Thai Town :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for Thai Town

Pa Ord Noodle

Apr11

Location: 5269 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, Ca, 90027. 323-536-9929

Date: September 3, 2021

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Another solid (authentic) Thai

Pa Ord Noodle is another highly regarded Thai Town place.

We visited in the middle of the pandemic “opening up” phase and ate outside in the parking lot — hence all the takeout wares.

The menu.

Various chili sauces!

Papaya Salad – great.

Coconut Soup with Seafood — also delicious. Similar to the “coco lotus” soup at Jitlada.

Fried Shrimp Cake – Delicious. Very friend but great.

Roast Duck Noodle Soup w/ Egg Noodles.

Drunken Noodles Combination meats – very nice.

Pad Prik King Chicken – spicy and quite good.

I pulled this out of the freezer because it was “on theme”:

Buko Pandan Gelato — Infused the milk with fresh Pandan Leaves and then crafted it into a dairy coconut base as my take on the Filipino favorite. Unusual and soothing. — 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 #buko #pandan #coconut

All the dishes here were quite good, and while this was just a lunch, and not a “comprehensive review” (aka big dinner), it’s clear Pa Ord has a very good kitchen. You certainly couldn’t go wrong stopping in here for a Thai food fix!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: AFF, Asian Food Friday, BYOG, curry, Gelato, Pa Ord Noodle, Thai cuisine, Thai food, Thai Town

Amphai – Northern Thai Food Club

Mar06

Restaurant: Northern Thai Food Club

Location: 5301 Sunset Blvd #11, Los Angeles, CA 90027. (323) 474-7212

Date: January 17, 2020

Cuisine: Northern Thai

Rating: Small Space, Big Taste

Asian Food Friday is always a good opportunity to try out some of the oddball and amazing corners of Los Angeles eating.

Which brings us to Amphai, or Northern Thai Food Club, which has been on my “to try” list for some time. Supposedly this is some of the best and most authentic Northern Thai in the country. It’s on a grungy Sunset corner in Thai Town.

And the interior is tiny. The staff appear to be family and are extremely friendly. Service is casual and all on disposable plates with the flimsiest of plasticware. On entering the thick pungent smell of fish sauce blankets the air and informs you that this is the “real deal.”

Much of the food is on display in a big deli/steam table — including the amazing Norther Thai Sausage (that looks like something a large dog might leave in the yard).

They also sell some random Thai snacks.

The menu is surprisingly long.

Som Tum Thai. Papaya Salad. Salted Crab Flavor. Green Papaya with Thai chilies, tomatoes, dried shrimp, green beans, fish sauce, lime jices and salted crab. Bright flavor with a hint of fishiness.

Spicy green laxative — I mean chili sauce — awesome complex flavor and hearty burn.

Sai Qua. Northern Spices Pork Sausage. Ground pork marinated with herbs and spices. Tons of flavor, very soft texture.

Cabbage and sticky rice.

Moo Sam Chan Tod. Fried Pork Belly. Deep fried pork belly. Tasty, particularly with the green sauce.

Larb Moo Kija. Minced pork northern spices salad. Pan-fried minced pork, liver pork, skin pork with fresh mint leaves, in Northern spices. Tons and tons of flavor. Interesting fishy and livery notes.

Gaeng Hang Lae. Northern pork curry. Stewed pork in Thai-Burmese curry powder and tamarind paste with ginger root. Very tender meat and lots and lots of flavor.

Gaeng Khanoon. Jackfruit soup. Spicy soup of young jackfruit chunks, Chaom leaves (Acacia) and pork ribs seasoned with tomato and garlic.

Yum Nor Nam Poo. Bamboo shoots with crab paste. Bamboo shoots with Thai chili, limes, fish sauce and crab paste juices. Lots of fiber and a very different funky flavor. Probably my least favorite dish, but still tasty and interesting. Plus it has “poo” in the name.

Kao Soi Gai. Curry egg noodle with chicken. Seasoned chicken drumstick curried with flat egg noodles, topped with crispy noodle and served with sour mustard green, shallot, lime, and thick red chili sauce.

Condiments for the Kao Soi.

Kao Soi Nua. Curry egg noodle with beef. Seasoned chicken curried with flat egg noodles, topped with crispy noodle and served with sour mustard green, shallot, lime, and thick red chili sauce.

More condiments for the Kao Soi.

With the toppings.

Special of vermicelli and jackfruit and I don’t know what. Mushy texture but tasty.

Sample of something with jackfruit. Sour, but tasty too.

A kind of strong pork curry. Very strong “bay leaf”? flavor sauce. Tasty.

Sour pork rib soup. I think Jor Pak Pung. Ceylon spinach in tamarind soup with cut pork ribs.

The kitchen is tiny.

The shelves on the way to the rest room are loaded with Thai products.

See!

And the bathroom includes its own glamorous strapped water heater — clearly not going anywhere!

Overall, this place is legit. Not your suburban strip-mall Thai by any means. Eating here on the tiny plastic stools makes you think of a little hangout in Chiang Mai. Nearly every dish is $7. Very unusual flavors, and quite spicy, but if you can handle all that well worth the trip.

After, we felt we needed some authentic Thai desserts to quench the burn.

Inside this crowded shop.

Pandan pudding being made fresh.

Pandan custard pudding. Super thick, creamy, mild in flavor but hit the spot.

Ultra light crispy crepes with coconut cream (crispy) and either yellow mango (sweet) or curry (orange)

Taro cakes.

Mystery in a banana leaf.

Cookies.

Delicious hot fried rice and coconut balls.

All sorts of yummy stuff.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: AFF, Amphai, Asian Food Friday, curry, Fish sauce, lunch, spicy, Thai cuisine, Thai Food Club, Thai Town

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:

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

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
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

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

I Luv2Eat

Aug11

Restaurant: Luv2Eat

Location: 6660 Sunset Boulevard P, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 498-5835

Date: June 26, 2018

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Awesome LA Thai

Luv2Eat has been on my “to eat” list for years — largely because people said they had to die for crab curry — but given that it’s at the other end of the city it took me a long time to fit it in.

But now I have. It’s located on Sunset in a mini-mall not far from Jitlada.

Clearly the Chef’s are Fern and Pla. Apparently, like me they Luv2Eat!

The inside is recently done, but fairly “minimal.” Definitely has a lunch feel.

The menu is big, but not nearly as big as the tome at Jitlada. I think this is more Northern focused too.

Tasty spring rolls.

Papaya salad with shrimp. Always a great sweet/tangy flavor.

The much lauded Phuket Crab Curry. You eat it in a bowl with the accouterments in the rear.

So as you can see in this curry close-up, it’s a rich yellow coconut milk based curry. The crab shell was impossible to break into, but that didn’t matter as the meat had pretty much all cooked out.

You put this stuff (noodles and some herbs and veggies) in your bowl and then add the curry on top. Makes a nice curry noodle soup. Delicious light coconut flavors. A good bit of heat (at medium) but not overwhelming.

Pineapple Duck Curry. Another favorite curry of mine, the red curry based slightly sweet duck curry. A solid version but maybe not as good as at Jitlada.

Jade noodle with pork belly, roast pork, and more. Quite pleasant in flavor. A bit reminiscent of the Vietnamese noodles commonly found in central Vietnam.

Crying Tiger Beef. The classic Thai marinated beef. Very tasty.

Unfortunately, they were out of khao soi which is one of my favorite Thai dishes and a northern speciality. But this was some very good Thai at great prices. Bright and on the lighter side as it goes. And they can get very spicy on request (as I like it). I probably prefer Jitlada’s more “intense”, richer style, but Luv2Eat is a really solid lunch option and I want to go back and try more.

For more LA dining reviews click here.