Jitlada

My brother and his family were visiting from Visalia.   He mentioned that he was looking for good seafood.  So I took him, his wife, and a friend to Jitlada, a Southern Thai restaurant in Thai Town.  The story is that they use to have their menu in Thai until a Chowhound from Chicago, Erik M., spent several days with the owner to translate the menu into English and the rest is history.  You can read more of the whole story here.  

It is located near the Sunset and Western junction of Hollywood, in a nondescript strip mall they share with several other businesses and right next to an Armenian dance club.    It is my second time to Jitlada, the first time, I was there with a couple of friends and we were very well taken cared of by Jazz, the Owner and the Chef's sister.    This time she only said "Hello" and let us explore their menu.

The Steamed Green Mussels,  fresh and delicous mussels, the broth is simply amazing, well spiced with just the right amount of heat you can feel going down your throat.   There are times I simply crave for this.  Even as I write this entry my mouth is watering just thinking about this.

Spicy Salmon Roll,  light and crispy, the mildest tasting of everything we ate.

Flambe Prawns.   On my first visit there, Jazz showed us how to properly eat this by adding a scoop of plain steam rice and stuffing it into the head of the prawns.  She then continued to say  "Best tasting rice you've ever had".   A tall claim,  but you know what, she just might be right.  Everyone knows that all the flavor of the prawns is concentrated in the head.  This plus that wonderful sweet and spicy Chu Chee sauce and coconut milk . . .  OMG!

Grilled Pork, Southern style with papaya salad and sticky rice.   The way to eat this, per Jazz, is you take a small amount of sticky rice from the little basket,  add some papaya salad over it, then add some pork over the salad, and drizzle the whole thing with the spicy sauce.   This stuff is delicious,  amazing mouthfeel,  soft sticky rice, crunchy papaya and savory pork.

Deep Fried Sea Bass and Lobster Tails with the Spicy Sweet Chili and Mango Sauce.   The fish and lobster were fresh delicious by itself without the sauce.  When these came to the table the girls were like "Ooo  mango!"  thinking it would be sweet and a little spicy.  Only to find their Ooo's replaced by silence and an "about to cry" look on their faces.   If you are like me who would rather taste their food than have their taste buds incapacitated by the heat.  You must specify to the waiter to keep the degree of heat to mild, and that is "Thai mild" which is about medium.  And for you wussies out there :) . . .  yes, there is super-mild.   If the heat is too much,  you can always douse it off with some Singha or Chang Beer.  You can ask Jazz for her special stash of almost frozen beers.

To end the meal we shared some Sticky Rice and Mango, sweet sticky rice cooked in coconut milk and sweet mango go perfectly well together.   Excellent food and even better company makes this a great meal.  

Jitlada

5233 Sunset Blvd.,

Los Angeles, CA 90027 

(323) 667-9809