Just beyond the big Thaitown strip on Hollywood Boulevard lies Rodded Restaurant. Hard as it must be to have a restaurant name that sounds like an "enhanced interrogation technique," Rodded has been hanging on for quite a while with good, soulful Thai cooking.
The various pork and chicken balls are popular appetizers and I found them quite tasty (what's not to like about fried meatballs). My favorite appetizer, though, was the leek cake, a bun filled with leeks and greens which comes fried or steamed.
One of my favorite dishes was ham hock over rice. The hock is braised with a rich soy marinade that drips nicely into the rice underneath. The pork had great flavor and the sauce-drenched rice was irresistible.
I was less enamoured of the stewed duck over rice. While it was nicely flavored, the duck was tough and chewy and the fat was rubbery.
If there is a signature dish at Rodded, it is the duck noodle soup. You can choose from a variety of noodles to be added to the soup which is topped with thinly sliced pieces of duck, but it's really about the broth. Rodded's duck broth is a rich, dark brew, full of duck jus and nicely spiced. Slurp it up!
Rodded Restaurant
5623 Hollywood Blvd. (just east of Wilton)
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 962-8382
Do you like your leek bun fried or steamed. I am always torn with such decision. Yummy fried goodness, or healthier steamed version...
ReplyDeleteGood question stuffycheaks. I guess it just depends on my mood.
ReplyDeleteHave you managed to get their chicken over rice? Saturday and Sunday only, they typically run out by noon or 1. Perhaps my favorite thing there.
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