Sunday, October 17, 2010

Where Thai Food Meets Fair Food: It's Thai Noodle 'N More


At first blush, the new Koreatown restaurant It's Thai Noodle 'N More looks like any non-Thaitown Thai place. The small restaurant adjacent to Ham Ji Park and Ice Kiss on Sixth Street, serves a decent pad thai and has a good assortment on its menu. It bustles at the lunch hour as businesspeople rush in for the multiple lunch specials. Most things I had were fine if not exciting. And then there was the fried som tam.

Fried som tam (green papaya salad) can best be described as what would happen if you opened an authentic Thai restaurant at the LA County Fair. It's as if someone took an entire green papaya salad, battered it and dumped it into the frier, papaya, green beans, shrimp and all. the only un-fried elements are the tomatoes and a few cashews. The sauce is a bit sweeter than typical but has a nice blend of chili spice and lime juice which helps cut the grease.

Eating it is like eating the best of fried fair food. It's both addictive and somewhat repulsive. It's enjoyable at the time, but feels like dead weight in your stomach. Throw it in a cardboard box with some red, checkered paper and I'd be looking for the ferris wheel.

It's Thai Noodle 'N More
3407 W. 6th St., 100C
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 738-8849
www.itsthainoodle.com

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