Jitlada April 14, 2008
Boy and I started eating Jitlada’s delicious southern Thai food a while back when we were feeling too lazy to brave the LA outdoors and wanted a delivery of a warm meal. We didn’t even know this place was starting to blow up while we were too busy perusing the delivery menu for some good eats. Then of course Jonathan Gold’s review came out. I finally got myself there in physical form to properly eat some spicy southern Thai dishes that would not be done justice to be sloshed around in a delivery car.
One such dish I was uber excited to try was their steamed green mussels. The mussels were presented so beautifully in a spicy lemongrass broth. We slurped up the juices well mashing it up with a little rice when the plump mussels ran out. I had high expectations for these mussels and they did not disappoint at all.
We also ordered the coco mango salad which is a delicious salad of poached shrimp, mango, red onion and cashews. It had such a nice spicy kick to it. I totally fell in love with this salad - its combination of sweet, fruity, nutty, spicy, and citrusy went so well together.
Another crowing glory of a dish was the deep fried whole sea bass. The goodness of a deep fried whole fish seems pretty self-explanatory. Now the mountain of fried garlic on top with it? Awesome. We picked deep to the last bit of crusty crunchy meat that hung onto the bones.
One of the spiciest foods I’ve ever had is Jitlada’s southern Thai curry. It’s no joke. I almost choked when I took my first spoonful. The deep fried soft-shell crab with ginger-garlic sauce is delicious. As is the deep fried scallops with mint and chile. I’m very much looking forward to going back and trying more dishes. The memories of freshly made dishes lures me away from ordering delivery.
That southern Thai curry fucked me up, no joking around. You didn’t mention the Jitlada Fried Rice - that I unappealingly referred to as Zoo Rice since it’s so many animals.
zoo man
omg, that’s so funny. my cousin and i only know it for takeaway/delivery orders too. lazy bums! i’ve never eaten in. i’ll have to now
hi santos,
it’s the only thai restaurant that delivers around there. i’m too lazy to pick up sometimes with all the crazy cars in hollywood. next time you’re in town let’s have a meal there.
so rob and i went recently and they asked us for our level of spicy that we could take from 1-5( 5 being most spicy)…we said 4 and we sincerely regretted it. don’t do anything above a 3….
The dishes look very pretty too… Most of my local Thai places are let down by presentation.
hi dawn,
yeah they actually care about the presentation! i especially liked the julienned carrots and red cabbage on top of the fried sea bass.