Thai House...a personal favorite spot in my hood

8657 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310)274-5492
Lunch: Mon-Fri 12PM-3PM
Dinner: Sun-Thurs 5PM-10PM
Friday: 5PM-11PM
Saturday: 1PM-11PM

I laughed the other day when I realized I hadn't put one of my favorite local Thai places up. Thai House has been open for a quite a few years now and I've been blessed to live within relative walking distance of it. But really what is "walking distance" in LA? It's been interesting to watch how they've slowly been adding to their clientele and have really made it a great community dinner spot. Funny thing I've noticed recently about many Asian spots about our town is their very generic in their choice of names. I mean how do you distinguish one Thai House from another Thai House? Just makes me wonder why they chose the names they did. But I digress.

The walls covered with young artists artwork, the exposed roof, and the kind of a trendy overall warehouse atmosphere gives this place a pleasant feel that makes everyone feel at home. Now, while I can personally vouch for a good portion of the entire menu let me show off some recent highlighted plates that were pretty killer.

We started off with a bowl of their Coconut Chicken soup which had creamy Thai spice and lemongrass broth with galanga and fresh mushrooms. The coconut cream coupled with lots of tang thanks to the lemongrass and galanga are great. It's also hearty, with the healthy sized crimini mushrooms that float around in it. After having this a couple of times I need to ask my wife to snag me some of this soup next time I'm sick. It's big on taste and the hints of heat give it enough zing to put it within reach of most heat sensitive palates.

I test many places out with their cashew chicken to get a feel for how they make some of their basics. Their's consists of good sized hunks of tender, juicy, sauteed chicken coated in roasted red curry sauce (not too spicy), with scallions and water chestnuts to even out the plate. It's solid and worth getting when you can't decide on what to get.

Their Spicy Beef Thai Yumm has thinly sliced tender NY beef strips on a bed of fresh greens with tangy lemon grass vinaigrette and crisp red onions. Everything's lightly dressed, but there's plenty of extra if you decided to douse the meat and greens like we did. This is such a great plate when you're feeling like you want something more fresh but still want some meat.

Other plates of note include their Panang, Pad Thai, their Catfish Special (crisped whole catfish falling off the bone with a teriyaki and lime sauce), and their Angel Wings (chicken and pork stuffed in chicken wings). Every time I come back I wonder why I don't come here more often. The prices are pretty good, the place itself is always a pleasure to be inside and the service is good. Oh and theirs that whole walking distance thing...maybe I'm just lazy. Have a great 3 day weekend guys!

Free Drink Refills: No
Entree Price Range:Lunch specials range from $7.50 to $9 while dinner prices range $8 to $15
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A funny thing heard at a wine shop at their cheese section. A customer picked this up and the person at the counter said "Yeah made from real pug's milk". The customer was like "really"? Some people are so gullable.

King & I

272 S La Cienega Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211(310)652-9845
Mon-Thur 11Am-9:30PM
Fri-Sat 11AM-10:30PM

King and I is a place I've been going to for quite some time since it's so close to where I live and it consistently brings a tasty dining experience every time I go. Located in the "it's Beverly Hills but not really Beverly Hills area'' of La Cienega just south of Wilshire in a small cafe next to an "overpriced for what you get" sushi house (for the record me and the misses used to regularly hit the sushi house that used to be there before called "Samurai Sushi"...used to be so good and the sushi chefs were like family. I miss them *sniff sniff*).

This place has stellar thai food and a chill intimate little vibe going for it. I've sampled many things from their menu but as of the last couple of times I have really been digging their Sweet Angel which is shown below. It can best be described as a mixture of chicken, shrimp and something else that I'm blanking on right now but it's all mixed together after it's ground up and then shaped back into a chicken body part like a thigh or breast then fried up. It's cool looking and tastes phenomenal. Their pad thai is wonderful (flavorful and not too dry), their pad woonsen (glass noodles plate) is flavored a little bit differently then most, it's not too salty cause sometimes it tastes like it's been strained through some Campbell's chicken soup. Their pineapple fried rice is very fresh tasting and not too heavy on the curry. Speaking of which, all their curries are awesome and not too heavy which is sometimes a problem we have with other curries. A specialty they kill with is their chicken with cashews in chili paste...sigh...this is how this plate should be all the time. So good. Their appetizers are all great from the chicken satay and potstickers to the standard we often get (and shown below) , the Thai Toast which is ground shrimp and chicken on what appears to be melba -style toast. Put a little chili sauce on that and it's pretty spectacular.



A small mention should also go for their thai ice tea and thai coffee. If you haven't had either I would say go here and taste a fine example of what each should taste like. While Thai coffee may not go great with a meal, Thai tea goes great with most meals especially the spicy ones as it's the perfect salve for an on fire tongue (hint hint for curries). Parking is available in the back and the service is great. I'd say it's a decent place to take for date or a work lunch.

Free Drink Refills: Yes on the soda but not on the Thai iced teas or Thai coffee
Entree Price Range: About $11 a plate average