Thai Elephant restaurant shows promise and brings new taste to Ormond Beach

ORMOND BEACH — For 14 years, the Thai Elephant restaurant was a steady business in New York City for Effy Irawati and her husband, Budi. Then the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to close down in 2020.

Fortunately, the couple moved to Ormond Beach. They recently opened a restaurant of the same name, offering unique and authentic flavors. The restaurant is located next to the Publix Supermarket in Halifax Plantation Village just off Old Dixie Highway.

“It’s everything at the same time,” Irawati said of the Thai Elephant's cuisine. “Spicy, salty, sweet, all at the same time.”

Irawati and her family are originally from Indonesia. Because of the country’s proximity to Thailand, culinary habits are “99%” alike, she said.

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The Thai Elephant's menu is the same one they previously offered at their location in New York City. It includes a large variety of dishes that those familiar with the Asian country’s cuisine might recognize.

Appetizers range between $5 and $10 and include spring rolls, which can be filled with either pork or shrimp; Thai Shumai, which consists of steamed ground chicken with shrimp, water chestnut, cilantro and sweet chili sauce; and Thai Style Steamed Mussels, which are served along with several vegetables.

But curry, fried rice, and noodle dishes have been the go-to items so far, Irawati said. The restaurant’s Pad Thai (rice noodles sauteed with egg, peanuts, scallions and bean sprouts) have earned Thai Elephant multiple awards from GrubHub for best Pad Thai in the past.

All the noodle, fried rice, and curry dishes (which include the Panang Curry with coconut milk and lime leaves and the Spicy Basil Fried Rice) are priced between $13 and $20, depending on the protein the customer chooses for the dish, which can include chicken, duck, pork, beef, shrimp and squid.

'Here the Thai food is very fresh'

Ormond Beach resident Marsha Moskowitz said she visited the restaurant during its opening weekend and found it “phenomenal.”

“We were not disappointed,” Moskowitz said. “I had the mango sticky rice (for dessert), my absolute favorite.”

The dessert, Moskowitz pointed out, uses black sticky rice instead of the typically Japanese white sticky rice.

Moskowitz and her husband have traveled to Thailand in the past and fell in love with the new flavors they discovered there. The farming culture of the country coupled with the usual freshness of ingredients is something Moskowitz liked about Thai cuisine and sees replicated in Irawati’s food.

“The difference in here is the Thai food is very fresh,” she said. “The attention to detail is amazing.”

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The Ormond Beach resident said she met and spoke with Irawati about the restaurant and her passion for Thai food.

“I’m very fortunate they moved over here, almost in my backyard,” Moskowitz added.

Irawati said that during the restaurant’s soft opening on Saturday, Dec. 11, she was flooded with customers at the door waiting for one of the few tables inside. They also received a lot of takeout orders over the phone.

“I told a customer, ‘I can’t take orders anymore,’” Irawati said.

'I have my experience and I can do it'

Irawati has been doing everything at the restaurant: taking phone orders, waiting on customers, and even helping her husband prepare the food.

Budi learned his way around the kitchen working in Thai restaurants in New York City, which gave the couple the chance to start their original restaurant.

Irawati said she decided to open the new Thai Elephant after moving to Florida to live with her son.

“I said ‘why not?’ I have my experience and I can do it, so I tried to find a place and finally, we found the place here,” Irawati said.

Three years after opening their location in New York City, they opened Thai Elephant 2 in Patterson, New York, which remains open and is run by Irawati’s brother.

For her new Ormond Beach restaurant, Irawati is hoping to eventually hire some help. But she plans to continue to focus the restaurant formula that has worked in the past.

“We manage the quality, the taste, everything,” she said. “It’s never going to be changed.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Thai Elephant

WHERE: 3768 Roscommon Dr., Ormond Beach

HOURS: Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

INFO: www.facebook.com/ThaiElephantOrmondBeach, or 386-675-6696

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: New Thai food restaurant Thai Elephant opens in Ormond Beach