Restaurant Reivew #237: Thai Kitchen, Simi Valley

Papaya Salad

Thai Kitchen has some pretty great Thai food, and not just for Simi Valley standards (North Hollywood isn't that far away, after all). I tried my three favorite Thai dishes--papaya salad, pad kee maw with beef, and pad Thai with tofu to see how they measured up.

The papaya salad was the one dish that didn't impress me--for the price, I felt that it wasn't a lot of food. The tomatoes were of the mealy, refrigerated variety--which is usually the case with restaurant tomatoes--and, for my taste, there were too many different veggies and not enough papaya. Also, while I appreciate the use of fresh rather than dried shrimp, and I know that shrimp aren't cheap, it would have been nice to get more than one shrimp in my salad.


Pad Kee Maw

The pad kee maw was not quite as spicy or as flavorful as the one from Krua Thai--I don't think any pad kee maw will ever beat Krua's. And I like mine with mint, which this version didn't have. I also thought it could use more meat and red bell peppers, but overall, it was still a tasty dish that I would order again.


Pad Thai

The pad Thai was really spectacular--totally comparable with Krua Thai (my standard of Thai food, in case you hadn't noticed). Best of all, you have the option to order it spicy--and they will actually make it lip-tinglingly spicy if you ask. I also thought this dish was a good value for the price--I could easily make two meals out of it for $8.

However, it was only totally spectacular on my first visit. On my second visit, I guess another cook was in the kitchen, and the dish wasn't as good as the first time. I still plan to go back, though, in the hope that my third experience will match my first.

Thai Kitchen doesn't offer much in the way of ambiance. It's located in an unattractive shopping center and the interior is pretty blah. This restaurant appears to do mostly takeout and delivery business. Thankfully, they are very quick to prepare meals for takeout and they have a low delivery minimum--just $15.

Overall, I think the service, food, and prices are all better than average and I would recommend Thai Kitchen.

Thai Kitchen

995 East Los Angeles Avenue
Simi Valley, CA 93065-1879
(805) 581-8049
Thai Kitchen menu

Restaurant Review #213: Cha Chaa Thai, North Hollywood

Cha Chaa Thai is proof that just because a Thai restaurant is located on Sherman Way in North Hollywood doesn't mean it will be good. Though this strip of street is home to gems like Bua Siam and Krua Thai, it's apparently not infallible. Cha Chaa serves what is probably the worst Thai food I've ever had.

I had a bad feeling the moment I walked into the place, and experience has shown me that this feeling is almost always dead on. But with the place so empty and the lone server so friendly and so aware of my presence, it felt wrong to leave, so I decided to order anyway and hope for the best.

The food tasted about as good as I expected given the looks of the place: very few customers (it was a little past lunchtime, though), very outdated decor, and a steam table of impossibly cheap lunch specials ($4.95 for rice, one eggroll, soup, and a small portion of an entree).

One of the problems is probably that Cha Chaa is a Thai-Chinese restaurant, not a Thai restaurant. Swan Thai has a few Chinese dishes on its menu, but is primarily a Thai restaurant (a tasty one, at that), so I was expecting the same from Cha Chaa. In reality, it is a Chinese-Thai restaurant, with very few Thai dishes. For example, none of the nine lunch special entree options are Thai. I probably should have ordered a Chinese dish to get a more accurate picture of the kitchen's capabilities, but I was really craving Thai and my funds are limited. Plus, I wanted to order something that would be cooked fresh, not something that had been sitting out under heat lamps for hours.


Pad Thai

The pad Thai was sort of a cross between the ketchupy version and the peanuty version, but it didn't taste like much. I normally don't squeeze fresh lime on my pad Thai, but I used an entire lime to make this dish actually have some flavor (good thing I had a bag of limes in my fridge, since it only came with one wedge). The dish was edible, but I can name about 15 places off the top of my head that do better. Also, there was no option for tofu (with this or any other dish on the menu), which is how I like my pad Thai. This one came with chicken (and shrimp, which I went without). The chicken was somewhat dry and didn't have any flavor beyond its inherent birdiness. The noodles were properly cooked, though not quite as pleasantly chewy as Krua Thai's or Bua Siam's.


Pad see ew

I also tried the pad see ew with beef. Unfortunately, this dish was overcooked, giving it a slightly burnt smell and taste. The beef was no better than the chicken, and the dish, like the pad Thai, was fairly flavorless overall.

One thing the restaurant does have going for it is that the portion sizes are generous and the food is cheap. Unfortunately, it is not unique in that regard. One thing it does do differently, though, is try to cater to a Spanish-speaking clientele. The entire menu is translated into Spanish, and they even serve aguas frescas. Also, the service is friendly and the food was prepared quickly (but not too quickly--it was obviously made to order).

Cha Chaa Thai
12936 Sherman Way
North Hollywood, CA 91605
(818) 503-8884

Restaurant Review #212: Bua Siam, North Hollywood

Pad kee mao


It's almost impossible to go wrong with a Thai restaurant in North Hollywood. True, no one on Sherman Way knows how to drive, there's almost no parking, the lots are full of potholes and puddles and trash, and there are scary-looking men hanging around sometimes. But hit any strip mall in the vicinity of Coldwater Canyon and what should really be called Sherman Boulevard and you're likely to find a Thai restaurant serving some of the best Thai food you've ever eaten (if not some of the best food you've ever eaten, period).

On top of that, it's cheap as hell. If you want to treat yourself to a luxurious meal but can't really afford it, don't go to Melisse and order an appetizer; go to Bua Thai and order five entrees. The cost will be similar, but only one will leave you with a full belly and leftovers for days.


Pad Thai

I'll make no bones about it: Thai is one of my favorite cuisines, yet I eat it so infrequently that I find myself always ordering my old favorites instead of branching out and trying something new. On the plus side, I can compare Thai restaurants pretty well since I always order the same staples: pad Thai, pad kee mao, tom kha, and sometimes (but not this time) fish cakes.

Let's start with the dish that always makes me feel like a cliche when I order it, but I can't help it because I love it so much and haven't yet figured out how to cook it at home without ending up with a glob of tasteless/burnt/excessively tamarindy rice sticks. While pad Thai is a dish of infinite permutations, there are basically two schools of pad Thai in Los Angeles: the ketchup school, found primarily in whitish locales like Santa Monica, and the peanuty school, found primarily in North Hollywood. I'm making broad generalizations here, yes, but the ketchup kind has an orangeish-red (or in a worst-case scenario, pinkish) color and a slightly tangy flavor, while the peanuty kind has a translucent brown color and is super sweet. I will confess to not really liking the latter, which Bua Thai serves, because of my distaste for particularly sweet things (I probably should have squeezed that lime over the top), but the chewiness of the noodles is divine.



Tom yum

Tom yum is essentially just sweet and sour soup (which, by the way, should not be confused with Chinese hot and sour soup, a totally different concoction). It consists of a light chicken broth infused with galanga and kaffir lime leaves (the sour), however much spice you specify (the hot), mushrooms, cilantro, and your choice of protein. I always get the chicken, and it always tastes like nothing more than bland, boiled chicken, but Bua Siam's broth is particularly rich and particularly (but pleasantly) sour, having the sort of umami one normally associates with pho. Minus the ever-present chicken issue, this is one of the best bowls of tom yum I've ever had. I was also glad that they had both small and large bowls, so I didn't have to order the soup for my entree like I did the last time I went out for Thai (in San Francisco).

Rivaling tom yum for my favorite Thai dish is pad kee mao, which I discovered during a visit to Krua Thai when I decided to branch out slightly from my old standbys. This dish consists of fat rice noodles, a bit of palm sugar, red bell pepper slices, Chinese broccoli, mint, and the usual protein of your choice (I got beef). The beef seemed like it had been cooked separately from the rest of the dish; its flavor was more reminiscent of hamburger than anything Thai. Krua Thai's beef is more flavorful and better integrated into the dish, but their version is also very greasy. The noodles, while not as chewy as the pad Thai, were still one of the best forms of comfort food I know. The palm sugar makes them slightly sweet, but not too sweet. The Chinese broccoli had a fresh crunch and a pleasant hint of bitterness and the red bell peppers balanced that with their slight sweetness. This is also a spicy dish, which is another reason why it is my favorite noodle dish, beating out other possible contenders like pad see ew.


The restaurant is casual but not dingy (unlike Swan Thai). A mix-and-match assortment of no more than ten finished pine tables (all of which appear to be from Ikea) take up most of this narrow restaurant, but the flaming tangerine and lime green walls give the place character and make it seem bigger than it is. Our server was friendly, our food arrived promptly, and my water seemd to magically refill itself. The dishes are elegantly presented on square white plates, though Bua Siam's serving sizes appear to be a little smaller than its competitors.

The restaurant is particularly hard to spot from the chaotic street; the best way to find it is to look for the large and colorful Cha Chaa Thai, pull into the same parking lot, then peruse the storefronts until you find the right address number.

Bua Siam makes it to the top of many foodies' lists for good reason. Within hours of finishing my meal, I was already dying to go back!

Bua Siam
12924 Sherman Way
North Hollywood, CA 91605
(818) 765-8395
Bua Siam website

Restaurant Review #176 - Anajak Thai, Sherman Oaks

Chicken dumplings

I recently was invited to Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks for their 25th anniversary celebration. To honor the occassion, the restaurant is serving a special menu highlighting some of their best dishes (which I got to try for free). The menu is a $25 set menu and features a sampler plate of three appetizers, two soups to pick from, three entrees to pick from, and one dessert (see end of article for details). You can take part of this event through December 24.

When I first arrived at the restaurant, there was a bit of confusion due to a language barrier with our server, but owner Ricky soon came out to introduce himself and all was well. I explained to him that I couldn't eat shellfish, which is featured heavily on the anniversary menu. He really eased my mind by going down the menu with me and telling me which dishes he would make without shrimp and which dishes he would replace entirely. I was quite happy about this since I usually avoid certain Thai dishes altogether out of fear that they will forget to make them without shrimp or because the language barrier makes it too difficult for me to communicate my needs in the first place.


Mee krob (back) and kratong tong (front)

First, I finally got to try mee krob, which is normally made with both chicken and shrimp but in this case only had chicken. Contrary to Eric Cartman's opinion, mee krob is really very good. It is light, airy, and crispy with a flavor a bit like kettle corn. Since it isn't at all heavy, it makes a perfect appetizer.

The crispy little pastry cups you see in the foreground are called kratong kong and contained a mixture of chicken, corn, and peanuts in a sweet sauce. I would order both of these appetizers again.

The chicken dumplings were clearly homemade -- the wrapper and the ingredients weren't as tightly packed as they are in the industrially produced variety.

I also had a tom khar soup (sometimes spelled "tom kha") which is a tangy, spicy, coconut-milk -based soup with chicken and mushrooms. It tasted similar to other tom khar soups I've had but a bit lighter. The chicken was a little bland, as if it had been cooked separately and added to the soup rather than being cooked with the soup, but this has been the case with every tom khar soup I've ever eaten.


Cashew chicken

This dish really wasn't any different from a cashew chicken you would order at a Chinese restaurant, as far as I could tell. The dish could have used a bit more sauce, but the roasted cashews helped compensate.

One thing that I really enjoyed about all of the dishes I tried is that they seemed much less greasy than the Thai and Chinese dishes I am accustomed to. The entrees also came with a small bowl of brown rice instead of white. Anajak seems to be a good match for health-conscious Californians.


Filet of sole with ginger sauce

The fish was a little disappointing because it was somewhat overcooked, but it still had a perfect grilled flavor and a delicious sweet, gingery sauce. Don't worry--the fish comes without its head and skeleton.


Bananas foster (not on the regular menu)

The bananas foster were a little hard to eat because the fried outer shell of the banana was a little tough and the banana was underripe, making it difficult to cut off a piece with a spoon. That didn't stop us from eating the whole thing, of course.

Overall, what I liked about Anajak is that it's a bit more upscale than your average Thai place (particularly in the Valley). It is still by all means a comfortable, casual restaurant, but it's clean, has low lighting, and a noteable absence of neon lights. Also, all of the food is attractively presented and doesn't feel heavy.

I consider myself an excellent judge of character, and while I was a special guest on my visit, I got the vibe that the owner is a genuinely warm person who truly cares about his food and his customers. He chatted with us at length about wanting to get Westerners to try new Thai dishes that they aren't familiar with and invited us to come back anytime so we could try more food. His warm personality and passion for Thai food are clearly what has helped Anajak be successful for so many years.

Tags: Los Angeles Restaurants Food Restaurant Reviews Thai Food

Anajak Thai
14704 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
818-501-4201


Here's the special anniversary menu:

Appetizer
Anajak Thai Cult Status Sample Platter
A sampling of their greatest hits!
Mee Krob Chicken, shrimp and crispy rice noodles tossed in a sweet &
tangy tamarind sauce.
Sushi Tempura California rolls flashed fried in a lacy tempura batter,
with soy sauce and wasabi.
Kra Tong Golden pastry cups filled with ground chicken, corn,
peas and carrots. Served with a plate-licking peanut plum sauce.

First Course
-Thai Won Ton Soup clear chicken broth soup with homemade
pork wontons, shrimp, barbecued pork and fresh Thai herbs.
OR
-Tom Khar Soup rich coconut milk and chicken infused with lemon grass,
galangal and dried chiles.
Vegetarian-based soup upon request.

Main Course
-25th Anniversary Chicken Half grilled chicken glazed with Anajak
Thai's addictive sweet and spicy pineapple sauce. Served with brown or
steamed rice and fresh veggie stir fry.

-Bangkok Shrimp Jumbo prawns brushed with a garlic-lime sauce and
grilled to perfection. Served with Thai-style fried rice and steamed broccoli.
OR
-Night Market Noodles-Vegetarian noodle dish tossed with a special
recipe chile garlic sauce and topped with fragrant Thai basil.

Dessert
Thai-Style Bananas Foster
Spring roll-wrapped ripe bananas, fried until golden
and then drizzled with chocolate and dusted with powdered sugar.
Served with coconut ice cream

Restaurant Review #9: Cholada Beach Thai, Malibu

On the Westside, we have Thai options like Natalee Thai, Pam's Place, Thai Dishes, Bangkok West Thai, Toi, Yangtze, and T's Thai. Well, I've been to them all, and none of them come even close to Cholada.

This restauarnt is a bit hard to find, but it's worth it. It's next to Something Fishy, right off of PCH, a minute or two before you see the Malibu sign if you're coming from the Westside. The parking lot is tiny, which can be a problem at times. As you walk in, employees will often be pulling fresh basil at a table to your left. You'll be greeted with a smile and asked to sit wherever you want.

At Cholada, you can sit indoors and enjoy an ocean view, or you can sit in their patio area in the back, which has a nice secluded feel to it, plenty of plant life, and heating poles for chilly days and nights.


Satay chicken

I always order vegetarian pad Thai, so I can't comment extensively on their menu, but I can say that I'm a bit addicted to the noodles. The noodles are nicely chewy and the sauce is perfect--not that a perfect sauce really exists, given the number of variations of pad Thai, but this one is excellent. I've also had the spicy fish cakes for an appetizer, and those were delectable as well, as was the chicken satay, generous strips of moist chicken with a savory peanut-coconut dipping sauce. These experiences lead me to believe that all of their food is probably great. If this wasn't enough, this place is inexpensive enough to fit anyone's budget. The veggie pad Thai is $8.


Pad Thai

Don't bother with the wine, they only have one red and one white, which means the flavors aren't likely to match your food. The white was definitely of a lesser quality than any $7 bottle from Trader Joe's. Thai iced coffee and tea taste good like they always do, and there's also the usual Thai beer.

Cholada Beach
18763 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu 90265
310-317-0025
Map