Thai restaurant Dahla now open in New Orleans' CBD

Restaurant offerings in the CBD's South Market District continue to expand with the arrival of Dahla, a new Thai restaurant that sits between Blaze Pizza and Tava Indian Street Food.

Catch up quick: Dahla comes from the same team behind former Metairie restaurant Thai Ocha. Waraphon Chittrakul and her family partnered with Glenn Mahiya to bring Dahla to New Orleans, with Su Kumpirayos running point in the kitchen.

What they're saying: "We focus on classic Thai dishes — and maybe a couple new ones — to introduce New Orleans to flavors most people have not encountered before," Mahiya tells Axios.

My visit: A midweek trip soon after its opening offered a quiet restaurant with bright flavors and cozy dishes.

The vibe: On one side of the restaurant, a polished concrete bar offers plenty of seating. On the other, matte black pendant lights and a mural preside over a wall of banquette seating.

• But the show-stopper is the pair of giant chandeliers with gold leaves dangling from the room's center.

Come here with: A few friends for a fun night out, a date night or a quick weekday lunch.

What we ordered: I'm sticking to water during pregnancy, so the cocktail menu went untouched. But that didn't stop me from being more adventurous with the food options.

• Fried shrimp dumplings arrived like fried pillows with a tangy soy sauce that had me soaking up every drop.

• The papaya salad was crisp, bright and sneakily spicy.
• For an entree, the pad thai's al dente glass noodles served as the right vehicle for the crunchy veggies that came alongside.
• A few items were unavailable — like the roti and mangos and sticky rice, which is a personal favorite of mine — which was a bummer.

5 (or) 4 word review: Sticky rice? Sign me up.

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• New Vietnamese bakery Dough Nguyener's now open in Gretna
• 7 New Orleans-area restaurants boiling crawfish
• 80s-themed restaurant Hungry Eyes now open in Uptown