Saladang for a long time has been one of LA's premiere Thai restaurants. As a matter of fact, Zagat's gave it the highest rating for any Thai restaurant in Los Angeles. But success comes with a price--long lines and impossible reservations plagued those who wanted to enjoy this wonderful Thai food. The problem was that there was no place to expand in the building they were in. However, the building across the parking lot was open, and so Saladang bought it and expanded here. However, this makes for a confusing situation. You now have two Siamese twin restaurants across the parking lot for each other. There are differences in each establishment. I am told the old Saladang is more a country menu, while the Saladang Song is more Thai gourmet, although some dishes overlap. It's a bit confusing, and I am never sure which place I am booking. On this visit, we picked Saladang Song. The ambience is much better, with a beautiful modern courtyard. The courtyard set with tables is dramatic, with high cement walls and large palm trees that reach high above the tables.
On this night, our service left a lot to be desired. It took a very long time for anyone to get to our table to order drinks and a longer time for anyone to come for our food order. Things were brought to our table very randomly, and some appetizers arrived after the main course was served. Drinks were not repoured unless we asked, and we only got one small bowl of rice for ten people. The help was hard to find, and if we wanted anything, we had to do a lot of work to flag a server down.
The appitizers were outstanding. I loved the coconut shrimp the best. However, our main course again seemed to fall short. The curries were delicous, but as mentioned, we were short on rice. I ordered a dish of spinach, mushrooms, and shrimp. It sounded good, but when I finally got it, it was mostly spinach with very little shrimp or mushrooms.
I love the old Saladang--the one with the country menu. I was much less impressed with Saladang Song. It is far hipper, and the setting is stunning, but I found (at least on this night) the service and food was not up to the original Saladang.