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Tucked away in Thai Town, Thai Original BBQ is in the former home of a Taco Hell, back when they were little buildings instead of the other side of a KFC. The BBQ moved in and swanked up the joint with marble tables and a large tropical fish tank. It’s clean and small and nearly empty at about 3pm on a Saturday afternoon (cross town traffic was a killer!)
Our waitress had colored contacts, with the irises painted on around the edges. It makes her look like one of the cheapy demons on Supernatural. Other than being a low-rent demon, she was very nice and attentive.
First we got spring rolls, which my husband loved. He said they were east coast style – thick, with an emphasis on contents, chewy and lightly fried. Tough to get on the west coast, he claims, where spring rolls tend to be more like taquitos, thin, and Fried, with a capital F. They were served with duck sauce, too hot to eat at first (which was hard on us, cause it was so late), but good.
Next came the Pad Thai and the barbequed chicken we ordered. The chicken had great flavor, but the white meat was dry. It was accompanied by some fried rice, orange, with bits of egg, and garnished with two shrimp. It was very bland though. The pad thai was excellent, studded with more shrimp, peanuts, sprouts, bits of egg. It was delicious.
We left filled to the gills, but happy. Though it’s far, we’ll probably go back. I’d like to try the ribs!
Thai (original) BBQ Hollywood
5324 Hollywood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90027
Photos by Jacy for LAist
