Re:Jitlada Thai Restaurant (Foodbme)

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 03:09:33 GMT

Not a very glowing report. Don't tink I'll be Thaing one on there!

Jitlada Thai Restaurant (mar52)

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:22:23 GMT

Jitlada
5233 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Had dinner at Jitlada Thai Restaurant in Hollywood the other night. There were 7 of us.

Jitlada made Foodnetwork's top ten in The Best Thing I Ever Ate Hot and Spicy episode so I was ready.

One of my nieces has eaten there before and pre-warned us that the food is very spicy. She likes hot food and is a good judge of spicy.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-best-thing-i-ever-ate/hot-amp-spicy/index.html

It sits in a nondescript strip mall on Sunset Boulevard. One of the things that sets Jitlada apart from other Thai restaurants is that they serve food from the Southern part of Thailand.

Their menu isn't on their website but they'll fax it to you if you ask. When I opened it I understood why. Extremely extensive.

In the back they have the same menu with different ordering numbers for EXTREMELY hot tastes.

I've never seen frogs legs on a Thai menu before.

There are two rooms in Jitlada and at 7PM on a Friday night there weren't many people.

I didn't have much say with what we ordered, but the selection was good and varied.

We started out sharing a couple large bottles of the Singha Beer. It was a little bitter for me and I must not have really liked it as I still had some in my glass when we were finished.

We started with the Tom Yum Soup with Shrimp. Something was wrong because although it looked good it had absolutely no taste. It tasted like warm water. I wasn't alone in my assessment. Everyone said that it had no taste. They seemed to have left out the lemon grass, chili and possibly sugar. I was very surprised. I'd order it again, because this just had to be a mistake.

No one complained to the waiter and no one ate it.

Next came the Fresh Rolls which was cabbage, carrots and tofu rolled up in a rice paper. Again.... No taste, but there was a semi-spicy dipping sauce. I'd never order it again.

At my insistence we also ordered the Crying Tiger Pork which is what gets the most press. It was very tasty and the dipping sauce was spicy, but neither were so hot that it would make a difference. Let's just say that my mother didn't mention any heat.

I don't remember the price of the Crying Tiger Pork, but most of their dishes were in the $12 - $14 range. For my tastes I like a bit more food for that price.

White rice was extra, but I'm seeing that a lot lately in Thai Restaurants. I'm a dish person and really liked the serving dish that they used. It was made from a very lightweight tin or aluminum.

The next dishes we received were Panang with Chicken which was delicious, but half the size that I'm used to. It had great flavor with a little heat. Panang is one of my favorites so I'd definitely order it again.

For my mother we ordered Phat Thai at a medium heat with shrimp and chicken. I can barely see the chicken in the picture and there was one solo shrimp that my mother liked. I had to load on the sambal and different chilies to make it to my liking.

Next up was the yellow curry which was also a very small serving with barely any heat.

More disappointing than the soup was the Assorted Seafood Special. It came to the table when we were almost finished with everything else and the only assorted seafood that was identifiable were the two mussels. I love mussels but could only eat one. It had an awful "old" taste to it. The rest of the dish was very mushy vegetables with what was supposed to be squid, shrimp and fish. My mother liked the sauce which was sweet and not hot at all. The seafood dish was a few dollars more than the other dishes and they seemed to forget the seafood part.

We left at about 9PM or a little later and the place was filled with people waiting outside to get in.

I'd go back, but not in a big group. I want to be in control of what I order! I'd also ask them to spice it up a bit which could probably get me in to trouble, but I'm up for it!

Is the Crying Tiger Pork in my top hot and spicy favorites?

It's good, but it's not hot and spicy!