Thai You Over

UPDATE ALERT UPDATE: Due to massive complaints by the neighbors who find the chanting of prayers too loud, and don't like the influx of cars parking in the neighborhood on weekends , the Thai Temple is closing! I'm not sure when, so go soon before this hidden gem is gone forever!!

Being back from a glorious vacation has been rough on the ol' Jaimey. I've been bit by the travel bug and this weekend I was in desperate need of another adventure. Because lower funds and my currentplace of employment wouldn't allow me to jump on a plane to some tropical land, I was in search of bringing an exotic destination closer to home. Thus, myself and two other unsuspecting food soldiers took off for North Hollywood for a Thai food extravaganza.

After a little Yelp and Chowhound snooping, I hit the goldmine: Wat Thai Temple. This beautiful temple in North Hollywood is the only traditional Thai Temple in all of Los Angeles (and the first built in the US), complete with adorable Buddhist monks in striking orange wraps (somebody's been reading Vogue and knows that orange is very "in" this season). On Saturdays and Sundays from 8am-6pm the temple houses several traditional Thai food vendors who sell their wares for $1-$5. If you're not sold yet like I was upon learning these facts, than this blog is not the place for you.
We arrived at the Temple after a little tift with Mr. Googlemaps who usually is very honest, but found the need to lead me astray on this particular Sunday. It was lunchtime, and agent 1 and agent 2 and I were very hungry.
With $20 on hand we purchased all the tokens we could. The food vendors don't take cash, instead you purchase tokens from a small booth and pay the vendors with the tokens - it's quite the experience! We split the coins and went in different directions in search of the best of what they had to offer.
Agent 1 went straight for the Mango and Sticky Rice ($3). The mangoes were beautiful and golden yellow, very sweet and refreshing.
The sticky rice was sweet and flavored with coconut, delicious alone, but fantastic when eaten together with the mango.

Agent 2 headed down a more hearty route, purchasing a Beef & Noodles in broth ($4).
The beef was perfectly cooked, and very lean. The broth was perfectly flavored, and the noodles were light and tasty.

So far, we're doing pretty good... so why stop here?

I went straight to the Papaya Salad ($3), which I heard so much about.
The salad was incredibly refreshing and great compliment to everything else we ordered. The salad consisted of broccoli slaw, green beans, cabbage and peanuts and was dressed with a sweet and spicy vinegar dressing.

From the same stand that sold me the Papaya Salad, I ordered two Chicken Skewers ($2), one Shrimp Ball Skewer ($2) and one Pork Sausage ($1).
The chicken was outstanding, but the shrimp was too fishy (made primarily of artificial fish) and the pork had a strange, crumbly consistency and was too strongly seasoned for our liking.

Lastly, I couldn't pass up the FRIED BANANA stand, where I purchased an assortment of fried Plantain, Pumpkin and Sweet Potato, 10 pieces for $2.
All three were very tasty, although by no means low in calories. The pumpkin and sweet potato were my favorite, crispy on the outside and sweet and creamy on the inside.

Clearly, we did well for ourselves, but if you did the math, you know that I had $2 in tokens remaining, and what better way to spend the money than on dessert. I made my way over to the Kanom Krok stand where two women, one quite old and one very young, were busy creating pancakes in a cast iron pan with 18 small divots.

The pancake batter is made primarily of coconut milk, rice flour, rice and salt. After that sets for a minute, the women poured a second batter of coconut milk and sugar on top to create a creamy and sweet center. We had to wait a while to get our 18 Kanom Krok, as there were only 2 skillets going and it was quite a popular dish, but it was well worth the wait - a light but very sweet treat!

We left the Wat Thai Temple with full bellies and smiles on our faces. The food was fantastic, and very inexpensive. The location, (although quite a trek from the Mid Wilshire sect of Los Angeles), was very beautiful. The area was buzzing with people, many Thai, but a lot doing the same thing as I was, searching for a tasty food adventure. I set out on this very Sunday with one thing in mind, and as you will see from the last picture: Adventure Accomplished.

Wat Thai of Los Angeles
8225 Coldwater Canyon Ave.
North Hollywood, 91605
$