Monday, September 20, 2004

Mini-review: Pattaya

There's a guy on Chowhound who is always promoting Pattaya Thai on Vermont as a worthy alternative to dining in Thai Town, and a good delivery option for the Los Feliz area. So we headed over after being scared away from sin by the likes of Penn and David Cross at Hollywood Hell House just down the street on Hollywood Blvd. A few different-sounding dishes were on the menu, which unfortunately I forgot to grab, and some dishes had silly names to attract the Vermont hipster crowd. "Funky noodles" were the typical spicy flat noodles -- not transcendently greasy and flavorful like at Torung or Sanamluang, but not bad. Mixed seafood pot was a bunch of calamari, shrimp and scallops in a light yellow curry sauce -- fine but not too interesting. Red curry chicken was also standard but tasty. I convinced our foursome to try something I hadn't seen before, consisting of deep-fried squid pieces and cashews in a strong curry paste. It wasn't entirely successful, as the curry tasted raw and the squid was skimpy and chewy. But it was the only thing funky and wierd that intrigued me on the menu, so I had to try it. It's convenient if you're walking somewhere on Vermont or need delivery in the area, but otherwise I'd probably keep on driving a little farther down Hollywood Blvd.

Pattaya Thai
1727 N. Vermont
(323) 666-0880

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

hhhmmm...i'm afraid i'll have to respectfully disagree with the original posting found here. i'm an all-american white guy who has spent four months a year teaching in northern thailand for the past six years. pattaya is the most authentic-tasting thai food i've had in los angeles...and i've eaten EVERYWHERE. there's a reason the place is the most popular restaurant in the county with the thai community, as reported year after year in the local thai papers. those unfamiliar with authentic thai food might prefer one of the joints in thai town, but pattaya has the best real "thai" food. the others just have good food.