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Thai Tour – Lacha Somtum

Dec23

Location: 5171 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027. (323) 486-7380

Date: April 18, 2023

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: great

Another run of great Thai places.

On the side of Hollywood Blvd near Sapp Coffee Shop.

Big counter and specials board.

The cute interior.

Huge menu as usual. There was even a separate hot pot menu that I forgot to photo.

My ordering notes.

We haven’t seen Bob in a while :-(.

Pork Jerky. Marinated pork, deep fried; served with homemade spicy sauce. This was some excellent pork jerky. Very chewy, but great flavor. The sauce was nice too, salty and medium hot.

Fried meatball with tamarind sauce. We had 3 kinds of “balls” here: pork, beef?, and seafood. They were all good. The sauce was very sweet with nice chili notes. One of those guilty pleasure sauces that I really like. Too sweet, but delicious.

Shrimp Cake. Homemade seasonal shrimp mixed with grounded pork and deep fried; served with sweet and sour sauce. Deep fried with a sauce that was almost a syrup. Delicious “minced meats” kind of patty.

Curry Pork Sausage. Grounded pork, lemongrass, and onion mixed with Thai curry paste; served with cabbage, fresh ginger, peanuts, and Thai chili. A nice curry and pork flavor. Some thought the sausage a touch dry.

Naked Shrimp. Raw shrimps topped with garlic and spicy lime juice; served on a bed of sliced cabbage. Fabulous version of this iconic dish. Really tender shrimp and amazing green chili lime flavor. VERY HOT. We asked for Thai medium for reference. Long burn too. But so worth it.

Combo Salad. Raw blue crab, salted black crab, and raw shrimps mixed with green papaya, tomatoes, long beans, fresh chili, garlic, and lime juice. This we asked for Thai Hot. It started hot. Not sure how long the burn is as it was confounded with the Duck Larb, but something was really hot and really long. The flavor was nice, very funky. The pickled/salted black crab was very interesting. This was too hot for most people.

Dark Larb. Grounded duck mixed with dried chili, roasted rice, chilantro, green onion, and lime juice. Awesome flavor and crunchy texture. It was supposed to be Thai Medium but it seemed to have a really long powerful burn. Tasted amazing though. Only Yarom and I could really handle it.

Grounded pork mixed with roasted rice, red onion, green onion, mint leaves, cilantro, and spicy lime juice. Because this is Jennifer’s favorite dish and the Duck Larb was so spicy, we order this mild version (pork). It was awesome also with very little heat but great flavor.

Crab curry with ka-nom-jean. Crab meat in house special curry sauce; served with Thai rice-vermicilli, bean sprouts, pickled mustard, fresh vegetables, and a hard boiled egg. This was pretty spicy too and an excellent version of this relatively rare dish. Nice complexity. The crab shells were a bit much for most people and one did have to be careful.

Crispy Pork Jungle Curry. Red curry paste, finger roots, baby corn, mushroom, green beans, holy basil, and fresh chili (without coconut milk). Great jungle curry. Nice vinegary tone with really tasty crunchy pork. Really addictive slightly funky flavor. Not incredibly hot.

Shrimp Masamun Curry. Masamun curry paste, coconut milk, peanuts, potatoes, onion, and bell pepper. Best Masamun curry I’ve had with a real peanut coconut richness and a hint of cinnamon and/or nutmeg. Delicious! And (relatively) mild.

Thai Omelet. Thai style omelet pan-fried with seasoned grounded-pork. Worst dish of the night. Not that it was particularly bad but it was a bit flabby.

Clams with Chili Paste. Clams stir-fried with chili paste, sweet basil leaves, garlic, and chili sauce. Great sweet basil sauce. And they do mean sweet. Lots of juicy little clams. Not the easiest to eat for some but I really liked it.

Pad See Ew. Flat rice noodles pan fried with egg. Chinese broccoli, and black soy sauce. I only had a nibble of a bit of chicken.

Thai Boat Noodles with Beef. Thin rice noodles with sliced beef and meat balls in house special soup. Kind of like a Pho. The meat was a bit more bland than some of the other dishes but I really liked the broth and the meatballs.

Mocha Dark Sorbetto – Doing the dariy free thing — a super intense mix of Valrhona 70% Chocolate plus 100% cocoa plus Valrhona 100% Cocoa Mass with fresh brewed Espresso — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — this will pick you up! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #cocoa #Espresso #sorbetto

Pineapple Ginger Sorbetto — Fresh Pineapple infused with Fresh Ginger — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — nice little ginger ale like kick — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #pineapple #ginger #GingerBeer #sorbetto

Overall, some very good Thai. As usual, when we asked them to go Thai hot it was pretty HOT. After the salads we toned it way down, particularly after the curries. Some dishes were a bit sweet. There wasn’t an overwelming amount of shrimp paste funk, just about right. Balance of flavor was very good and just a touch “lighter” than some Thai places. Service was very friendly but the kitchen was REALLY SLOW for the first two thirds of the meal. Maybe 30 minutes for the first dish and then they drooled out at 15 minute intervals. Second half of our meal came in the last 1/6 of the time. Highly recomended place in general. The wait issue might be much less with a smaller group (we were 7).

For more dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: hedonists, Lacha Somtum, Thai cuisine, Thai Tour

Rolling into Issan Station

Oct17

Restaurant: Issan Station

Location: 125 N Western Ave unit 111, Los Angeles, CA 90004. (323) 380-5126

Date: March 3, 2023

Cuisine: Thai street food

Rating: Really bright and tasty

Bovon and Jeffrey sussed out this new KTown casual Thai place.

Semi-industrial strip front frontage.

The menu. Pretty lunch oriented.

Cute decor.

Thai Iced Tea.

Isaan Sausage. Deep-fried sausages of fermented pork and glutinous rice. Very nice “gamey” and slightly sour sausages.

Glutinous rice.

Crying Tiger. Charcoal grilled beef tenderloin. Great. Nice tender meat with lots of flavor and a delicious spicy/sweet sauce.

Golden Wings. Deep-fried fish sauce chicken wings. I was skeptical of these as I generally consider chicken wings a waste, but these were actually hot, juicy, and delicious. Not a ton of meat but nice and crispy.

Naked Shrimp Salad. Raw shrimps in spicy seafood sauce. This was a great salad, with very tender shrimp, mostly made by the spicy lime/chili “seafood sauce.” Underneath was a nice mix of celery and cabbage.

Pickled Crab Papaya Salad. Regular papaya salad with pickled crab. Great fresh flavor, crunchy texture, and a bit of funk from the delicious “pickled” raw black crab. Not for noobs, but delicious.

Tom Kha Soup. Coconut milk soup with mushroom, chili and tomato in a Thai herb broth. Served with mixed seafood. Wonderful rich broth flavor with lots of lemongrass and kafir lime. The seafood was nice. This was an excellent Tom Kha, although not quite as amazing as the super spicy one at Palms Thai.

Some of the seafood inside the soup.

Grilled Tilapia. Salt crusted.

The meat was very flavorful.

It was served with this fresh greens, the optional rice noodles, and a wonderful limey sauce.

Dtub Waan. Spicy pork liver with red onion, mint leaves, lime, rice powder, cilantro, coriander and green onion. Spicy. Thai liver and onions! Probably my least favorite dish, although well made for what it was, this was just a bit too livery.

Bamboo Shoots Salad. Shredded bamboo shoots with lime, red onions, chili powder, dried chilies, fermented fish sauce, cilantro, coriander mint leaves and green onion. Very “exotic” forward on the fish sauce flavor. Nice fiberous texture and extremely interesting, but not my favorite. It reminded me of Northern Thai Food Club.

Green Curry. Green curry with meat, bamboo shoot, chili, kaffir lime leaves and basil and chicken. Highly unusual light green curry with so much basil that it took on a pesto-like note. Tasty, but not super strong on the classic curry flavor.

Pad Kra Prao. Stir-fried minced meat with fresh chili and basil. Essentially like a larb, this pork dish was full of flavor. The sweet/spicy sauce was great and it was all very juicy with strong basil notes.

Fried Pork Spare Ribs. Fried marinated pork rib with sour taste. Our extremely nice server brought this as a gift. Fabulous pork nibblets with a delicious fried taste, sizzling hot, and with a nice sour flavor. Went very well with the ginger and garlic.

Pad See Eew. Stir-fried flat noodles with chicken, egg and broccoli in dark sauces. Very nice soft, sweet, savory noodles.

Overall, not only is Issan Station quite a deal, but they have an extremely good kitchen. The flavors are fresh and bright, tuned up a bit, not tuned down for American taste. Plenty of fish sauce etc. Nice modern plating, tastyfully done, but not fancy. They execute extremely well on what they have on the menu, but they don’t have the scope and breath of phonebooks like Jitlada.

After, we headed next door for some “snacks.”

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: AFF, Issan Station, Street Food, Thai cuisine, Thai Tour

What’s All the Fuss About?

May06

Restaurant: Anajak Thai

Location: 14704 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403. (818) 501-4201

Date: September 22, 2022

Cuisine: Elevated American Thai

Rating: Tasty, but kinda boring

Anajak has a LOT of buzz about it. It’s a Thai place on Ventura in the valley and it’s one of the hardest reservations in the city to get — go figure. They offer “three modes” of dining. Normal, which I’m covering here, a weird Thai fusion taco Tuesday (haven’t tried) and a Thai Omakase (optional) on weekends that I want to try (but haven’t yet).

They are unusual as Thai places go in that they have a LOT of wine for sale. And a lot of it isn’t really a good Thai pairing either. It’s not fancy wine and it’s sitting out all over the restaurant. I’m sure this has added to their buzz.

We sat outside on the street/patio at two large tables. The menu isn’t huge by Thai standards and we ordered almost every dish.

Papaya Salad, thai chilies, peanuts, dried shrimp. Fine but not very exciting papaya salad. Not quite zingy or spicy enough. No detectable funk.

Crispy Garden Rolls. These were nice and crispy. Sauce was basically sweet with only a slight tang. But overall pretty tasty.

Laab Tot, northern-style pork meatballs. Basically fried larb balls. The sauce was sweet. These were the best of the apps. Quite yummy. Hard to go wrong with a fried meat ball though.

Chicken Satay. Pretty boring straight up chicken skewers. Well cooked and juicy, but not a ton of flavor on them. The sauce was overly sweet but certainly very peanuty. The little marinated salad was not nearly vinegary enough.

Southern-Thai Fried Chicken. This was a really good dish. Very juicy and crispy. Maybe slightly undersalted but extremely good.

Transparent Sea Shrimp, pong gari curry. The fry on these shrimp was that kind of rich egg yolk fry that has a slightly grainy texture. The sauce was an interesting curry with a slight liver vibe. Pretty good.

Pork ribs, pineapple-glaze. These were okay. A bit sweet, but actually slightly better than the version we had at Jitlada 2 days before (which was Jitlada’s worst dish).

BBQ Pork Collar, coriander molasses, soy, sesame. Not super strong flavored, but with a bit of grill or char. Pretty good.

Haw Mok, steamed fish curry custard. I loved the soft texture on this dish. It had some mystery vegetables inside and a mild but lovely curry flavor. Basically curry flan? I actually really enjoyed. Might even have been my favorite dish. Most other people found the texture weird but I love odd textures.

The fish curry/custard texture should be more apparent in this photo.

Green Curry, shrimp & eggplant. I’m not sure I found any eggplant. The shrimp were nice and plump. The green curry itself was tasty but extremely mild. There was almost no heat and very little fish sauce taste. Clean and smooth with not too much in it.

Panang Curry, chicken. There wasn’t much in this either, just some chicken and the red bell pepper garnishes. I did love the curry sauce itself. It had a great creamy coconut red curry flavor. Very smooth. Not spicy at all and not super complex, but almost what I was going for in my red coconut curry gelato.

Massaman Brisket Curry. Nice to have some real meat but the curry itself was basically satay peanut sauce. It was pleasant but so peanuty and sweet. A real Massaman curry is more a red curry / peanut blend and should have some heat. This was all sweet.

Prik King Green Beans. These were good, albiet not spicy at all.

Drunken Noodles with Shrimp. Not bad. The shrimp was nice and the noodle texture good. I would have liked a more pronounced Thai basil flavor — didn’t really get one.

Pad Siew with Chicken. Very similar to the drunken noodles. Not sure I could really tell the difference.

Spicy Fried Rice with Fried Egg. It wasn’t spicy but it was fried.

Mango Sticky Rice. Quite nice. Not as good as Jitlada’s as it didn’t have either the coconut flavored sweetened condensed milk or the coconut ice cream but the mango was nice and ripe and the sticky rice a great complement.

Overall, as someone who goes to a LOT of Thai, I don’t really get Anajak. I’d like to try the Omakase because that looks interesting and different, but the regular menu is like well done kinda boring Thai food. The ingredient quality is high and it’s very clean and neat — and very “smooth” (they blend it) but it’s just not all that balanced. The dishes are too sweet, there is virtually no heat (I like spicy), no funky fish sauce or shrimp paste taste, and basically none of the interesting Thai vegetables.

As far as I can tell it’s just a higher quality better version of your default “Thai American” place. Does that, the hipper setting, and the wine lying around make it more accessible to Valley goers and Thai food newbies? Yeah. But does it make it taste as good? No. Frankly most of the Thai Tour places are better and more interesting. And I’ve been to numerous Valley staple Thai places that I like better, even one like Lum Ka Naad. Yeah, they are a bit rougher around the edges, but again, more flavor.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Anajak Thai, curry, hedonists, SFV, Thai cuisine, Thai Tour, Wine

Thai Tour – Jitlada

Jun23

Restaurant: Jitlada [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 5233 W Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027. (323) 663-3104

Date: May 23, 2019 and September 20, 2022

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Gut burning great

Our final stop on the April/May 2019 Thai Tour is Hedonist regular joint, Jitlada, an outrageously authentic Southern Thai place deep in Thai-town. The joint gets 27 in Zagat! It’s run by Jazz Singsanong.

You know it’s real because they don’t skimp on either the chilies OR the fish sauce. The menu can be found here.

After a few minutes of table juggling we managed to squeeze ourselves in — this isn’t the kind of place that normally deals with 10 person tables that well.

This is my cryptic ordering plan. I carefully laid out a phased dish progression and then owner Jazz put it all in the computer and it all came super fast and in random order — plus we had just enough people that one dish was hard to split. Ideal number at Jitlada is probably 6.

Pepper pork belly. Really tasty chewy pork belly bits with super yummy spicy sauce.

Crispy Morning Glory Salad. This salad of shrimp and fried morning glory is just plain glorious. Sorry, couldn’t resist. Basically tempura flowers and it’s really the tangy, slightly sweet sauce/dressing that really makes it. Very similar to many of the salads I had in Vietnam.

Pomelo salad. Shrimp, pomelo, onions, peanuts, garlic. This salty, spicy, sweet, savory salad was fabulous. Really Thai mix of tones.

Raw marinated shrimp salad (often called Naked Shrimp) (9/20/22). Great spicy/tangy “dressing” with nice crunchy cabbage underneath.

Chicken Satay. A bit boring.

Garlic lamb chops. Incredible crunchy garlic on these chops. It was to die for. I kept eating the piles of it left over.

Beef “Jerkey.” Excellent version of this dish with a lot of flavor.

Sweet Pork Ribs (9/20/22). One of the weaker dishes. A little sweet — hence the name.

Chicken Larb. Ground chicken with spices, fish sauce, etc. Pretty hot too and salty/vinegary. Not my absolute favorite Jitlada dish.

Soft-shell crab noodles. Fried soft-shell crab (in season) with pan fried sweet noodles. Unusual combo, but massively delicious.

Dungeness Crab with Garlic Sauce (9/20/22). Really awesome. I’ve been trying to find this dish (on the vast menu) again for some years. The garlicky “sauce” is amazing. A bit sweet with the sweetness of the crab.

BBQ Squid (9/20/22). Interesting. Not my absolute favorite.

Red Duck Curry. Not spicy but incredibly delicious.

Spicy duck salad or maybe this was Celebrity Chicken. Never had this before but it was great!

Basil frogs legs. Delicious and full of basil and garlic flavor. Bones weren’t offensive either.

Flambe Prawns. Grilled giant prawns topped with our house curry sauce. These are amazing. The sweet curry sauce is just full of curry flavor goodness.

Papaya prawns. Like the curry prawns but drowned in papaya.

Garlic and/or Coconut king crab. Hard to get the meat out, and a touch expensive, but really delicious sauce.

Coco lotus soup. This was a mild red coconut curry soup with chicken. It was amazing! Really fabulous curry flavor. Tons of tamarind giving it a really balanced sour tone.

Beef Tongue with Sator Beans (9/20/22). Very spicy with that jungle curry type flavor. But lots of good flavor. Beef Tougue itself is kinda chewy.

Yellow Curry with Oxtail (9/20/22). Delicious. Not that much meat and it’s mostly bone, but you could put shoe leather in this curry and it would be good.

Duck Red Curry (9/20/22). Fabulous flavor, very rich and creamy. Not as much meat as one might like. Quite spicy too.

Jungle curry with lamb. Exotic thai curry with god knows what in it besides the lamb. This stuff was HOT and pretty fabulous. The heat was insane. Slow burn, such that you started in on it and thought it would be fine, but then building to a head-sweating mind-altering gut-burning sear. Took me hours to recover!

Jazz burger. A big beef patty covered in onions, peppers, and dressing. The flavors were fabulous. We were VERY full at this point and the burger is spicy too.

Sweet Red Pork Rice (9/20/22). Slightly weird sweet dish. Not bad, but also one of the “weakest” of the night.

Mango Sticky Rice with coconut Ice Cream (9/20/22). The rice itself is awesome.

Cherry Cough Syrup Sorbetto (9/20/22) – Amareno Cherry, Morello Cherry, and Creme de Cassis Sorbet! — so intense, and so awesome for a red fruit lover — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #amareno #morello #cherry #CremediCassis #cassis

Nocciola Espresso Caramello Gelato — A classic nocciola base made with Pure PGI Piedmont hazelnut paste and then layered with a house-made Espresso Caramel Ganache then topped with fresh roasted hazelnuts — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #hazelnut #ganache #dulcy #ChocolateTruffle #nocciola #caramel #caramello

Sicilian Tiramisu Gelato –attempting to reinvent Tiramisu with Sicilian flavors: Pure DOGC “Bronte” pistachio paste gelato base with lady fingers soaked in house-made orange syrup and layered with house-made “cannoli filling” (sweetened fresh ricotta with cinnamon and mini dark chocolate chips) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — this one will be a test of concept: too much? –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #pistachio #sicily #ricotta #chocolate #orange #ladyfingers #tiramisu

Mango with sticky rice. So full but this is so delicious!

Yarom with Jazz.

I love Jitlada, and it’s hands down the best Thai I’ve had in LA. The menu is enormous and full of goodies. Tonight’s meal was one of the best we had, despite the absence of the original chef in the kitchen 🙁 We had 8-9 people which is just about 2 more than the dish size is best with. Once we had way too many people and and some late comers that botched the whole progression. The food was really on point tonight, and just two days after Night + Market Song showcased the delicious complexity of Jitlada’s flavors. Jitlada is a food restaurant though, and not a service restaurant. I mean, they are SUPER friendly and we love them, but the dishes just pop out in random order and speed.

Tonight (2019) we ordered very well. Every dish was very good, most great. We had a pretty nice variety. Sure, there are favorites we missed, the menu is vast, but it was a great meal. Jazz hung out with us for a chunk of it and helped us order. The kitchen was really on point too with some dishes that have a little variability all coming down on the awesome side tonight.

On our post pandemic (9/20/22) return we also order extremely well and they put out fabulous dishes (except for a couple of sweet meats that certain non spicy lovers made us order :-)). When you order right, Jitlada is incredible.

Not super spicy either, only the jungle curry busting the 5 or 6 line (it was a 9, even on the weighted Jitlada scale of blistering heat — although I painfully have had it hotter before).

All in all, if you like Thai food and live (or visit) in LA you must try Jitlada.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for more crazy Hedonist meals.

Great wines tonight too:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, Jazz Singsanong, Jitlada, Thai cuisine, Thai Tour, Wine

Thai Tour – Night+Market Song

Jun19

Restaurant: Night + Market Song

Location: 3322 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026. (323) 665-5899

Date: May 21, 2019

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Good and spicy

Our Thai Town Tour continues with this 5th location (my 4th). While I’ve been to Might + Market + Sahm I have long wanted to try this one.

Kris Yenbamroong is the 33 year-old chef and owner of NIGHT + MARKET restaurants. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Chef Kris has no formal culinary training — but grew up in his family-owned restaurant, Talesai. He attended New York University and graduated with a degree in film. If NIGHT + MARKET restaurants were to have a mission statement, it would read as follows: “We aim to make the most delicious and authentic Thai food to facilitate drinking and fun-having amongst friends.” There is a term for this in Thai: “aharn glam lao.”

Located in Silverlake on Sunset, not exactly in Thai Town but in the heart of Hipster-ville.

Which is a good thing considering how incredibly hipster the interior is — and the place was mobbed with a huge line gathered before our 8pm start and all through our tenure. They are definitely busy.

We had a special large party reservation and a set menu (we chose the largest set menu).

Hey-ha party wings. Party wings sweet and a little salty. These were some perfect chicken wings. As they describe it, sweet and a little salty, hot and a lot savory.

Moo Sadoong. Grilled pork, basil, lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, lime, chili, onions, cilantro. Everything here has cilantro — which I love — but I pity the fools (no offense, just making a Mr. T joke) who think it tastes like soap. This was a great dish also. Lots of porky flavor.

Sai Uah. Homemade spicy pork sausage served with nam prik noom (aka “thai salsa”) and cucumber. Solid Thai sausage, but not as strong as the first two dishes.

Sticky Coconut Rice.

I’m trying to avoid carbs but I do love this coconut milk sweetened rice. Great texture too.

Nam Khao Tod. Crispy Rice Salad with soured pork, raw ginger, onion, peanuts, cilantro (of course), and chili. Really nice texture. Crispy/crunchy. Tons of salty spicy flavor.

Beef (I think) with cilantro. This was an extra brought for those who were avoiding carbs.

Som Tum. Green papaya salad with green beans, tomatoes, palm sugar, peanuts, lime juice, and chili. FIne, but on the “duller” side as Thai dishes go.

Larg Gai. Minced chicken, lime, fish sauce, rice powder, chili, cilantro (again), and onion. Salty, hot, and savory. The chicken version can be a touch dry.

Hot Pot Tom Khar Soup. Skin-on chicken, coconut milk broth, galangal, lemongrass, cilantro (no duh), onion, chili, lime leaves, mushrooms, hot and sour! Awesome soup. Super, super delicious. I had like 5 bowls. Very spicy too. Fabulous mix of flavors.

Garlic Green Beans. Sautéed with garlic, soy sauce, and white pepper. Very Chinese!

Uni Fried Rice. I liked that there was also the salmon row, nice and briny. Cilantro of course.

Kao Pad Pu. Crab fried rice, served with lime wedge and fish sauce with diced chili (and a bit of cilantro garnish). Nice fried rice, but weird that we had 3 rice courses AND noodles.

Pad Thai. Market version with sweet radish, tofu, egg, crushed peanuts, and chili powder. Great pad Thai.

Brought by and made by me:

1998 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo. 97 points. Saturated dark ruby. Nose like a fruit essence: blackberry and blueberry liqueur, licorice, pepper, Provencal herbs, and hints of more exotic fruits. A wine of extreme unctuousity, virtually too large for the mouth. Suggestion of marc, but with sappy fruits and great solid underlying structure. The tannins saturate the palate on the peppery finish. Very much in the style of Bonneau rarely made Cuvee Speciale. This wine took nearly two years to finish fermenting. Paul Feraud told me he feared that the alcohol would burn, that there would be too much residual sugar, and that the wine would show signs of premature oxidation. But in fact this headspinner (and I mean that in the purest, Linda Blair sense) boasts great surmaturite without quite descending into madness.

Most of the wine is lumped in below, but I have to call out the Cuvee da Capo — which while being swamped out by the heat of the night, was still a stunning stunning CNdP and extremely generous for a Thai meal.

Overall, Night + Market Song was great. They treated us really well, particularly given how crowded it was. They allowed our wine. Food did come out a bit fast. Ingredients are very fresh and flavors are strong but a touch simplified. Less sweetness and fish-sauce notes than some of the places with a more Thai audience (it’s pretty hipster in here). Everything is quite spicy (I like that). But fairly relentless.

The menu balance with the large party set menu is really weird though. A bunch of salads, 4 types of rice, and a noodle dish. No curries! No Khao Soi (which I love). It’s pretty carb heavy. I don’t know if these are just crowd pleasers or they are keeping the cost of the menu down. I love curries, so I was quite disappointed in this — but it’s really my only complaint about the evening.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, hipster, Night + Market, Night + Market Song, Silverlake, Thai cuisine, Thai Tour, Thai Town, Wine

Thai Tour – Pailin Thai

Jun12

Restaurant: Pailin Thai

Location: 5621 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 467-7715

Date: May 13, 2019 & June 29, 2021

Cuisine: Northern Thai cuisine

Rating: Great Northern Thai — highly recommended

So the Hedonist Thai Tour continues with this fourth stop (3rd for me) at well known:

Pailin Thai — in Thai Town of course, a slightly better part of it too.

The interior is still very mom and pop — and small — but there is actually a bit of decor.

The husband runs the front and the wife the back — and they were mobbed, leading to slow initial food production rates. But they more than made up for it in quality.

The menu.

Pork Satay. Grilled marinated pork marinated in thai herb and coconut milk. Served with peanut sauce and cucumber salad.

Fried Chicken. Winston LOVES this fried chicken — and it was very good — and very fried.

Northern Style Sausage. Full of flavor.

A different Style Sausage. Even moister, almost like the crocodile sausage I had last year.

Spicy shrimp ball. In sweet and sour sauce. I loved these little fellows.

Pork Larb (6/29/21) — delicious with great balance and lots of limey acidity.

Larb tod. I had assumed this was like normal larb, but no it’s deep fried larb! Pretty awesome actually.

Cucumber Salad (6/29/21) — sweet and tangy.

Roast Duck Salad. With lemon grass, mint leaves, onion, and curry paste.

Pork Jerky (6/29/21) — incredible flavor and soft texture.

Beef Jerky (6/29/21) — chewier than the pork.

Chicken Feet Salad (6/29/21) – a bit warm, nice texture and flavor.

Raw marinated shrimp. Really juicy slow marinated shrimp with a spicy green chili sauce.

Raw marinated Thai blue crab. Same prep as the shrimp above, but with crab. A bit similar to Korean raw crab, and just as delicious. You have to crunch through the shells and suck out the meat.

Beef tendon soup. A delicious savory and sour beef soup.

Papaya salad.

Khao Soi. The traditional Northern style egg noodle chicken curry “soup.” I love this dish and order it whenever I see it. Love it. Love it.

Manilla Clam Curry Paste. Pretty much clams in Thai basil. Delicious sauce. Lots of flavor.

Spicy frog leg curry. Yummy yummy, kermit in my tummy.

Tom yum goon. Shrimp with mushroom in hot, spicy, and sour soup. We couldn’t resist.

Seafood Soup (6/29/21) — Tom Yum with all sorts of seafood.

Pad see ew. Pan fried rice noodles with egg, black soy sauce.

Napa cabbage pork. Just like in Europe, pork and cabbage seems common in the east — like in China too. It’s delicious either way. Nice crispy texture on the pork.

Green curry with beef. Delicious too. Not as killer hot as Jitlada.

Roast Duck Curry (6/29/21).

Prog pow squid with Thai curry, onion and chili.

Glass Noodles with Beef (6/29/21).

Crispy Pork Belly with Stir Fried Veggies (6/29/21).

Preserved Egg Stir Fry (6/29/21).

Egg Plant with Pork Stir Fry (6/29/21).

They have bags of house-made crispy chicken and pork skins you can take out or use to top your food.

Crispy chicken skins. Salty and delicious little snacks.

Some gelato by me:

It doesn’t even look like a gelato, but trust me it is — Almond Amaretto Truffle Gelato — Amaretto Zabaglione (egg yolk, amaretto, and sugar custard) Sicilian Almond gelato base with stacked layers of house-made Valrhona Almond Amaretti Ganache — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #almond #amaretto #amaretti #cookie #ganache #ChocolateTruffle

Burnt Basque Cheesecake Gelato — Milk steeped with Tahitian Vanilla Beans and Valencia Orange Peels and then blended with Cream-cheese and Egg Yolks, layered with house made “burnt” Caramel and topped with house-made Caramel Brittle, finished with the torch! — created by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #basque #cheesecake #caramel #brittle #orange

Overall, Pailin Thai was one of the best places on our Thai Tour. Writing about it after all 6 (5 for me) I thought it was maybe tied with Jitlada, and the best of all the new Northern Thai places we tried in this set. It was super tasty with a wide variety of dish styles, consistent winning execution, friendly (if somewhat slow) service, mom & pop atmosphere with a touch of style, and loads of interesting unique dishes like the raw crab and shrimp.

Our second visit (6/29/21) confirmed that Pailin is a great place. Nearly every dish was fantastic. Tons of variety and flavor. This is a but cut above above average and one of the best Thai places I’ve been.

Highly recommended.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, curry, Gelato, hedonists, Pailin Thai, spicy, Thai cuisine, Thai Tour

Thai Tour – Spicy BBQ

Jun03

Restaurant: Spicy BBQ

Location: 5101 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90029. (323) 663-4211

Date: April 29, 2019

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Great Thai

This is the third stop on our great spring Thai Tour, although only the second I’ve been able to attend (the first being Sri Siam). Yarom set this in motion a couple months ago by deciding to hit up most of the top 10 recommended authentic Thai places in LA we HADN’T been to.

Spicy BBQ comes highly recommended. It’s a tiny place.

In a mini-mall on Santa Monica Blvd at the Thai Town / Little Armenia border. Just a touch scary.

They have a taste for amusing signs.

And a definitely mom and pop shop interior!

Plus mangos ever at the ready.

The menu.

My notes. Gotta have an ordering plan!

Fried chicken wontons. Deep fried wontons stuffed with ground chicken. Surprisingly delicious insides.

Fried Tofu. Deep fried tofu with sweet and sour dipping sauce. Not bad either for something so simple.

Papaya salad with grilled shrimp. We had to order a side car of extra shrimp to get around the table. The salad was a bit spicy actually and quite delicious.

Ground pork with chili paste. A “dip” of ground pork and spices. You use the veggies to lever it up.

Spicy and Sour Curry with chicken. Interesting and different curry.

Spicy Mint Leaves Beef. Delicious, with a lot of flavor.

Northern Thai Sausage. Soft and salty.

Pad Kee Mao Shrimp. Pan fried big flat noodles with bell pepper and basil in spicy sauce with succulent shrimp.

Tom Yum Chicken. Spicy and sour soup made with lemon grass, mushroom, onion, and celery. Delicious!

Northern Thai Egg Noodle. Khao soi. With the pickles.

Close up of the curry. I just love this dish. I’m a curry junkie.

Spicy Coconut Seafood. Really nice flavor.

BBQ Beef Spareribs. Tender with good flavor.

Pork Larb. Stir fried ground pork salad with lemon grass and Northern Thai spices.

Spicy BBQ Pork. The porky version of above. Still pretty tender.

Thai Peanut Coconut Lime Chili Gelato — Try 2 — Salty peanuts, Thai coconut, lime zest, and serrano chillies — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the last batch was too spicy so this one has no chilie in the base itself — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #chili #spicy #thai #peanut #coconut #lime #SavorySweet #Serrano

Lol.

Spicy BBQ was very tasty. Small place, low key, small menu, but almost all the dishes were excellent. Not as exotic as some places, but they did a nice job.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, curry, Gelato, hedonists, spicy, Spicy BBQ, Thai, Thai cuisine, Thai Tour

Thai Tour – Sri Siam

Mar11

Restaurant: Sri Siam Cafe

Location: 12843 Vanowen St, North Hollywood, CA 91605. (818) 982-6262

Date: February 11, 2019

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: First rate Thai

Yarom has been scheduling a whole long series of Thai Mondays this spring — and you all know how much I love Thai food. I unfortunately couldn’t make the first one at Sapp, but I slogged out to North Hollywood for Sri Siam (which I had tried to go to before but failed).

Very casual storefront.

This is not exactly the loveliest neighborhood — check out the laundry-mat.

And the unassuming entrance.

Inside is bright and cheery though.

Crispy Rice Salad. This might be carby, but it was scrumptious. Nice texture and great flavor. There is crispy rice in there too.

Chicken Satay. Broiled marinated chicken skewer served with toast, cucumber relish & peanut sauce. This particular version came with a great little mini BBQ you could use to sear your own satay on. The cucumber salad was fabulous too, sweet and tangy.

Spicy Grilled Salad. Pork with shredded green apple, lemon grass, onion & mint leaves in spicy lime dressing. Great flavor and nice crunchy/chewy texture.

Miang Pla Too. Fried Macherel herb salad served with romaine and cilantro. Extremely polarizing dish. I loved it for the salty/fishy chew of the fish and the complex herb flavor. The Mayberry types at the table hated it.

Dried Fish Cake. Seasoned curry paste, fried ground fish and green bean patties. A bit contentious at the table for the spongy/chewy texture. I thought they were fine, but not super exciting.

Tom Yum Koong. Coconut milk chicken soup with lemongrass, galangal root & lime juice. I love this rich savory and slightly spicy soup. It has all sorts of savory/sour flavors going on. Sebastian complained that I got the one with the coconut milk because he’s watching his girlish figure — but everyone else at the table loved it.

Prawns with glass noodles. A lovely special dish with tasty tender giant prawns.

Pad See Mao. Shrimp, pan fried noodle w/ chili, garlic, and basil.

Khao Soy. Curry soup with chicken and egg noodle. Plus those interesting pickle condiments.

I love this dish and with a bit of the chili oil it can be pretty hot!

Sri Siam Spicy Ribs. Fried spicy pickled pork spareribs. A bit chewy, but tons of flavor.

Duck larb. No dish was as polarizing as this sauté of duck meat with red onion, cilantro, and chilies. The meat was very chewy and had a strong fish sauce flavor. I happened to love it because it was so intense and flavorful. Again, the wusses differed.

Spicy Basil Beef. Stir-fried basil leaves, garlic & chili with beef. Also a bit chewy. This place is small and they don’t use the highest quality meat in the universe.

Green Curry with Chicken. Green curry in coconut milk, bamboo shoots, Thai eggplant and basil. Other people had forced me to tone down the spice of most dishes but this one I got hot — which meant it was “acceptable” 🙂

By special birthday request — Gorgonzola Fig Walnut Gelato — Gorgonzola Dulce base with Fig Jam and Candied Walnuts! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #gorgonzola #fig #walnut #SavorySweet

Another new flavor, but continuing my Sicilian theme — Pistachio Almond Lemon Gelato — base made with a 50/50 blend of Pistachios from Bronte Sicily and Noto Almonds, plus Sicilian candied lemon! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #Pistachio #Almond #lemon #sicily

Overall, the food at Sri Siam was great. The place is cute and friendly and this is a somewhat different style of Thai than Jitlada. The menu is big but not quite as vast and they seem to make things for Thai taste (with fish sauce). It isn’t super hot though by my standards.

The servers were very nice and she put up with my “flighted” ordering (where I put in 3ish dishes at a time so as not to have them all arrive at once). She a couple times warned me off of several “too Thai” dishes that again I would have liked — as would Yarom and some of the more “seasoned” eaters — but the riff raff would have found “weird.” Still, I got a couple like the duck and the mackerel.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!