Tuesday, January 27, 2009

New Chowhound finds: Open Door Izakaya, Jitlada's new-new Southern Thai menu

Here's a few places that are going on my restaurants-to-try-next list. Thanks to Chowhounds Slomosi and Oldiebutfoodie for posting about them.

Open Door Izakaya is in Monterey Park, an unlikely spot for a Japanese restaurant, but one cannot live by dim sum alone, right? Slomosi says the food is beautifully presented, with beer and sake and high quality ingredients like real wasabi and "premium Kuro edamame." Truffle tater tots? I'm so there.
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The unstoppable Jazz has added a whole new addendum to Jitlada's famous Southern Thai menu that you may have first heard about on EatingLA. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but Oldiebutfoodie reports it features dishes like Morning glory shrimp salad and sator bean/pork belly stir-fry. This is Thai food on a whole other level, and I can't wait to try it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

too bad The Open Door borders on atrocious: http://sinosoul.com/?p=1564

Reg Oignon said...

Disagree that Open Door blows - have been there only once, with two great fans of izakaya and things Japanese generally, and they (and I) were all impressed. Is it better than Izayoi or various places in Sawtelle or the South Bay? Probably not. But it's perfectly respectable, and certainly one of the best Japanese options east of downtown. Coming from where I do, that means something to me.

-Greg in Claremont