Ayada Thai - Chelsea Market

Favorite Thai restaurant in Manhattan, I've ordered pick up here more times than I can count. I've never dined in though the space inside looks small, dim, and cozy.

But what I'm really writing about is the food, it's always been on point, authentic and delicious. I've tried so many dishes and I like them all - the pad see ew, drunken noodles, pad Thai, Thai papaya salad, Thai iced tea with milk etc.

I love the food and flavors here.

Delivery is consistent, can't complain. Food is good. This review is for the dining experience inside the restaurant.


I recently dined here and received the WORST service imaginable. This is coming from someone who works in the restaurant industry.

I didn't get the servers name, since they didn't bother introducing themselves. But he was a heavy set, young Asian man. Probably mid to late 20s(prepare yourself if you end up getting them too). We sat down and took our m coats off. My friend and I hadn't even picked up our menus when the server came up and said "do you know what you want to order??". We stare at the stacked menus they placed on the table 30 seconds ago, look at them, and say, "no, we need a few minutes". They come back a minute later, visibly rushing us and repeat themselves like a broken record, "do you know what you want to order??".

These are the only words we have heard come out from their mouth since we sat down.


Rude, but okay. We placed our drink and food order. Food comes out very quickly. Hot. Good.

We shared 2 salads, and 1 pad thai. We barely touched our pad Thai when he comes up to the table and says "can I clear the table???". My friend and I laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation, lol. He ended up clearing our table and packed our food. Not sure why there was need to rush my friend and I. Especially when there was a man and his wife next to us with loads of plates on their table.

Seems like they:
a) arent trained well
b) not socially aware
c) rude af
d) all of the above

Weird vibe. Will continue to order delivery but I refuse to pay for shitty service. Beware.

After walking around Chelsea Market, we decided on Ayada Thai since there was available seating and we were in the mood for Asian. Being a big fan of Thai food, I had high hopes for this place. We ordered some of the more "popular" dishes such as:

* Crab Roll - 9/10: actually one of my favorite items of the meal, was a great starter
* Drunken Noodle - 6/10: not sure what it was, but it didn't hit the spot for me
* Tom Yum - 6/10: was weirdly like way too much mushroom
* Crispy Duck Panang - 7/10: the duck was crispy and the sauce was delicious

I got the drunken noodle with crispy duck takeout and ate it outside at the nearby amphitheater on Little Island. I was a little nervous at first because they didn't ask me what spice level I wanted but the spice was relatively mild. It wasn't spicy throughout but I got a couple hits when I ate a piece of jalapeño. The duck was not that crispy but that may have been because I got it takeout. The food was ready in 15 minutes so it was perfect for a quick bite.

Came here for early dinner in Chelsea market. I thought the food was just okay. If you're craving Thai food, I recommend going to a different restaurant since there are so many good Thai places in Manhattan. Alittle overpriced for the quality and flavor of the dishes. Ambiance was nice, but restaurant was playing loud pop music which didn't match the interior Thai design. Service was good.

+.5 for service

After almost giving up trying to find a restaurant with seating in the Chelsea Market, my parents and I went here to see if they have open spots. It didn't look like it at first, but the waiter took us through what looked like a back hallway/storage room to another section of the restaurant, which had open tables.

In 2022 when I visited NYC I passed by the Ayada location in Queens. I didn't end up going there and went to another Thai place as well, though I did make a note of Ayada for something I'll go to in the future.

We shared a tom kha, pineapple duck curry, shrimp and chicken dumpling, and a pad se ew. The tom kha had a nice coconut taste to it. The shrimp and chicken dumpling resembles siu mai (though without the pork). It's fine for my mom who normally can't eat pork, though for me it's nothing out of the ordinary. My dad mostly ate the pineapple duck curry, but he said the curry flavour was amazing and the duck was tender and juicy. The pad se ew was good in the sense that the broccoli was easy to chew and the noodles were of perfect texture.

We were incredibly full after and found the prices to be reasonable for Manhattan. Definitely recommend this place if you're not willing to travel to Queens for authentic Thai.

Please note that this review is based solely on drinks as no food items were ordered.

Stumbled across this place while browsing through Chelsea Market and saw that it was happy hour. It's been an awhile since I've attended happy hour and thought it would be perfect after attending the Manga in New York exhibit. The everyday happy hour prices are decent $10 wines, $12 cocktails, and $8 beers.

I ordered a Pinot Grigio and was given Pinot Noir instead, no biggie. Though it would have been nice to receive what I ordered. My boyfriend ordered the Singha Premium Lager and was content. The vibes were pretty chill and the music wasn't too loud. We were able to have a conversation without yelling. I wouldn't mind coming back to check out the food.

Thai spot inside Chelsea Market. Easily seated on a Saturday during lunch time. The servers are friendly and everything was served very quickly. We ordered 2 shrimp pad Thai and tofu drunken noodle and some steamed Chinese kale for 3 people. The portions were enormous. We should've just shared one pad Thai rather than get two since we ended up taking a full portion home. Both had good, strong flavors. The pad Thai was a bit too sweet for my taste but they were generous with the shrimp.

This is a good Thai spot in the Chelsea market after browsing the market. It's a pretty big spot as they also took over the area next to one of the stores. I was confused at first because the hostess took us for a stroll towards the hall and into the back area where there were plenty of other seatings and the night I went had a drag show too which was really cool! For food we got the calamari and pad Thai and it was not bad! Also got some Thai beers to drink.

(Overall: 78% | C) - Overall, the prices are reasonable given its location at Chelsea Market for the quality of food. The one major point of note is that I did get a bit of strange vibes from the service, but otherwise is alright.

(Som Tum: 90% | A) - This green papaya salad is nicely made with enough brine to give it generous flavor.

(Pad Thai: 70% | C) - The pork is cooked tenderly and the noodles are well flavored. Unfortunately, the noodles were not adequately soaked or cooked making a portion of the dish not properly cooked.

IG: @amei.eats