21 Jan Jitlada – Tried and True…..and Spicy!

It’s fun to try the newest restaurants as they open.  But Los Angeles, the vast city that it is, is filled with gems that have been around for years……and rightfully so!  A recent outing took us to Jitlada, Authentic Thai Cuisine, located on Sunset Blvd, between Western and Normandie.  Tucked in a strip mall with a gift/thai massage store next door, this restaurant has been touted by Jonathan Gold, Angeleno Magazine and Zagat, to name a few. A cluttered two room restaurant, heavily adorned with Thai decor and framed press write-ups, there are also signs every couple of feet that encourage you to remain patient as they have a small kitchen and make the food with love and care.  The menu is big, listing over 150 dishes……and that’s just the regular menu.  Flip thru to the back two pages and there are another 100+ dishes that are Southern Thai Cuisine.  And, Jitlada is known for spicy food; not just your average everyday spice, but mouth-numbing, eye-watering, sniffling spicy! It was tough to decide what to chose as everything sounded great, and we were hungry.  With a relative sensativity to spicy food, I got ready with lots of rice, water and napkins. Here is what the end result was…….. Freshy Rolls (fresh vegetables wrapped in steamed rice paper and served with homemade sauce) – a simple, light, refreshing roll, great to start out the meal….but the homemade sauce has a little kick! Coco Mango Salad (sliced green mangoes with fresh shrimp and dry shredded coconut topped with cashews) – one of my favorites! The green mango is neither sweet nor sour but “just ripe” and pairs well with the other ingredients.  The toasted coconut adds a nice tropical flavor and the cashews add texture. The dressing is slightly sweet. Crab & Shrimp in Curry Sauce (crab meat, shrimp and peas sauteed in a red curry paste) – delicious!  The batter was light and perfectly fried to a nice crisp.  The red curry sauce was so good we poured it over the rice and when the rice was gone, we were using our spoons. The following two dishes are from the Southern Thai Menu Pattanee Lamb (stir fried with green beans, thai chili and sweet basil) – my spice sensitivities were in high gear when this dish arrived. Coco Lotus (red snapper filet and lotus root in coconut soup) – a soup with great flavor and spice. Jitlada Authentic Thai Cuisine, 5233 W Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027 www.JitlandaLA.com 323-667-9809