With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today.
3 exciting Thai restaurants in LA to try when you’re in a rush
Assorted offerings from Luv2Eat Thai Express featuring fried catfish with red chili paste and moo hong, a braised pork belly dish with quail eggs.
(
Gab Chabrán
/
LAist
)
Thai cuisine is front and center in the great conversation about food in Los Angeles.
The cuisine has been a mainstay in L.A. since the 1970s when Thai restaurants began popping up along Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. They quickly caught on with the film and music industry folks whose studios and offices were nearby.
Devouring a plate of pad thai noodles or slurping down some tom kha gai soup when you’re busy hits all the spots.
And you can always depend on the uniformity of Thai menu items. There’s a reason for that. In the early 2000s, Thailand's government, as part of an economic development plan, attempted to standardize authentic Thai flavors to ensure the world was eating excellent Thai food wherever they were. It was a way to promote Thai cuisine — and tourism.
Support for LAist comes from
Since then, Thai food has continued to evolve. Now, a number of “fast-casual” Thai restaurants have started popping up around L.A. Here are a few that have caught our eye:
Luv2Eat Thai Express
I’ve enjoyed Chefs Noree Pla and Fern Kaewtathip's cooking since they opened their small strip mall Thai restaurant Luv2Eat Thai Bistro on Sunset Boulevard in the mid-2000s. Their focus is on Southern Thai cuisine, specifically flavors from Phuket, where they are both from.
The new fast casual restaurant Luv2Eat Thai Express, located in Hollywood from Chefs Noree Pla and Fern Kaewtathip.
(
Gab Chabrán
/
LAist
)
Now they’ve expanded to open Luv2EatThai Express I just two doors down. It’s modeled after ran khao gaeng street food stalls, where you can choose from a series of rotating daily dishes available via steam table.
I tried a stir-fried spicy catfish that packed a punch made with funky chili paste, a recipe Chef Noree inherited from her parents. She also recommended that I sample the braised mackerel cooked with palm and sugar cane that contained the earthy sweetness often found in Thai flavors, which I can never seem to get enough of.
- Location: 6660 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles
- Hours: Open daily, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Support for LAist comes from
Amphai Northern Thai Food Club
From the top left to right, stir-fried fish cakes with young green peppercorns and sai our sausage. On the bottom is a Northern-style pork curry known as gaeng hung lay and a plate of sticky rice.
(
Gab Chabrán
/
LAist
)
Heading toward the center of Thai Town in Hollywood is another choose-what-you-want steam table restaurant, Amphai Northern Thai Food Club. As the name suggests, they specialize in Northern Thai cooking, which differs from Southern Thai cuisine because it takes more influence from surrounding countries, such as Laos. It focuses on bolder flavors and tends to be heavier with spice.
Northern Thai Food Club is an excellent opportunity to dive head first into the wide variety of Northern Thai dishes. In the tiny 12-seat restaurant, there’s little room to hide. Sure, you could order pad thai or pad kee mao. But I’d urge you to try the gaeng hung lay, especially if you love heavy, curried flavors. Large chunks of pork are cooked in a sauce made from lemongrass, galangal (a cousin of ginger, but more spicy), garlic, shallots, shrimp paste (kapi), and dried chilies, pounded together via mortar and pestle.
Northern Thai Food Club in Hollywood is a 12-seat restaurant that delivers big, bold flavors.
(
Gab Chabrán
/
LAist
)
Other standout dishes included a spicy stir-fried fish cake with green pepper cooked with green onion and other aromatics and herbs. It blew my mind and kept my nose running from all the spice. Also, I can’t forget the sai oua, the herbaceous sausage that rounded out my meal.
- Location: 5301 Sunset Blvd. #11, Los Angeles
- Hours: Open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Ban Ban Burger
The Grapow Smash (L) contains seasoning with garlic, holy basil, Thai chilis, a runny egg, and American cheese. The Wagyu Laab Smash (R) is seasoned with lime, rice powder, bird’s eye chili flakes, house Thai pickles, mint gremolata, and American cheese.
(
Gab Chabrán
/
LAist
)
Support for LAist comes from
What do you get when you combine a smashburger with Thai flavors? The answer is Ban Ban Burger, located on Sawtelle Boulevard just around the corner from the Nuart Theater. The term ban ban translates to ‘flat flat’ and refers to the smashed patties of their burgers.
Cozy up at Ban Ban Burger in West L.A. on Sawtelle Boulevard.
(
Gab Chabrán
/
LAist
)
Grapow Smash comes out the gate with a juicy patty made with grapow seasoning, which contains holy basil that's known for its peppery, almost clove-like taste. From there it's piled with grilled onions, pickles, American cheese, garlic aioli, and topped with an over-easy fried egg and enveloped in a potato bun. Another option is the Wagyu Laab Smash, seasoned with laab seasoning, with notes of lime, fish sauce, dried chili flakes, and rice powder.
Both burgers are deliciously messy and can fall apart quickly if you aren’t careful, so take advantage of the small packets of wet wipes they provide with each burger. Trust me, you’re going to need them.
- Location: 1644 Sawtelle Blvd. #3149, Los Angeles
- Hours: Open daily, noon to 10 p.m.
At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.
But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
What do stairs have to do with California’s housing crisis? More than you might think, says this Culver City councilmember. -
Doctors say administrator directives allow immigration agents to interfere in medical decisions and compromise medical care. -
The Palisades Fire erupted on Jan. 7 and went on to kill 12 people and destroy more than 6,800 homes and buildings. -
People moving to Los Angeles are regularly baffled by the region’s refrigerator-less apartments. They’ll soon be a thing of the past. -
Experts say students shouldn't readily forgo federal aid. But a California-only program may be a good alternative in some cases. -
Distrito Catorce’s Guillermo Piñon says the team no longer reflects his community. A new mural will honor local leaders instead.
Best of LAist