of hair so I shared with the owner/server and they brought out a new one. However this new one only had one piece of beef ball so basically it was the same bowl but just redressed? The meat ball was also sour smelled. Then came the jungle papaya salad that only had 2-3 shrimp and half a salted crab that was flavorless ($25 btw). The thai iceteas were in an extra small cup, but it was good so that's fine. The pad see ew with crispy pork was still delicious so I kept the 3 star. The restaurant did not have napkins other than the one piece that was given to us, so we would have to go ask. Everytime we needed something we would walk over and ask because they did not hear us or see us, maybe they are understaff so that's understandable. However, when we pressed the bell we can hear the server/owner saying OYYYY as if we were bothering her, and then she told us she can see us from the camera but never responded when we called T.T The restaurant itself was clean and they had nice decorations. They definitely need to make some improvements to their food, quantity, and service though. read more

Royal King Elephant - Boat noodle - Laotian Near Me - Garden Grove, California

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THE BEST SAUSAGE OF MY LIFE. Everything here is overall pretty good! My favorites are the Thai boat noodles, sausage and papaya salad. I love spicy and they do not play about the spice. 5 stars for service, quality of food, and the friendly ambiance. They really know how to make you feel at home. read more

The best, authentic Lao food in the whole OC! This review is long overdue. We have been coming here for nearly 3 years. Have tried almost everything on the menu and some items off the menu. Everything is very tasty. Here, they can create your dish specifically for you. Some of us, love pungent, spicy, tasteful food, all you have to do is request and they will make it just right. The service is very friendly, the vibe is always happy and fun. I highly recommend RKE. read more

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Someone brought this for a potluck at work and it was bussssiiiiiiin! The pad see ew was very good. Fresh noodles and tender meat. The papaya salad was so good it made me feel like I had abs. Super crunchy and acidic. My spice tolerance isn't that high, but their mild is still a little spicy. Tolerable as in mouth numbing on the higher side. But the fresh vegetables, especially the cucumbers will cool the heat down. Thai and Laotian cuisine doesn't play when it comes to spice so beware! read more

I have been here a few years in the past and thought that there food is decent but this last time a few days ago I came for a Lao papaya salad and was so very disappointed. The portion is extremely small, price is high but the taste is what gets me. It is so very bland for a Lao papaya salad. No taste whatsoever and VERY disappointing. I would not come back read more