Pine & Crane: Silver Lake's First Good Chinese Restaurant, Like, Ever

Let us thank the restaurant gods that the space on Griffith Park Blvd. formerly occupied by Cru has been taken over by Pine & Crane, a restaurant that believes in actually applying heat to their food. Whenever the raw restaurant Cru was mentioned, the conversation always went like this: "I tried Cru. It's really not that bad. The salads were good." Well, aren't salads normally raw anyway? And isn't kind of fishy when "not that bad" is all most people have to say?

beef noodle soup

Fortunately Pine & Crane has arrived and remodeled the space with clean pale wood ceilings, modern furniture and vintage photos of the owner's grandfather at Taiwan's Pine Crane Noodles. Still in a soft opening stage, Pine & Crane has a short and simple Taiwanese menu that concentrates on dumplings, noodles and a few main dishes and sides.

Don't be put off by the line

Prices are quite reasonable and there are even six taps of draft craft beer and several bottled selections from Taiwan and California as well as wine and sake.
There's a line to order at the counter but it moves fairly fast and we were able to grab a table. With the street in front closed off anyway, I'm sure there will be tables outside as it gets warmer too.

Mapo tofu with pork

Soon our Taiwanese cabbage, scallion pancake, Taiwanese sausage, beef noodle soup and mapo tofu dishes started to arrive. The noodles in the soup were nice and chewy and it had a clean flavored broth with a hint of anise that wasn't quite as deeply funky as some SGV soups, but was still nice. Mapo tofu had a hint of heat and there were plenty of condiments to doctor everything up to your taste.

This is Taiwan-style comfort food -- no crazy amped-up flavors or bacon this and that, just fresh, well-priced regional food in an exceedingly pleasant room. And that's a big plus for Silver Lake. I'm looking forward to popping in again for some dan-dan noodles or potstickers, the beef roll and Jidori chicken. Plus, you can pick up some baby bok choy or pea shoots to take home from the restaurant's garden.
And don't forget, just like the places in the San Gabriel Valley, they're closed on the unusual-for-this-side-of-town day of Tuesday.

Pine & Crane
1521 Griffith Park Blvd.
Silver Lake
323.668.1128

Night + Market Song Spices Up Silver Lake

beaded curtains and flowered tablecloths at Night + Market Song

Night + Market Song is the second outpost (Song means two) from chef/owner Kris Yembamroong, who about five years ago started adding spicier and more authentic northern and Isaan Thai street food dishes, first at his parents' Talesai on the Sunset Strip and then at his own Night + Market next door. The Strip was always sort of an odd place for such an interesting restaurant, so it makes sense that Yembamroong has finally come east, opening Night + Market Song in a small Sunset Blvd. storefront just east of Sunset Junction.
Open just two weeks, Song is still in somewhat of a soft opening stage, so there's no beer or wine yet, and when we went, it was cash only. Also, check the website, as the restaurant will close to be at Coachella both weekends.

crispy rice salad (nam khao tod)

The room: Much funkier and louder than its Sunset Strip cousin, Song is meant to look like a cafe you'd stumble on in Bangkok, with a bright pink exterior, folding wooden chairs, flowered oilcloth table coverings, kitschy posters on the wall and bright fluorescent lights. It's a fun room but not the place for a leisurely talkative dinner with friends.

Thai sour sausage

The pros: All three dishes we tried were total mouth fiestas. Isaan sour sausage was the highlight, and the tender, juicy balls of pork had the slightly fermented flavor that makes Thai sausage so wonderfully different. Crispy rice salad is one of the best in the city, bursting with ginger, peanuts, cilantro and chile with just the right amount of burn. Chinese broccoli rose above the usual version with a hefty dose of garlic and chili, making it actually the spiciest of the dishes we tasted. I'm also looking forward to trying the market pad thai, chicken larb and startled pig, to name just a few.

The cons: I get that this is really good Thai food, featuring some unusual dishes that aren't that common even in Thai town. But nearly $60 for a smallish dinner for two with just water to drink seems a high price indeed, especially with the cash only policy. Also, there's no reservations, no takeout or delivery, no BYOB, few substitutions and just a few vegetarian dishes.
Verdict: If you're into big and authentic Thai flavors, spicy food, checking out the latest buzz spot, or pretending you're at a Bangkok hole-in-the-wall, you'll probably like Song, if you can afford it and don't mind lining up for a table.
But if you prefer cushy booths, menus with lots of different choices and spice levels, mild food for the kids, reservations or low Thai Town prices, it's probably not going to be the spot for you.

Night + Market Song
3322 W. Sunset Blvd.
Silver Lake