The Blue Elephant Trail

Great food, same as the Avon location but much smaller. I knocked a star for how narrow the restaurant is, a little difficult to walk around but the food is amazing. Get the spring rolls & fried rice!

Wonderful find in west Hartford center. Outside dining a plus. Pad see ew perfection. Thai basil, noodles, and shrimp in a well seasoned sauce hit the mark. Added chili paste to help the heat. The surprise find was the soup included with meal; light yet tart and full of crisp vegetables (carrots, mushrooms, onions, broccoli).

I had the chicken pad thai and it’s definitely one of the best I’ve had. It was made very well and I was very happy with my dine-​in experience here.

Gr8 location with patio seating… indoor seating can get cramped when crowded… it’s almost like u can’t get in out out without rubbing into ur neighbor… And that’s a big no-​no for me.
I have dined here quite a few times and the food is never consistent… During my last visit I was craving for some Pad Thai but the dish was so one note… it lacked dimension the sweet, spice, savory and tanginess that a pad Thai should have.
Even with all that said… The food most of the times is good… I recommend curry puffs… the pastry is really flaky with a hearty filling.
I never got to try their desserts (looks really good though) …I’m so stuffed half way through the main course I never have any room left. Maybe next time I’m should start of with a dessert.

Good and quick service, beautiful presentation, and the complimentary pickled veggies are pretty great too.
The food itself, however, isn’t terrible but does lack significant authenticity. There are better Thai places in the area with superior taste and better prices.
It was an overall decent experience however it isn’t likely that I will be returning.

I love the ambience of Blue Elephant. They also have a killer drink menu & happy hour deals are awesome. However for the food, I am impartial to King & I. But this is a much nicer place to take a date or friends for a night out. Portions aren’t huge & it’s a little pricier than other Thai restaurants in the area, but that’s what you get in the center.

Outstanding! The red curry sauce was amazing. All of the food was outstanding. The service was exceptional as well. This is by far, the best Thai restaurant I have ever been too.

Arriving home from a few days of business travel I was in need of something savory, noodly, and saucy. Called Blue Elephant from the airport and, as promised, my drunken noodle was ready for pick up right when they said it would be. The hostess could tell I was exhausted but did her best to make me smile and feel welcome — which she did. In my experience the staff inside of Blue Elephant are all this friendly. The food is typically very good but you may get an odd occasion where noodles are a little over done which was my experience this week. I also found it odd to have tomatoes in the mix this go-​around but hey — veggie are veggies. Unless it’s a tomato and then it’s a fruit. whatever. I’ll keep giving them another shot. I have been unimpressed by other famous Thai choices nearby. Parking sometimes a challenge if you’re just picking up so grab a buddy to drop you off while you run-​in. Or eat inside and admire the lovely decorations. Oh, and BYOB!

Blue Elephant Trail is a hidden gem of West Hartford center. The food is great and the prices are better. There isn’t usually much of a wait, and have a full bar. Take out is always good as well.
You won’t be disappointed with anything on the menu. I usually do either one of the Thai curries which are very filling.
Great place for a quick tasty dinner, with no hassels.

I like the atmosphere and the outdoor seating, but The Blue Elephant Trail was just ok.
We’ve done dinner here a number of times, and in order for us to truly appreciate all of the flavors we usually try to order different things to share.
For appetizers I like the spicy thai mussels. Steamed mussels in a coconut curry broth, these babies are really tasty. The chicken/​beef satay is rather boring. I like the soups though can’t go wrong with the intense tom yum or flavorful tom kha soup.
There are a number of entrées on the menu. But I appreciate the turmeric lemongrass frog legs. It sounds unusual but, not only is it really yummy but it’s prepared really well. I also like the cashew nut plate. Cashew nuts, baby corn, pineapple, snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, onions and scallions — it’s a great combination. All of the Thai Classics dishes come with your choice of beef, chicken, pork, or tofu. You’d be paying an additional $ 3 for shrimp or squid; $ 4 for combination of scallops, shrimp and squid. They also come with come with jasmine or brown rice. The red and green thai curries are alright.
Haven’t tried any of their signature martinis, or beer selection. Not much that jumps out at me to try, so when we do go, we settle for the 337 Cabarnet Sauvignon: 9/​glass, 28/​bottle.
Altogether, Blue Elephant Trail isn’t bad, but it isn’t great. Pricing is on the higher side which when coupled with annoying parking, makes for an expensive Thai dinner. Bike, walk or take the bus in if you can.
I will have to come back and try their Happy Hour or Lunch, as dinner are just so-​so.

I love the dishes in blue! It is the best Thai food I ever had! Highly recommended this restaurant. I like the pineapple fried rice and drunken noodle most. Besides, mango sticky rice is a great dessert! I also went to the sister restaurant in Avon which is great too. Different style but same food!

Great pad Thai had a very strange experience with the service but the quality of the food will
Absolutely have me coming for more!

My first visit here was great. I ordered the crispy chicken pad Thai and I was not disappointed. This might be my new favorite spot for iced Thai tea as well. Everything about it was perfect. The staff was very accommodating and I will definitely be back :)

Only okay, even though it sounds like it would be right up my alley. I got the drunken noodles and this is probably a user error because I had no idea these would not be noodles at all, but flat, flappy, formless rice-​based lumps. Noodles = long strands of a type of carb! It’s not hard to mess up. I guess the sauce was good and the beef was okay but the texture and the horrible shapeless mess didn’t make this meal awesome. The description on the menu should definitely call out the shape of these «noodles» so I would have avoided this amoeba — shaped failure.
The free little pickled cucumber salad before the meal was cute, the lighting fixtures were sparkly and cool, the service was friendly enough… but prices were high, portions were only medium sized and taste was very average. Not sure why my hubs raves about this place but every other Thai restaurant I’ve been to have been better.

I’m not going to recommend the Pad Thai which is the most popular Thai dish (assumingly). It’s a sad story so please, bring out your tissues!
I love spicy food, noodles and then combined with the complex flavors of Thai spices and bam, pad Thai should be heavenly!
Major fail tonight for the Blue Elephant Trail.
The presentation was great so I dug my chop sticks into the noodles and took my first bite. The heat from the spice was so powerful my eyes swelled up and my mouth was like a nuclear bomb! I’m no mild spice wimp either! I love a nice balance of heat and flavor :) Anyways, I realized the soggy scallion in that bite was the culprit!!! After recovering, I tried a few more bites before I grudgingly gave up. The noodles were dry yet covered in sauce. hmm? The flavor was flat when it should have been singing with flavor! Sweet meets spice and falls in love kind of song. The after taste was just not palatable with a bold stale lingering… yuck.
Conclusion: The soggy scallion must have been sitting in the sauce for at least a full day which means my noodle plate was not fresh! Left over sauce/​noodles from the weekend??? I am currently praying for no food poisoning right now since I only had like 10 bites.
Oh, the fried chicken, (I wanted to try something different) was bland and really the perfect compliment for this disgusting dish since it too had no flavor. The service was friendly but lacking real quality which just like their food.
Tip: Puket Café II in Cromwell has fresh, flavorful, perfectly spiced Pad Thai! And they offer fried shrimp that is to die for.

The first time I try a Thai place I always start with a classic, Like the Pad Thai
Since the dish usually covers a wide range of flavors, balance and ingredients it’s usually a good barometer for a Thai place.
So I ordered the pork pad thai, it was not the best I ever had, but certainly not the worst, it was easily 4 star worthy. I would have liked a little more flavor profile and a hint of heat but overall it was very good.
Service was great, atmosphere was very nice, as always in West Hartford parking is a challenge but that does not enter into my rating, its just a heads up if you plan to meet friends for a 6pm dinner, be there at 5:45 to find a parking spot or walk the distance from one of the public lots.
Price was very reasonable, and I would likely return again.

This place is still just mediocre. The service and ambiance are terrific, the prices are decent (I can get two meals out of a dinner portion) but the food is just bland. With such a wealth of tastes and flavors available in Thai cuisine, you’d think something on the menu would be a homerun. But, nothing I’ve ever had here has knocked my socks off. A solid option perhaps for someone who is just sampling Thai food for the first time.

Really exceptional Thai food near Blueback Square. I bypass everything in New Haven and head up here when I want Thai. They can make most of the menu gluten free, the food is made-​to-​order and unusually good. Seasonal options are always interesting, and the classics are reliably good. I recommend the mango fried rice served in pineapple and the drunken noodles. The thai iced teas are a bit heavy for me but they have a really exceptional larb on offer. If you haven’t eaten here, you’ve got to give it a try.

Best Happy Hour in WeHa! 4 – 7 are such great hours, and the prices are AWESOME! $ 1 for satay, $ 3 for summer roll, you CANNOT go wrong!
My favorite is the spring rolls, so hot and garlicky tasting. Always delicious. The fried wontons are so good and the summer roll is fresh.
The pad Thai is excellent as well, it took all of my willpower not to eat the entire plate that I was sharing with a friend.
The bar is small but I have never really had too much trouble finding a seat. Go for HH, you won’t be disappointed.

In 2013 my boss selected this restaurant for our staff holiday lunch. I remembered trying everyones food at the table. There were 6 of us and we all got different things but for some reason everything tasted the same.
In 2014 my boss selected this restaurant for our staff holiday lunch once again. I did not try everyone elses food, just one other persons. She did not order an entrée, but a couple of appetizers instead. Her chicken satay was probably the best tasting thing I’ve ever had here especially when dipped in the perfect peanut sauce. My red curry was bland, which is a difficult thing for Thai food to be unless it is severely underseasoned, and the chicken in it overcooked and flavorless (read: precooked and thrown in). At this lunch we also had to ask for hot water to be refilled in our teapots numerous times and when it came the water was not hot. Also, the tea was very weak.
I had been several other times with friends and remembered liking the pad thai. The ambience is nice. It’s really too bad I can’t say the same about the food from my two most recent visits.