I absolutely agree with the general consensus that Sura comes off as inauthentic and random. The striking white interior, neon lights, hanging globe chairs, projection machine blasting music videos onto the walls… these do not a Thai restaurant make. But then again, the place is dubbed “Thai Bistro.”
I have been consistently stunned with the amazingly affordable food. The portion sizes are just right and I really enjoy chatting with the personable owner who is usually around. (He sure beats the annoyed-looking servers). I frequent the Thursday $5 Pad Thai offer; it’s definitely one of the better Pad Thais I’ve had in the city too. I am lucky to live near by, seeing as I can try just about everything on the menu over time. My favorites so far are: Black noodle with tofu, cashew chicken, four season spring rolls, massaman curry, and Teriyaki dish with beef and mushrooms.
Don’t let the retro decor fool you, Sura is really rocks!

So I am usually very picky about any asian fusion food so I was a little hesitant about Sura but we went here for my friend’s b-day on Saturday and it was awesome!
The entrance to Sura is pretty small, sure there is a huge neon sign that says Sura on the top of the entrance but Sura in the midst of the bustling restaurants on broadway and right next to American Apparel so its hard to miss if you are not looking specifically for it. Everything about Sura’s decor is super sleek and white. Sura appears tiny at first but you definitely feel you are walking into a club – of course the little DJ booth in Sura enchances this ambiance. There is a little waiting area with a bar in the front with several cool open swing egg chairs and white bean bags (yes a little random but they look pretty cool) and then the restaurant opens up toward the back. The coolest part, the back of the restaurant is a wall of hanging white globes.

The prices are pretty reasonable (considering that they were tapas) We ordered a ton of food and the bill was not as high as we all thought it would be. And the BYOB definitely helped the bill as well. The only complaints I have about Sura is it is very loud in there, so I wouldn’t recommend this place if you are looking for a intimate dinner where you can hear everyone in your dinner party. I was only really able to hear the person next to me and we were like screaming. Also the service is a little off, (maybe due to the servers being overwelmed) they seem to give you blank stares when you ask for something. They are like oh you want silverware, what for? What? You want water? What? You want new plates for dessert?

oh speaking of dessert, being the big sweet tooth that I am, I would definitely NOT recommend any of their desserts. Their desserts taste as though they have been outsourced and have been sitting out for a while. Their banana fritter dessert was the most decent one and come on, you need to do better than a banana fritter to impress this girl!

I loved the presentation of each dish and the each tapa is usually presented atop a mound of fresh veggies. (my fav!)

Tapas I loved!

Seared Scallops – accompanied by a fruit salsa

Steak – light and smokey asian BBQ flavor – it is cut on and laid on top of basalmic bed of lettuce

Grilled salmon – it is this amazing coconut sauce with a ton of vegetable, I could have drank the sauce it was so yummy!

Pass

Pineapple pork chops – someone had recommended these and I don’t know if ours came out wrong but these were dry and did not taste anything like pineapple – it was so bad that when we passed it around the table, when it came back around, no one had tried it.

Taro egg rolls – didn’t taste like anything special, I would recommend ordering something that sounds different from what you normally order

Skewered beef – again nothing special with this dish – skip it