Here at The Move, Mondays are for reviewing what I ate last week. That includes both in and out of home, but let’s face it, these days I’m mostly being lazy in the kitchen.
That’ll change this week, however, as I start selling pasta out of my apartment again on Sundays. This Sunday you can expect a lot of orecchiette, gnocchi sardi, and maybe even some kabocha squash ravioli. Hopefully, this pasta slingin’ side hustle gets a little more professional next year. I’m looking to do some pop-ups around town. Speaking of…
Did you know that Los Angeles is fucking big? Sprawling is the word people use ad nauseam to describe this city. I hate that word, but there isn’t really an apt synonym for sprawling. Go ahead and look for one, tough guy. You won’t find it. Google says straggling and spilling are similar, but no and also what the fuck??Ahhh yes, beautiful, spilling Los Angeles. City of Straggles!
Anyway, this city is huge and sometimes I just want to enjoy my own hood. My neighborhood encompasses Thai Town, Los Feliz, Little Armenia, and Hollywood. Sometimes, I go weeks without leaving this area. It’s less daunting than trying to provide food coverage for all 4,084 square miles of Los Angeles County. Plus, it means that I’m an authority figure on something, rather than providing a cursory report of restaurants I’ve been to once. In my neighborhood, I’m a bar regular sitting down on a comfy stool which isn’t mine, but nonetheless formed to my own buttocks.
So here’s what I ate last week in and around Thai Town. Giddy up.
The Zippy Fries at Seabirds
The zippy fries (vroom vroom) are essentially vegan loaded fries. They feature grilled ancho mushrooms, green onions, a vicious vegan cheese sauce, and Seabirds sauce (a vegan mayo based special sauce). $16.43 is a bit pricey for loaded fries, but this plate of spuds was satisfying, tasty, and worth the money, especially if you have a hard time finding good loaded vegan fries in Los Angeles.
Fascinatingly, the vegan cheese sauce resembles, almost to a T, egg yolks. It’s extremely rich and sticky and spills throughout the straight cut potatoes. These fries are saucy not soggy. The thinly sliced green onions are a fantastic move, and the ancho mushrooms provided some needed meatiness. I love these fries. And the best part? They don’t make you feel like shit.
Another Move: Ask for a side of Seabird’s hot sauce. Drizzle a bit on the fries before eating. They could use just a tad more spice. Sandwiches of History guy would call this a “plus up.” I love Sandwiches of History, by the way. Barry seems like a really nice guy who likes Futurama too much, if that makes sense.
Seabirds Los Feliz
2138 Hillhurst Ave. Suite B
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Crispy Rad Na at Rad Na Silom
Do you like goopy things? What about goopy, meaty, and crunchy thing? Great, then you’ll love the crispy rad na at Rad Na Silom.
Rad Na Silom is my favorite neighborhood spot because it’s open every night rain or shine. Its signature dish, rad na, are essentially rice noodles served in a thick pork gravy. You can order them with glass noodles or egg noodles, but rad na is choice with the fried vermicelli noodles. The crispy, crunchy noodles play well off the thick, viscid sauce. It features chunks of pork, Chinese broccoli, and chilis, and it costs $10.
There’s all kinds of great new foods popping up at Rad Na Silom, too. Fried chicken skin ( a must), pork ribs, and even jim joom, a Northeastern Thailand style of hot pot, can be had for $19 and features marinated pork, shrimp, eggs, instant noodles, glass noodles, napa cabbage, mushrooms, and a delicious, herby broth. These are all new options, by the way. There’s always a reason to go to Rad Na Silom, but the crispy rad na noodles still remain #1 for me.
Another Move: Going late at night and can’t find parking? There’s a yellow zone on Hollywood, right before the entrance of Ralph’s. Yellow zones are free public parking after 6pm. Use em’ up. I do this constantly.
Rad Na Silom
5321 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Hainan Chicken & Rice at Heng Heng Chicken Rice
This is Thai-style Hainan chicken, aka khao man gai, which varies slightly from traditional Hainanese chicken and rice. Though, the cooking method for the chicken remains the same—a whole bird gets slow poached until the flesh turns buttery and the gelatinous skin practically melds into the tender flesh. Blows my mind that a boiled chicken dish can melt in your mouth like this. Hainan chicken is peak, affordable, luxurious comfort food, and at Heng Heng a plate of it costs $13.50.
You have some choices when you order Hainan chicken at Heng Heng (mine are listed in bold). First, you get to choose white or dark meat. Then white rice or garlic rice. Optionally, you can order garlic noodles for $2. Finally, you can choose to add organ meat for $1. That organs feature bits of heart, kidney, and gizzards. Use the table-side chopped ginger and chiles to tame the gaminess of the organ meat.
Where khao man gai tends to vary most from Hainanese chicken and rice preparations is the side sauce. Often, the side sauce in Chinese chicken and rice consists of some lightly seasoned soy sauce. The sauce of Thai-style Hainan chicken has a lot more going on, with fermented soy bean, ginger, and chilis. Heng Heng’s pitcher of table-side sauce is sweet, funky, and aromatic. You’ll want to drown your chicken and rice in it, but try to show some restraint. The clean, fatty flavor of the rice and chicken is best enjoyed with few adulterations.
Before the chicken comes out, you’ll get a cup of chicken broth served piping hot. Let it cool down and start slurping about half way through your Hainan chicken.
Another Move: Heng Heng is a Pepsi restaurant. No Coca Cola, so, if you’re a Pepsi person, great news for you.
Heng Heng Chicken Rice
5420 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Turmeric Fried Chicken Wings at Jitlada
I submit Jitlada’s turmeric fried chicken wings for best wing dish in L.A.
For $23.95, you get a heaping mound of glossy, turmeric fried rice with deep fried chicken wings on top. The wings (pictured here with all flats, hell yeah) are plain, but plump and juicy. Everything is coated with a thin layer of fat, meaning this plate of food is sure to stick to your ribs.
This iconic wing plate comes with cucumber, sweet peppers, cilantro, lime, and a spicy sweet chili sauce on the side. Typically, it’s a great appetizer for the table, but whose to say these wings aren’t for every occasion? I can’t think of a better game day meal than fried rice and wings. Order them on to-go—they stand up to delivery very well. Or, slip in for a lunch or an early dinner, when you’re most likely to get a table.
Jitlada
5233 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Matty Matheson’s Butter Chicken
I have a habit of falling asleep to cooking videos—Jacques Pépin, Pasta Grannies, and Julia Child have all lulled me to sleep with their soft, instructional tones. Matty Matheson’s manic, high energy shout-instructions might not seem like the type of video one would fall asleep to, but for me a man has never had a more gentle scream. His yelling is a melodic lullaby. Not only is he a phenomenal teacher, I also just find deep comfort in his personality. The uncontrollable sound effects, manic sidetracks, brazen confidence and then immediate self-doubt—we can all see ourselves in Matty’s brain, whether we want to or not. He’s a treasure.
His butter chicken video was the first one I ever saw, so I decided to give it a go. I made a few modifications, mainly I replaced ghee with chicken fat. My butter chicken was a little less on the orange side, but the spice proportions are on point. Butter chicken is an easy, one pot recipe that’s perfect for cold weather. I plan on freezing some batches to pull out on a rainy day.
Butter Chicken Move: Instead of naan, I’ve been using bolillo rolls from Ralphs which you can get 3 for a dollar.
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