Feast Your Eyes: Jitlada's Off-Menu Burger

Jitlada's Off-Menu Burger

 Links to Check Out:

The Fabulous Off-Menu Burger and More at Jitlada

The Fabulous Off-Menu Burger and More at Jitlada Photos

Jitlada Website

Follow Jitlada on Twitter

Join Jitlada on Facebook

The Fabulous Off-Menu Thai Burger and More at Jitlada

Last May, I read about the off-menu Thai burger from Jitlada in an article by Jonathan Gold. As soon as I finished, I knew that I had to have that burger. It took a couple of months for it to happen, but wow, was it worth it and thanks so much to Jazz, owner of Jitlada, for making my burger wish come true. As mentioned, this burger is not only off-menu, but also involves a lot of preparation on Jazz's part.

First, don't come into Jitlada, ask for this burger and expect to get it that same night. Jazz uses ingredients that may not be available to whip up an impromptu burger. Second, if you really want to try this burger, you'll have to ask for it ahead of time and even then, because of the work involved, Jazz may say Yes or No to your request, depending on her availability. Again, because of the work involved, she may be more inclined to say "Yes" to a regular customer. These are just a few things to keep in mind. Now let's get to the good stuff, the Thai Burger itself.

More ...

This burger usually comes with two patties, like the double-double at In-N-Out, but so much better. Since I had plans for our group to order other items from Jitlada's menu, Jazz kindly dressed up one burger for each person. That one burger was on crunchy lettuce leaves with a slice of tomato, red onions, Thai basil and topped with a sweet sauce. I wrapped the whole thing up in my lettuce, took a bite and was in burger heaven. That burger was definitely spicy, but the sauce helped lessen the impact a bit. The tomato's acidity and the green herbiness of the Thai basil also added wonderful nuances of flavor. I also enjoyed the slight crunch of the burger, which Jonathan Gold referred to in his article.

Overall, I can see why this burger got such kudos. It's definitely worth having over and over again. I almost wish we went all out and enjoyed a full burger, instead of this half portion. All I know is that I hope there will be a chance in the near future that Jazz will agree to a repeat performance and if so, I'll be there, ready for some eating action.

While still glowing in the afterglow of that amazing burger, the rest of our dishes started to arrive, one by one. First, there was the Crispy Morning Glory Salad, made up of deep-fried Chinese watercress with shrimp and a house dressing. If you've never had this dish, make sure you order it at your next visit. I absolutely love the light crispiness of the watercress and it's definitely a different way to enjoy this slightly peppery green.

Our next dish was an Off-Menu Rice Salad. Now there is a rice salad on the menu, but the particular rice salad at our meal was Jazz's variation of the one on the menu. I had the original rice menu earlier in the year and based on my memory, I think this newer rice salad had more of a curry taste to it? I could be wrong, but nevertheless, it was delicious, so no complaints.

As we all know, Jitlada is known for their spicy foods, but now, they also have a spicy smoothie on the menu, too. This smoothie is made up of mango, pineapple and other unknown ingredients that give this drink its heat. Our table actually shared 4 of these smoothies between 8 of us and some couldn't even finish their portion after a couple of sips. Others were drinking water or taking bites of food to cool down their palate. When I drank it, I could taste chilies and then some.

Up next was the Pork Crying Tiger, which was featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate Show (the Hot and Spicy Edition) on Food Network. The pork itself isn't spicy, but the chili-lime sauce this dish comes in will give you the hit of heat you're looking for. I like how the meat has such a caramelization to its surface that some of the spots have a slightly blackened crust to them. Thsi dish actually reminds me of Filipino BBQ.

Turmeric chicken drumsticks soon arrived and with it came sticky rice and a papaya salad. The chicken didn't have any batter and was fried within the inch of its life, which is how I like it personally. However, for some, the jerky-life texture of the chicken meat may not be as appealing. The only thing I would have liked is to taste more of the turmeric and the pepper. Those spices were just a little MIA for me.

What came next was the spiciest dish of our entire meal, which was the Pumpkin Lamb. The lamb was cooked in a dried curry and with more of a squash than a pumpkin and oh my, it was a dish that lit up my mouth. I mistakenly took a sip of my spicy smoothie, which made things slightly worse. Thank goodness for the iced vegetables that soon hit our table. They helped put out the fire. I still went back for seconds, but this time ate it with bites of rice so that I could better enjoy this dish.

Our last two dishes were seafood items. What arrived first was the Krabee, deep fried catfish (bone-in) with dry chili sauce and fried sweet basil. Even with the chili oil and chili flakes, the fish wasn't very spicy, but fried fish and I always enjoy each other's company so it was still a good dish for me and I absolutely loved the fried sweet basil.

Last, but not least, was the Kaeng Leuang Cha-Om Khai, an acacia leaf omelette and shrimp in a hot and sour curry. When I first saw this dish, I was a little confused. When I think of an omelette, I was thinking something more traditional. Instead, what we got was egg battered acacia leaves and shrimp in a bowl of hot and sour curry soup. After taking a few bites, I actually found myself really liking it. The acacia leaves had a slight bitterness to it that was offset by the egg and the sweetness of the shrimp while I really liked tang of the soup itself. It reminded me of a sour Filipino soup known as Sinigang.

We were contemplating dessert, but decided to opt out. Then we were surprised by an Off-Menu Shaved Ice dessert made by Jazz's sister. I've had my share of shaved ice dessert, but this one was different. This is the first time I tasted rose. I'm not sure whether some kind of rose flavoring was added to the milk or if it was some kind of rose milk, but this dessert was both sweet and floral. Along with palm seeds and jackfruit, there were also water chestnuts encased in some kind of pink tapioca flour. It's a dessert that I'd love to have again.

Overall, this was a delicious meal that started off with the best burger, actually, the best thing I've eaten so far this year and ended with a dessert that took shaved ice desserts to another level. Simply, Jitlada is one of my favorite restaurants and with meals like this, it's easy to see why.

Jitlada
5233 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 667-9809


^

Jitlada Thai Cuisine

For the past couple of months, the buzz around all the foodie blogs and message boards has been about the spicy Southern Thai dishes at Jitlada. So one night, a friend and I decided to have dinner at Jitlada. Like everyone else, I brought a printout of the write-up that Eric, a Chicago blogger, did about this restaurant which included his recommendations and translations of all the dishes. See link below:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=13933

Thankfully, with the newfound boom in clientele, we saw that since Eric's visit, the owners had that section of the menu translated. Yay us.

So on to our meal! Between my friend and me, we chose 6 dishes from the Southern Thai menu. We started off with their rice salad, Khâo Yam "Songkhla", which was a mound of steamed rice topped with either finely crushed dried shrimp or shrimp crackers and fried coconut and surrounded by a veggie assortment. Along with the dish came a tamarind sauce. This was a nice starter with lots of great flavors and textures. How can you go wrong with fresh, crisp veggies, the salty-sweetness of the two toppings plus the sweet heat of the sauce? You really can't.

Following the rice salad was an entrée that definitely left a fiery impression, more so than any of the other items we ate that night. On the menu, you'll see this dish as Khanõm Jiin “Meuang Khon” 5 Náam 3 Dâng. The ingredients of rice vermicelli and fish balls seem innocent enough, but it was the very hot curry sauce that made my taste buds sit up, sing and take notice. Wow! I can almost feel my mouth burning again, just thinking about it.

Accompanying this noodle dish were both fresh and pickled vegetables. The addition of the veggies to the noodles actually helped cut down on the heat. On their own, the noodles and the sauce may be too much of an overload for the non-spicy eater, so the vegetables may actually be your lifesaver if you still want to take a chance on this dish.

From the fiery depths, we "cooled" down a bit with the arrival of our Néua Tàet Dìaw / Néua Sũwan or dried/fried beef jerky. The meat was definitely chewy as beef jerky should be; yet, it still retained some tenderness as well. Try taking a bite of the meat topped with both the red onion and the cilantro that comes with this dish. The beef jerky already has great flavor, but the onion and cilantro just makes it that much better.

Spicy comes back to town with the appearance of the two wet curries we ordered. The first one up was Kaeng Kûng Wùa Thùa, a spicy, turmeric-seasoned curry with shrimp and jicama. I was surprised to see jicama as an ingredient since I tend to associate that ingredient with Latin cuisine or fusion cooking, but it added a little juicy crunch to the dish, which I liked. Between the shrimp and red bell peppers, this curry dish was more on the sweet side, but still packed a delicious punch.

The second curry dish we tried was Kaeng Tay Poh Plaa Châwn Hâeng or a Southern Thai-style curry with dried mudfish and water spinach. What I found the most unappealing about this dish was the dried mudfish, which had a weirdly gummy texture to it. I would have preferred if the fish was just fried. Of everything we tried, this was my least favorite dish. That's not to say that it was bad. While the sauce had the heat, the flavor wasn't there for me, especially in comparison to the previous dishes we already tried.

After what was already a 5 entrée marathon, our Plaa Thâwt Râat Phrík, which is a deep-fried fish “smothered” in sweet chile sauce arrived. You have your choice of fish and we opted for the sea bass. The little bit I sampled before we just had it wrapped up to go was amazingly tasty and although the sauce described itself as being chile sauce, I didn't find it to be spicy at all, just packed with lots of flavor. If I wasn't so full, I would have poured the sauce over my rice and went to town.

In fact, I enjoyed the food so much that I went back a couple of days later and tried a couple other menu items, although not on the Southern Thai menu. I had their Coco Mango Salad which is sliced mango, shrimp, lime juice, onion and chili with also a bit of coconut water. Wow, what a great salad. You get tart, sweet, and a little bit heat all in one bite. Since I was too full for dessert the first time I visited, this time I didn't pass it up and had their mango with sticky rice. Double Wow! This was the best mango and sticky rice I've ever had. I don't even have words. Just try it! You won't regret it.

Overall, our meal that night was fantastic and I can see why this new Southern Thai menu of Jitlada's is getting all the raves. If you haven't already, don't pass up a meal from this unique menu. You will definitely be a faithful convert.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157601644786108/

Jitlada Thai Cuisine
5233 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 663-3104

Chang Thai Cuisine

Only open for a few months, I decided to check out Chang Thai Cuisine for lunch one day. Not wanting anything too heavy, I ordered a honeydew slush with boba, noodle soup (unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the soup) and some egg rolls.

The honeydew slush was nice and refreshing and almost quite filling in itself. By the end of the meal, I finished it to the last drop. Out came a complimentary bowl of soup that apparently comes with every meal. I didn't even know why they bothered, it was really bland. Besides, I was looking forward to the soup I ordered.

The egg rolls came next and while I appreciated the fact that they didn't skimp on the fillings, I found the egg rolls dry. The sauce that came with the egg rolls provided the only moisture. Without the sauce, after taking a bite or two of the egg roll by itself, I normally needed a sip of water or my honeydew slush to wash it down.

Finally, my soup came and it looked and smelled good. All the ingredients tasted really fresh. The broth was nice and clear and with no hint of oiliness. At first, I enjoyed the mild flavors of the soup as is, but eventually needed to add some chili to punch it up more because it started tasting a bit bland. Overall, it was a good tasting soup but what bugged me about it was the noodles.

The noodles were flat and square tipped and they were difficult to eat either with a fork or chopsticks. They kept slipping off both utensils. Eating soup should be an easy pleasant experience and not a battle of wits with the noodles. After awhile, the noodles won and I surrendered. They just didn't want to be eaten so for the most part I concentrated on the broth and everything else that came with the soup like the shrimp, fish cake, veggies and ground pork.

In general, I liked my meal there, but I think I'll have to go back and try other items before I can give this restaurant a complete thumbs up!

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157600130506738/

Chang Thai Cuisine
15622 Arrow Highway
Irwindale, CA 91706
(626) 338-1378

Dinner at Ruen Pair

It's always strange to be in a position where you're not going to give a restaurant the type of acclaim that it has gotten from other reviewers, even more so (and which happens on a regular basis), to give any type of review really based on just one visit. After all, visiting a restaurant more than once allows you the chance to explore the menu and to sift through the ordinary to hopefully find the spectacular.

True, I could have asked for recommendations for the best dishes to order, but for me, a restaurant's true success is not based on just a few dishes that will blow your socks off. Instead, it should be measured by a meal where the majority of the dishes you have ordered will put that happy smile on your face afterwards and make you want to come back the very next day, just because the food was THAT GOOD!

So now we come to my review of Ruen Pair, which has gotten quite a few raves, but for me, ranged from an okay to a good, if not exceptional eating experience. Our meal that evening consisted of 10 different dishes. I should note that I was with a group of other diners, so not all the choices may have been ones I would have made, but you have to take the hand you're dealt with and run with it.

We started off with a spicy soup which had shrimp, mushrooms, lemon grass, lime juice and fresh chili. The soup was wonderful. It had really good heat that balanced well with the sweetness of the shrimp and sour tartness of the lemon grass and lime juice.

From there we went to the Papaya Salad, which I did hear a lot of good things about and it didn't disappoint. The combination of flavors and textures between the fresh papaya, the crunchy green beans, the tartness of the lime juice and just everything combined made for a great eating experience.

Then came the Stir-Fried Morning Glory, which I found slightly bitter and not so unappealing. Soon followed two chicken dishes. One chicken dish had a really great sauce that was on the side which I liked a lot. The other chicken dish, though visually appealing, wasn't very memorable, so I can't speak to it.

Then the clams came which according to the menu was in a mild spicy sauce with mint. I actually thought that putting "mild" and "spicy" together to describe a sauce seemed a little odd. Wouldn't such opposing flavors cancel each other out? I did actually enjoy the clams, although I felt we were a little ripped off since not all the clams actually had meat in them. That didn't sit well with me.

Following the "clamless" clams came two other uninspiring dishes: chinese broccoli with stir-fried pork and a bland chicken dish that was sauteed with vegetables.

The meal finally ended with my favorite dish of the evening and one I might even return to Ruen Pair to have again. That dish is the Black Egg Sauteed with Chili and Basil. Honestly, we had no clue what a black egg was, but we were so curious that we ordered it.

When it arrived at our table, you could barely even see the eggs peeking from the dark green of the fried basil, but once you did, it was almost shocking to the eyes. The inside of the egg were all these different shades of black, gray and even olive green. It actually didn't look that appetizing, especially when compared to all the previous, more colorful dishes.

Once I got over the shock, I took a bite of egg and the fried basil together and surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. I liked the crispy texture of the fried basil and the combo of that peppery basil, the heat of the chili and the strong hits of flavor coming from the egg yolk made for a very flavorful eating experience. Now that dish did put a smile on my face.

Generally, first impressions are a big deal to me when I eat at a restaurant. If I don't overwhelmingly like a restaurant the first time I visit, I won't go out of my way to go back anytime soon. But given that Ruen Pair has gotten so many kudos from some of you, I'd be willing to come back again.

So for now, it's neither thumbs up or thumbs down, more like thumbs sideways. While this review of this particular meal I had wasn't that stellar, perhaps a second visit will match up to what the high expectations I had going into this restaurant in the first place.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594547451577/

Ruen Pair Restaurant
5257 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 466-0153