Somboon Seafood: Lacklustre Curry Crab

Sure, seafood is considered pretty cheap in Thailand. However, I don't think their curry crab really lives up to the hype. Or maybe I just went to a branch of Somboon Seafood that did not cook it as well as the original branch.

The Thai curry crab felt almost like a poor imitation of Singapore's chili crab. Their curry sauce was mostly thick like a gravy with hints of egg mixed in it, and did not really taste like curry. Or maybe I'm too used to the flavourful Indian curry that has a strong aroma and taste. The curry crab was also served lukewarm which is pretty questionable. I'll stick to Singapore's chili crab.

Curry Crab

One thing that I liked about the stir fried morning glory (kangkong) is that it was spicy and aromatic because of the onions and garlic. Probably on par with the sambal chili version that Singaporeans love.

Stir Fried Morning Glory

The crab rolls served here taste like Singapore's ngoh hiang, but with a tougher fried skin.

Crab Rolls

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Lum Noodles: Clean and Hearty Thai Boat Noodles

This place called Lum Noodles เตี๋ยวเรือหลุม; Thai Style Noodle was recommended by my Thai friend. She was sure that Singaporeans will definitely get food poisoning from dirty 10 baht Thai boat noodles along the streets or on the boats at floating markets. I guess I'm not adventurous enough to eat Thai street food either. (I did not eat any of those delicious and aromatic street food except fried chicken from a decent looking stall at JJ Green.) Plus this place was a walking distance from the hotel that I was staying at. Perfect.

Noodles live cooking station at the store front

I don't know if this can be considered the best boat noodles because I've not had others, but I should think that this place serves really good and delicious boat noodles since my friend's mum recommended us this place. Additionally, this establishment is filled with local Thais, which probably means that it isn't a tourist spot. But nevertheless, their menu has English translations which is a huge bonus for tourists. It was also really cute how the tables had hollow holes cut out for us to fit our bowls into. I guess that's the solution for eating on a rocky boat!

Their soup was aromatic and well seasoned. I enjoyed every single bite and I even savoured the soup as well. The portion isn't really big so we ended up getting 2 bowls each. Or maybe because it was just so good..? Do come here if you're near MBK or Siam Center.

Thai boat noodles, glass noodles (60-70 baht)

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Isaan Station: Best Thai food in downtown LA

It's almost impossible to find Singaporean food when you're out of Singapore. Or at least Singaporean food that actually tastes like Singaporean food. There used to be a Papparich branch in Ktown, but it moved to the San Gabriel's area (where a lot of awesome and authentic Chinese food can be found).

I was brought here by my fellow Singaporeans who raved about this restaurant. I guess everyone had insatiable cravings for Southeast Asian food and the spice that we are used to. Jalepenos. sriracha chili sauce and hot sauce isn't really our thing. This restaurant also served authentic Thai food from the Isaan area, which is where all the spicy dishes originate from. You could even place your order in Thai (which is what one of my friends did). 

Menu

So we ended up ordering Cha Yen (Thai tea), Tom Kha (chicken coconut soup), Kor Mu Yang (grilled pork neck), Crying Tiger (grilled beef) and sticky rice. We ended off with honey toast, which their version of the Shibuya thick honey toast. We ended up paying USD$20 per person after splitting it 4 ways, inclusive of tax and tip.

Thai Tea ($2.50) and Sticky Rice ($1.50)

After coming here, I dare say that many Thai restaurants in Singapore do not serve authentic Thai food. Its a shame because we are so much nearer Thailand than Los Angeles is. Same for Korean food. Anyway, I fell in love with their grilled pork neck. It is one of the most amazing dishes ever, and it has a similar effect on me as how char siew makes me crave for it all the time. I think the pork neck was grilled with honey, and it was extremely tender. Their grilled beef was not as amazing as their grilled pork neck, but it was tender and it was pretty good as well. The tom kha was flavourful and there was also a generous amount of ingredients unlike some places in Singapore.

Tom Kha and Kor Mu Yang

We ended the meal with the honey toast, which came with 2 huge scoops of ice cream. The thick toast was fluffy and not to sweet. However, it was impossible to finish even though we shared among 4 people. Or maybe we were just really full from our meal.

Honey Toast

I returned again shortly after with my other friends before spring break. This time, we ordered Kor Mu Yang, Tom Yum soup, pad thai and sticky rice.

This place is also very interesting, because they offer spicy levels on a scale of 1 to 10 for their soups. We decided to try level 6 because my other Singaporean friends said they couldn't handle level 7. It was a lot spicier than any tom yum soup that I had in Singapore. However, the other table which were all from Hong Kong were not asked to choose their level of spiciness, and their soup wasn't as strong. Not sure if they bother asking all their customers. Perhaps they would only ask if people sound or looked like they were used to taking spicy food (from their appearance and accents).

Pad Thai, Tom Yum soup and Kor Mu Yang

I returned here on another occasion for desserts after having kbbq at 8 Korean BBQ. The Taiwanese love coming here for their iced grass jelly. My friend would always want to come here to get it.

Mango Sticky Rice

The iced grass jelly was slightly underwhelming because I was expecting it to taste a bit more like chendol. However, it was just ice, grass jelly and brown sugar. But it was still pretty good. Their mango sticky rice was great and they do it better than a lot of places in Singapore.

Iced Grass Jelly

While I would consider Isaan Station to be the best Thai food place in Los Angeles, some people would argue that this other restaurant with a red signboard near BCD Tofu House is the best. I have never tried it because I've not heard anyone rave about it in USC, but I did see a crazy long line when I passed by it once. However, it could be just really popular among their Americans. There is also a Thai Town near Hollywood, and some of my Thai friends have said that the best Thai food can be found there. If you are able to travel all the way out, you can ask the Thais for the name of the restaurant that they believe has the best Thai food in LA. 

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