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Talk to me about US Thai Food

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OCGuy

Lifer
I have recently fallen in love with the yellow chicken curry at a local Thai place. The only other thing I have ordered has been the "Crying Tiger" beef, which seems to be just as standard on local Thai menus.


Are all American Thai restaurants pretty much the same? Is this anything close to Thai food? What would be the next best dish to try, since I have conquered the entry-level stuff?
 
I've been to about 4 different Thai places, one of which was in a totally different part of the country than the other 3. They were all pretty similar, I've gotten the same meal at all 4 places.

I don't get the curry stuff though, mainly just Pad Thai.
 
Pad Thai is pretty universal.

There's also Green Curry - there's a place in walking distance here who make it two or three steps hotter than my normal tolerance for heat.. But it's so good that I sit there - red faced, sweating, and teary eye'd - shoveling more into my mouth...
 
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They always seem to have slightly different spellings on their menus...

Pad See Ew or Phat See Ew is what I started my wife on...it's basically more similar to chinese food with rice noodles....good stuff, but I prefer the curries.

Most places will serve Yellow, Red, and Green curry. Often, yellow curry will come with coconut milk and lemon grass/bamboo and is served with rice.

If you get noodle dishes, some places will serve mungbean noodles, but they typically aren't as Americanized because that's a more healthy noodle than a rice noodle.

Thai food is easy to make at home. Most of the time, you can do it all in one skillet by frying the meat/vegetables...removing them cooking your noodles and adding an egg to the vegetables and meat and putting everything back into the same skillet to finish up and reheat.
 
OCGuy said:
I have recently fallen in love with the yellow chicken curry at a local Thai place. The only other thing I have ordered has been the "Crying Tiger" beef, which seems to be just as standard on local Thai menus.


Are all American Thai restaurants pretty much the same? Is this anything close to Thai food? What would be the next best dish to try, since I have conquered the entry-level stuff?
Click to expand...

Since you're from OC

http://www.yelp.com/biz/thai-nakorn-garden-grove-2

http://www.yelp.com/biz/thai-nakorn-restaurant-stanton-2

Been around for 20+ years. Probably the best authentic Thai food you can get around here.
 
All the Thai restaurants I have tried in North America have all been about the same, at least as far as the general offerings. Some places do variations on traditional dishes along with the traditional ones, and some do it better than others, but in general the variance is not that huge.

KT
 
OCGuy said:
Thanks! I will make an effort to get over to one of them sometime soon.
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Definitely go for the Tom Yum soup. Grab the bigger hot pot if you're with 2+ people. Fish cakes are good. Definitely try the beef salad. There are also a variety of different kinds of curry there too.
 
Does it have an English translation ? If so it's been pretty Americanized.

I got lots of super legit places in LA I can rec you but honestly unless you've grown up eating the real deal some of it isn't very accessible. Lots of fermented/funky/sour flavor profiles. No English translations either, just Thai words on blackboards or special menus.


Thai Nakorn is super tasty and probably the best in OC.
 
Ns1 said:
Does it have an English translation ? If so it's been pretty Americanized.

I got lots of super legit places in LA I can rec you but honestly unless you've grown up eating the real deal some of it isn't very accessible. Lots of fermented/funky/sour flavor profiles. No English translations either, just Thai words on blackboards or special menus.


Thai Nakorn is super tasty and probably the best in OC.
Click to expand...

Yea I'm still on training wheels with Thai. I already made the mistake of over-reaching with Sushi when I went from crispy cali-dragon roll to Uni with a raw quail egg on top....that was a tough one.

I'm getting out of my Peruvian kick, so Thai is going to fill the void.
 
Ns1 said:
Does it have an English translation ? If so it's been pretty Americanized.

I got lots of super legit places in LA I can rec you but honestly unless you've grown up eating the real deal some of it isn't very accessible. Lots of fermented/funky/sour flavor profiles. No English translations either, just Thai words on blackboards or special menus.


Thai Nakorn is super tasty and probably the best in OC.
Click to expand...

Trust Ns1 to come lay the smack down on us noobs. :awe:

KT
 
Totally forgot if you're anywhere near Thai Town in LA try

http://www.yelp.com/biz/sapp-coffee-shop-los-angeles

I saw it on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation's LA episode and I happened to be in the area to try it. It's much more bare bones than Thai Nakorn but the Boat Noodles there are amazing compared to anywhere else I've tried. It's a hole in the wall, C-Rated restaurant but its worth it. Plus its cheap as hell.
 
I frequent a couple Thai places around me and have been to several overall in my metroplex.

You can't go wrong with any of the curry's: yellow, red, green.

Fried rice is also very good: Basil, yellow curry, crab, Thai spice.

Soups are pretty good too. I like the Tom Yum soup with chicken. it's a bit tangy and sour with some veggies inside.
 
KeithTalent said:
Trust Ns1 to come lay the smack down on us noobs. :awe:

KT
Click to expand...

An acquaintance runs an LA thai food blog...he eats at places like this all day...

lacha-specials-menu.jpg


doesn't this look super delish?

IMG_0929-525x400.jpg


fried sour pork ribs, nam see krong. Fermented for 3 days
 
back when i was younger i knew the people that ran a tiny thai place in Dekalb. i would go get chicken in red curry all the time. it was fricken amazing.

then the damn city shut it down for "health issues" =(

there is a new one in town but i haven't gone in a while
 
Ns1 said:
An acquaintance runs an LA thai food blog...he eats at places like this all day...

lacha-specials-menu.jpg


doesn't this look super delish?

IMG_0929-525x400.jpg


fried sour pork ribs, nam see krong. Fermented for 3 days
Click to expand...

Those look awesome. We don't have anything like that around here, at least as far as I know. :hmm:

KT
 
You would be amazed at the quality of the Thai food that you can make in your own home. A few bucks, a can of Thai curry paste, a can of low fat coconut milk and some vegetables ...
 
how much crap hot food you can fit in your colon. Thats thai food. Enjoy your explosive crap next morning.
 
This place is good near me.

Have gotten the Drunken Noodles with Shrimp a few times and liked them very well, at heat setting just below Nuklar Powered, my description not theirs.

You can vary the heat settings there.



Thai Spice Restaurant

http://thaispicerest.com/index.html

Just the standard Pad Thai though, here.

thai-fried-noodles-with-shrimp.jpg

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