I probably can't say it any better than Julian did (check out his review), but the tapas at this place is awesome. We ordered the haw mork fish, and everybody loved it so much that we had to order more. The main curry dishes are just average though. This place really shines as a tapas place, and that's what I'd recommend anybody to get there -- forget any of the main dishes because you can just go to Bangkok Balcony just around the corner. Service is actually pretty awesome and the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable of their dishes. read more

I ordered delivery, and it was a really bad experience... I don't know what happened, but the crab cake dish (21$) is so SALTY!!! It tasted like the whole crab cake was marinated in salt for 10 years... probably the restaurant is trying to hide the stinky flavor of bad crab meat or something... I had several bites and cannot take it anymore... my lips are still numb from the crazy salt in the crab cake... read more

Silk Elephant - Thai Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I ordered the panang curry. I found something weird in it! Either a fish bone or a piece of hard plastic.. I couldn't tell. Kinda turned me off on the whole thing. The curry itself was pretty good. I should have gotten it more spicy I think. The service is decent and the decor is actually very beautiful. I don't eat curry very often and the anonymous object I found definitely made me sure that I won't be eating it for another year or two anywhere, especially here. read more

Silk Elephant - Panang Curry - Thai Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Simply amazing! Everything tasted so fresh and delicious. I can't believe I waited so long to try this place. Granted, there are a lot of restaurants in Squirrel Hill worth rating, but Silk Elephant truly stands out to me as one of the best. I ordered the mushroom soup, rice wrapper rolls, and veggie dumplings; my mom ordered two plates of corn fritters (8 pieces total) and chicken kebabs. All of my food was perfectly prepared and left me quite satiated without that burdensome feeling of being "too full." Also, the corn fritters were so clean tasting for a fried food which usually does not agree with me. Prices were very reasonable and came out to be about $35 for the two of us to have our fill of tea and many assorted dishes. Service was friendly and attentive. Perhaps the least exciting thing about our experience was that the chicken kebabs were a bit dry, but still pretty good. Otherwise I have absolutely zero complaints, and I can't wait to come back here and try many more dishes! read more

Silk Elephant - fresh & delicious! mushroom soup, rice wrapper rolls, veggie dumplings, & corn fritters - Thai Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I LOVE Silk Elephant! The food is delicious, and the service is outstanding! I am an event planner with Meetup.com. I'm the main organizer for a group called Pittsburgh Dining N' At, and an assistant organizer for ten other Meetup groups. When I plan a dinner, I often cross-post the event on multiple Meetup groups, resulting in quite a few RSVPS. I have now been to Silk Elephant with a large group of people TWICE in 2013 on major holidays, and both times they did an outstanding job of accommodating our needs. My group went there for dinner on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day 2013. Both times, the food was fantastic and the service was excellent. I asked for separate checks, which is not easy in a group of 18 people for Easter, and 12 people for Christmas dinner. The event planner and the wait staff went out of their way to help make these two dinners a huge success. Everyone had a great time and raved about their food. I look forward to going back again soon, since everything on the menu looks so good. I took a lot of pics of the food, so you can see for yourself the delicious food we enjoyed. I highly recommend Silk Elephant. read more

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Ordered Silk Elephant via UberEATS. Overall, food was tasty and portions were good. I really liked the crispy duck salad. The panang curry with chicken was tasty but could have been a little spicier -- they don't ask for a spice level when you order. read more

Silk Elephant - Crispy duck salad - Thai Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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My favorite Thai food spot in Pittsburgh. Pad Thai is great and offers so many flavors. The lunch specials are great too - I think $9 for the main dish, soup of the day, egg roll, and salad. Ambiance is great too. The only area of improvement would be the friendliness from workers. There are two particular ladies who always sound annoyed when answering the phone and they sound a bit rude. read more

The first place where the delivery tasted identical to restaurant quality. The See Ew and Basil Fried rice were both delicious! They came hot and the portion size was great. As in previous reviews, we would suggest getting something above "0" spice even if you don't like spicy foods, the flavors were definitely more intense on the rice at 7 vs the Pad See Ew at 1, which was not spicy in the slightest but I felt the sauce was still great. Our central complaint was that the shrimp in the dishes came with tails on. Sides were pretty good as well, we tried the crab and shrimp dumplings as well as the chicken spring rolls. Not as great as the entrees but definitely nothing to complain about. Finally, the Thai iced tea was perfect! Even as delivery. Overall, it is a pricier choice so may have to be viewed as a "nice" meal but if you want to really enjoy something ordered online or plan to have a good meal in, I would highly recommend. read more

I split four orders of tapas with a friend. The first dish I tried was fish cakes. The cakes were a bit bland with the scallions in the cakes being the most prominent flavor; I couldn't discern the type of fish from the taste of the cake, but the fish cakes came with a tasty ginger sauce (which was called a cucumber sauce). Next, I tried chicken wrapped in a panandus leaves. It was a hassle to uncover the chicken because you are not supposed to eat the leaves, but it ended up being my favorite tapa. The chicken had an unique spice to it but was also a little dry; the dish did come with a sesame sauce which made the dish less dry (but was likely some soy and corn syrup based sauce). The third dish I tried was Thai shrimp and pork toast with a layer of sesame seeds on top. I thought this was the most interesting tapa; however, my palate must not be sensitive enough to discern the subtle flavors because I did not taste any shrimp or pork with the breading and the sesame seeds contributing all of the flavor. Last, I tried a mixed seafood dumpling. It was probably my second favorite tapa, but the serving was quite tiny and the dough was too thick for such a small dumpling. If the dumpling had more filling then this could have been a very good dish. The service was fine. Our waitress was knowledgeable about the specials and was quite nice. The entire staff was also friendly. read more

I went here for my 1-yr wedding anniversary this past weekend and really liked it. My husband got the duck curry and I got the pad thai with beef. Our waiter was really soft-spoken and nice. We gave him a big tip because he was great. Our portions were a good size, the taste was great and the ambiance is very upscale. The prices were regular (between $13 - $18 for an entree). The seating is very tight and I felt like they were really making people squeeze into their narrow booths and chairs. The customers on either side of me kept brushing up against me and dropping my coat. I would come back but only in warmer weather on a week night to avoid the density of people. read more

Came here for their lunch special today and was pleasantly impressed. For $8.50, you get a WIDE selection of dishes (from fried rice to noodles, curry or salads), an appetizer (spring rolls) and a bowl of soup. I got the pad see-u and while it was a little too oily, it didn't taste bad. I particularly enjoyed the spring rolls too. I'll definitely come back again for their lunch special and try something different from their extensive menu. PS: for the spicy dishes, you get to choose your spicy-ness from a range of 1-10. read more

Silk Elephant - Thai Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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They need to hire more servers. They need to hire more servers. They need to hire more servers. They need to hire more servers. It's impossible to enjoy your wine, which is understandably pricey, when you are waiting fifteen minute for it. It's impossible to enjoy your dinner when you watched it languish on the kitchen shelf for fifteen minutes before being served. It's impossible to have enjoy the rare treat of going out for a meal when you watch the poor employees have to be the hostess, bartender, bus person, and server. This was my first visit and probably the last. read more

Silk Elephant was alway a place I kept hearing I should go to and I can see why! I got the Pumpkin Curry and Chicken and it was fantastic! I left there feeling full and satisfied with my visit, which is unique in this case cause I never order curry. I took a chance to try something new and I'm happy I wasn't disappointed taking a risk with a place I've never been to before. I hope to return here in the near future! read more

Silk Elephant - Pumpkin Curry with Grilled Chicken - Thai Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Ate here for the first time and wasn't impressed. The Tom Yum soup was delicious, but that's about it. The salad was bland and didn't have much substance to it. I ordered a 6 for spiciness but it tasted like a 2. It only had 4 shrimp, wilted iceberg lettuce, a few peanuts, and some shredded carrot and something else. I don't recall the exact name of the salad. My boyfriend had the calamari, which he said was fine. He also had the fruity fried rice, which he said was good but also not spicy. I tried a bite and though it was greasy and the rice seemed overcooked. The flavor was fine though. With so many excellent restaurants in Squirrel Hill, I see no need to eat here again. Wish we would have went somewhere else. read more

The food was flavorful. I ordered Thai style noodles without the broth. I usually do not opt to take food home, but I took what I did not eat home since it was so good. Additionally, the server was polite and not pushy, which makes for a pleasant experience as I tend to ask questions about food due to allergies. read more

Recently ate at Silk Elephant and immediately thought, why haven't I been coming here more often? Everything about my meal was top-notch. Started with the Fresh Rolls, comes two per order, stuffed with fresh tofu, rice noodles, carrots, lettuce, mint, basil, etc., served with a sweet brown sauce topped with peanuts. Delicious, huge, and oh so fresh! They were chock-full of incredibly fresh ingredients, and even the sweet sauce and the fresh peanuts added so much additional flavor. Light app but also so filling. For my entrée I got the Pad See Ew with vegetables, made vegan by omitting the egg and fish sauce. It was truly out of this world. One of the best Pad See Ew's I've ever eaten - the flavor was bursting, the noodles were so broad and fresh, 8/10 spice level was perfectly spicy but not too overwhelming, and it was loaded with so many veggies. Not one thing I would have changed. Asked for some extra chili sauce on the side which I only had to use with the spring rolls, as my noodles were perfectly seasoned. Cannot wait to come back and try some additional entrees. read more

Silk Elephant - Thai Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This place has a really good ambience and the mood seems really fancy. We ordered salmon roll, Pad See Ew, and Duck Curry. We thought the salmon roll was good and I enjoyed my Pad See Ew. The duck curry was sweeter than expected, probably because it had more coconut than other places. They ask for spicy levels from 1-10 and I asked for my Pad See Ew to be 7/10 but when it arrived it was 0/10 which was a bummer but they did provide hot sauce on the side. Overall, it was a good experience and the cost wasn't too crazy considering the restaurant did give off a fancy vibe. I would come back. read more

I really like this place for lunch. They have a much smaller menu, but for $8.5, you get a salad, spring roll, soup and entree. I absolutely love their thai noodle curry which has everything I like put in a nice hot curry (steamed noodles, cooked veggies, fresh veggies, with crispy noodles on top). They are open till 3 pm unlike other lunch places. This helps me grab late lunches that are difficult to get on Craig St. The ambience is great and is usually pretty quiet in the afternoons. I wish the waitresses are nicer to me considering how often I go to this place. Some of them rarely smile and are super curt. read more

In one word ....disappointing, the lava cake for them to make it up was the best part of the dining experience. Even the lava cake was very similar to the frozen one from Trader Joe with a cheaper vanilla ice cream. read more

I am actually sitting for dinner while I write this review. This was one place I would come for dinner driving 2 hrs. Things have changed the spring rolls were burned plated and served . Manager came by said they were busy and should've not played it . Then they bring the spring roll back with dinner. Which was all Luke warm . I would recommend you find another Thai place . read more

This place is ok. I ordered basil fried rice with shrimp. What I didnt like about the food was they only give you 4 pieces of shrimp, way more veggies than rice. I Iove peppers and onions but that's all I was eating, there are barely any rice. The food was good but the chef needs to understand portions.. you cant give 4 shrimp to a meal then load it up with peppers and onions with a cup full of rice. Would I go back? Yes but will eat in so that I can confront the chef if they are still doing these silly portions. read more

Best Thai food in pgh. Great spot for classic noodle dishes like pad thai and pad see ewe (my personal favorite). Curry and appetizers are also excellent. read more

I went on a Saturday afternoon with my friends and there was literally no one in there but a couple who already had their food. It took them almost an hour to make our food. A couple came in after us and their food came to them before I got my Pad thai. The pad Thai was good(noodles were kind of hard) but damn the wait was ridiculous. read more

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Silk Elephant is our go-to restaurant when we have visitors, or when we're feeling a little fancy but don't want to venture outside of Sq Hill. I love their signature cocktails like the Asian Pear Martini & the Ginger Cooler. The duck dishes are to die for, as are the Thai Crab Crowns and Dumplings. My husbands loves getting the whole flash-fried fish. I wish the cocktails and tapas were a little less expensive, but their cost is on par with similar restaurants. Reservations will generally make your life easier, but are not required. read more

Contrary to previous reviews, I thought Silk Elephant was surprisingly affordable - maybe because we don't eat seafood. Three Thai iced teas and six tapas dishes came to less than $40 before tip. I fell in love with a pumpkin curry soup, one of the specials of the evening. If they offer this, try it - it's just spicy enough, with pepitas to add a little crunch. The fresh rolls were a little bland, as they tend to be, but the sauce improves them. I wasn't crazy about the steamed veggie dumplings (too gummy) and the tofu crisp was just okay. My boyfriend really liked the chicken curry puffs and said they reminded him of samosas. The atmosphere is okay - it was a little quiet, the tables are a bit too close together in the part of the restaurant near Murray Avenue, and that part of the restaurant is also very drafty. It was surprisingly casual - lots of baseball hats and jeans. I would recommend Bangkok Balcony if you're starving, but Silk Elephant if you're just in the mood for a snack and a drink. read more

This is easily my favorite treat myself restaurant. I cannot say no to the rack of lamb tapas. The pad Thai and pad see ew are solid. Sometimes I feel more adventurous and Silk Elephant is a great place for that too. Great cocktails and wine selection too. Needless to say, I usually walk away full and with a big bill! read more

One of my major flaws is how quickly I desire change. I don't like doing the same thing for very long--and I don't like eating the same dish for very long. You can imagine, then, that the very concept of tapas excites me. I also love Thai food. So, a restaurant that has Thai tapas? I was in heaven. SIlk Elephant is owned by the same people who own the Bangkok Balcony just around the corner. The Bangkok Balcony is much more of a straight-up fancy Thai Restaurant. Silk Elephant is a Tapas & Bar experience. Like the Bangkok Balcony the decor is beautiful and slightly on the upscale side. Silk Elephant does offer many of the normal entrees that Bangkok Balcony offers. If you want a regular entree experience, go to Bangkok Balcony! You're at Silk Elephant to get the tapas! Every single dish is delicious. I love ordering the tapas three at a time--and just as my table is finishing a round we'll work out the next three that we'll order. I love their Salmon Dumplings and the Corn Fritters and the Taro Crunch. My only wish is that they had more tapas on the curry side of things. You can get a wide variety of curry entrees at the Bangkok Balcony, but you won't find very many curry-inspired tapas. The price is also not what I've come to love from dim sum--the $6 and $7 tapa dishes add up very quickly, so I usually reserved my visits to special occasions. read more

I went to the Silk Elephant on a whim with my girlfriend to see what they had to offer in the realm of Thai tapas and we were impressed. The decor is very sharp and would be a great place for a date or a small friendly gathering. The waiter was very attentive and kept our drinks filled. The food was really good and the fact that it was tapas made the experience even more fulfilling. It's fun to order food you're unfamiliar with but the prospect of getting an entire entree and not liking it is always a deterrent. With tapas you can order a bunch of little items and try everything your heart desires. It's especially fun when you're with a few people because you end up leaving the restaurant having sampled many many things. Everything we ordered was delicious and looked good. The plating and presentation was superb. I'd definitely take a date here, it's a really impressive place that wont hit your wallet too hard. If you have a few friends that enjoy culinary adventure it would be fun to order a bunch of things and pass them around. read more

Food: The menu offers both tapas and entrees. We have been to Silk Elephant multiple times, and each time we ordered entrees with 1-2 tapas as appetizers. The soups and entrees are ordered on a 1-10 spicy scale. The mushroom soup and the Tom Kha are both superb. The fresh rolls are a great vegetarian tapa/appetizer. All entrees we've ordered, from curries to noodles are top notch. We have yet to order dessert. The portions are large enough to fill your belly and bring a little home for the next day. There are plenty of vegetarian options, and the menu is huge in general. Definitely something available for everyone. Price: The prices are very reasonable. With wine, an appetizer, two entrees and no dessert, two of us ate for just over $50. Entrees, tapas, and soups are all fairly priced. Drinks: Full bar available, good wine selections, and the tea is fantastic. Atmosphere: Silk Elephant looks like a ritzy restaurant but feels comfortable. A great place to take a date or your family. The tables are a little too close together in areas. The bathrooms are sparkling clean and the bar is nice. The silverware is pretty cool too. Service: The service is impeccable. Our water glasses were re-filled, no exaggeration, 15-20 times each. The wait staff checked on every course to see if we liked it or needed anything. The food was delivered at a nice pace that gave us time for each portion but didn't have us eating dinner for 2 hours. Our waitress spoke incredibly quietly though, so you may have to ask her to speak up if you get her. (+): great service, very tasty food, a variety of choices, nice atmosphere (-): some tables are too close together Would I go back again? Absolutely. read more

We went to Silk Elephant after partaking in a movie. Ordered the Mussels and discovered it came with 2 mussels and all filler. I requested a second order without the filler. Literally, a single bowl of 2 mussels came out. For the prices, portions (even considering it's tapas) are pathetic. read more

Boring, not authentic. Food was quite spicy on a 3/10 scale but HOT peppers alone to not make an authentic, correctly-spiced Thai meal. Very pretty decor, though. I would go there again, for a business lunch I don't have a lot of money to explore Pittsburgh's many restaurants right now. I'm really bummed I wasted an opportunity on this one. read more

I'm amazed at all these positive reviews? But I saw them too, and I'm visiting the area, so I assumed this would be THE place to get Thai food. Making them even more appealing was that they would deliver the food to my hotel on the waterfront . Yay! Right? That's not typical, and I willingly paid more to get chicken pad Thai, dumplings and Tom Kha soup for take out and delivery. Normally I would say that was the problem - because the food was cold and dry. But aside from being cold and very dry, there wasn't a bay leaf or basil leaf or any really good Thai flavors in any of the food. The soup had so much lime in it - way overkill - that the coconut flavor was drowned out. The chicken was overcooked, hard and dry in all three dishes, and the dumplings were as hard as little boulders. Usually I have to keep myself from polishing off my extra Thai food and disciplining myself to save some for later - especially pad Thai which is addictive done well. I'm not kidding when I say this was just dry, gloppy under seasoned noodles with peanuts and bean sprouts sprinkled on the side. Maybe if I had actually gone into the restaurant it would have been a completely different story. But I won't. In fact it was so bad, I threw out 80% of it and only ate the three dumplings which weren't good either. $35 for bad takeout Thai food later, I'm wondering how they earned all these great Yelp ratings! Go figure. read more

Incredible food that will leave you wanting more. The ambiance of the venue is sweet and lovely. It's located on the lively Murray Ave in Squirrel Hill so you can't go wrong there! Service can be a little slow if you go on busy nights, but it is still one of my favorite places to eat in Pittsburgh! read more

The food was half decent, half just OK. We got the "rack of lamb" appetizer, scallops with chili paste, tamarind duck, and taro crunch. The duck was zingy and the taro lived up to its name. The lamb and the scallops, however, were rather disappointing. The scallops didn't taste fresh and the taste was overwhelmed by the chili. The lamb tasted a bit insipid. Also, the veggies that came with the dishes were overdone and flaccid, and were the same for every dish. *Edit I went back for drinks with a friend and was pleasantly surprised. The chocolate martini was delicious and the bartender was quite friendly and even added more chocolate for my friend. read more

I have to edit this because I just ate there tonight and had a not-so-pleasant experience. The restaurant was empty, it being a weeknight and all, but it still took us forever to get our food. We ordered soup and then several minutes later the waiter came back to take the rest of our order - the food we ordered later came before our soup. Not cool. We ordered a beef curry and I lost my appetite in response to the fact that the beef was not tender at all, in fact almost crunchy in a way. This was a very uncomfortable experience... the hostess even seated us at a small cramped table instead of a more spacious booth despite the fact that it was empty. We were one of out of three parties in the entire restaurant. I think I won't be going back here anytime soon. Not to mention that the party next to us seemed like obnoxious working adults having a mid-life crisis in need of a trendy and exotic foray and proving their capacity to be interesting and exciting by eating thai food, trying to act like some sort of thai savant by ordering a 'thai beer' that was actually chinese. Yeah. _________________________________________________________ Old Review: The Thai food here is definitely Americanized and not as spicy as it should be, but I'm always more satisfied with a place that automatically brings out the spice dishes so that you can instantly add more spice to your plate - also helpful when sharing dishes / ordering for groups. The decor definitely looks nice, although sometimes I question whether certain aspects are actually 'thai'... nonetheless, friendly service, I've never had any bad experiences, and if you are a student in the Oakland area, this is probably the best choice for thai food... read more

Woefully average Thai food with even worse service. We were a group of 8 so I can understand that's hard to accommodate EXCEPT we were literally the only people in the restaurant so it shouldn't have been a problem. For appetizers we ordered soups, taro egg rolls, and crispy tofu. The egg rolls were good but everything else was pretty basic. The timing was very off...our server brought our apps and immediately started bringing over our dinner entrees. Not enough time between courses. Annoyingly enough, half our entrees came out and the other half trickled in over the next half hour so by time we got our fried rice the red curry we had ordered to pair with it was already cold. The server was kind but pretty inattentive and unapologetic about everything. The food is nothing special and the service only makes it worse. Save yourself time and go to Nicky's or Spice Island if you're in the area. This place just isn't worth it. read more

I want to give this place 1 star but added an extra star because there was one particular dish I liked. We were also seated quickly. I knew it was dangerous to try Thai in Pittsburgh given that my regular Thai place is the amazing Sripraphai in NY. I think the quality of the food and preparation is extremely poor, as if whoever is preparing the food is still learning how to cook. We had the morning glory watercress salad, which is a C compared to the A+ fried watercress at Sripraphai. But if I wasn't comparing, this dish would actually be my favorite. The fried watercress came out in globs, but the star of the plate was the chicken in lemongrass and lime juice. There was a slight hint of tamarind and belachan. You could actually order rice and eat this as a meal instead of a starter. Also, a level 7 spicy turned out to be more like 4. Next time I'm ordering a level 10. The rack of lamb was terrible. The gravy tasted like a bad experiment and didn't remotely taste Thai. The lamb was so small and thin. I would not recommend ordering this. The Siam Paragon was tasty and had the flavors there, but the execution was poor. The fried egg noodle wasn't crispy, and the sticky rice was very, very, very HARD and difficult to even chew! I've never been to a Thai place who screwed up sticky rice. I was really disappointed because I was looking forward to a mango and sticky rice dessert. I ordered mango juice which tasted old and WARM, so I gave it to my bf who gave me his Thai ice tea, which was good. I would be back to try other things because the price is so reasonable, and I do really like the fried watercress salad. I'll keep my expectations low next time. read more

Some of the worst Thai food I have had outside the Midwest I would give it one star if the spring rolls weren't actually somewhat good. Phad thai is the test of a thai restaurant. This edition of the dish was sorely lacking. The noodles were clumped together from being left to cool down. They were oily and under spiced. The veggies were non existent. Good spring rolls though. read more

Silk Elephant is one of my favorite places in Pittsburgh. The atmosphere is cozy and romantic, but the big glass windows allows you to people-watch Murray Ave. It's a great combo! Their food is to die for. I'm usually a Green Curry, spice 7 with shrimp. I was in the mood for something different and ordered the basil fried rice. I highly recommend it! The abundant fresh basil was bursting, and the rice was not greasy at all. As for their tapas... I haven't had any I don't rave about. Their corn fritters are some of the best I've ever had. Each tapas comes with a unique dipping sauce that makes eating the bite size meals that much more enjoyable. read more

The service was fast. We ordered Pad See Ew at level 2 which was good but we plan to order a higher heat level to make it tastier. I would definitely order again. read more