Weird Desserts and Other Adventures in Thai Town

There are lots of great things about living in Los Angeles.  The weather is generally very nice, there is a ton of culture, and our sports teams don't normally completely suck.  But the best thing about LA for me is the amazing variety of ethnic neighborhoods for Ruth and me to explore.  Having conquered Little Tokyo a couple of months ago, yesterday we set out with a couple of friends to find the best that Thai Town had to offer.

Thai Town is actually the only neighborhood of its kind in the world.  This makes sense, as LA is home to the largest Thai population outside of Thailand.  Located just east of Hollywood, it is a nice and convenient stretch of Hollywood Blvd and filled with noodle houses, massage parlors and ethnic markets.

We started our tour at Thailand Plaza, since there is actually a garage to park in (that even offers validation with dining at the restaurant there which, while not nearly as good as another we went to, was decent enough).  The four of us then set out walking.  Our first stop was a restaurant called Thai Patio, where we indulged on green curry with fried tofu, pad see ew, and mango fresh rolls with peanut sauce.  It was so amazing that it will not be pictured here because we ravaged all three dishes as soon as they hit the table.  The green curry is something uniquely Thai, made of Thai basil, coconut milk, kefir lime leaves and Thai chilis, and is TO DIE FOR.

After that, we went to a dessert shop, where we had some very interesting concoctions.

From left to right: pandan custard (pandan is a leaf, and it was actually quite good), banana sticky rice that was grilled in a banana leaf, a pancake made of taro, corn and coconut, and a weird coconut cake with a coconut jelly inside.  All were actually pretty good, with the key commonality that they were not too sweet.  As a mostly savory cook, I actually prefer more savory desserts, so this was right up my alley.

After red curry, Chinese broccoli with salted fish (WAY too salty) and spicy papaya salad back at the Thailand Plaza, we did some shopping at one of the markets for some interesting produce to stir fry for dinner, and bid farewell to another amazing day and LA neighborhood.