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| - A friend recommended Malee's to us just as we arrived in town and told him where we were staying. Malee's was three minutes away, so we zipped over there and were seated immediately on a VERY busy Monday night.
The service is incredible there. Even though the place was packed (and very noisy, due to the presence of a party of 14 seated just next to us), the wait staff and bussers were right on everything. As a former waiter (10 years in excellent restaurants in San Diego), I am generally pretty attuned to quality service. These people were obviously very well-trained; it was very impressive to see their coordination and cooperation with each other.
But, there is a reason I mentioned the service first. It's five star service, but unfortunately the food does not live up to that billing. My girlfriend and I love Thai, and we try to find a good Thai place whenever we travel. It's hard to find anything as good as Lanna Thai in Pacific Beach (San Diego), and this was no exception.
We got their veggie rolls for starters, and those came with a Plum Poison sauce that was very good. Unfortunately, it could not rescue the amazingly bland (though very fresh) rolls, which lacked any flavor despite the fresh ingredients. Our assessment was that fresh rolls without mint or cilantro or basil or SOMETHING are just rice noodles with no flavor. (again- if you want the best, go to Lanna Thai for these!)
We had a Pad noodle dish that was also fairly disappointing. The only food item that was the least bit impressive was the yellow curry veggies.
Lastly, a word of advice. If you're going to dine there in the winter (we ate there on February 23), take some warm clothing. The place was FREEZING. We could not wait to get out of there- only due to that one factor. The ambiance is really good- there was live music playing in the other room. But if you don't make the temperature of the restaurant accommodating, people will be shivering while they try to enjoy the cuisine.
That's all.
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