Jackson Heights Life

I've been meaning to give Arunee another try based on all of the positive reviews here. I agree that the new interior looks great.

The few times I've been to Arunee in the past, my experience has been similar to dssjh and toque198's.

For Thai, my favorite place in the neighborhood is Zabb Elee on Broadway. It's on the same block as UFC. I believe they deliver and I'm sure the wait would not be as long.

When I can't get to SriPraPhai,  I've been pretty satisfied with Sabay Thai & Seafood on Broadway btwn 75th & 76th.  They deliver too.

Decided to stop in for lunch and try a bento box special.  Was happy to see the place was busy even during lunch.  They added two more tables near the bar area I'm guessing because they're doing a brisk business. Interior decor is a huge deal to me only because this neighborhood has some of the most unattractive or bland places to dine in.  It's nice to eat in a restaurant that's actually attractively designed.  But that's not such a big deal if a place seems clean and the food is good.

I have to remember that even if a dish says pad thai vegetables it doesn't mean animal product won't be mixed in.  My pad thai had eggs which I know is traditional so I wasn't upset but it made me realize I have to order more carefully if I want vegetarian. 

RE: davenothere's post about their business practice of taking advantage of their employees -- honestly I wouldn't know what to say because (A) for me it's just hearsay and (B) it doesn't sound like you did anything back when you were informed.  Unless I'm wrong and you spoke to the owner what good would saying something now do when there's no real proof?  I'm not saying you did the wrong thing or that you should have done something... but what do you expect customers to say without sounding stupid?  "Oh awhile ago someone online became friendly with your employees, who no longer work for you, but those employees said you were dishonest?, unethical? and I wanted to say, please don't do that".  See what I mean davenothere?  What is it you think people can say?

We went Arunee Thai on Wednesday at 6:45 PM.  The place was not that busy however the service was awful!

We were a party of four and the 4th dish, which was a simple curry dish, came 10 minutes after all of the others!
They got the salad order wrong and I had to walk up to our waitress to get her attention.  The food came mild even thought we had ask for spicy.

The problem seems to be that one waitress was on staff for the whole place.  She also does not seem to understand english very well and therefore does not understand requests for spicy food or even getting the order right.  This still does not explain why you can't serve the food for the table at one time.

It is a shame because the decor and menu is good.  I hope the owner reads this and hires more staff.

Have been wanting to dine in the restaurant, but Arunee has been one of my may deliver at home restaurants in the hood.  Since they opened at new location, the home delivery has been fast, the person on the phone more efficient, and the food has been consistently good.  I still want to dine in--but glad to see a restaurant with nice decor open on 37th Ave--and as others mentioned--hopefully restauranteurs take notice and open up more diverse restaurants in Jackson Heights.

Gothamist has a new article on Arunee.  I agree with the article-- the new etiquette rules in their menu are obnoxious and off-putting.  The higher prices have also reduced the frequency that I'm ordering from here.   But the food is still good, and it's nice to see Arunee attracting attention from outside the neighborhood.

But I will add that snapping your fingers at your servers should result in your fingers being broken.