I was in town over the weekend and did a Topganga/Saticoy bang bang at 2 of my favorite stores.
Went to NY Chicken & Gyro for a lamb gyro and lamb over rice (no salad/sauce on side, for the day after). Had the wife go to El Taco Llama for our usual al pastor hard shell tacos and chips/beans. Got the gyro, walked it over to El Taco Llama, ate said tacos followed by said gyro. The lamb over rice next day held up great.
The empanadas looks delish, but how were the carnitas? Is it normal for them to look that grey?
They really weren’t gray in person. 
I thought they were just ok relative to other places.
new laotian place
kop jai lai
on chatsworth just west of sepulveda.
had lunch there today. the person waiting on me had a look of gratified surprise when i skipped the lunch specials, went straight to laotian specialties and ordered the nem khao tod. i told her that i’d had it before. more on this later.
i’ve had this only once before at A&J before it shuttered. so you can take my considering this rendition superior with a grain of salt. i will simply recommend going there and trying it yourself.
i’ll be back next friday to try the lao pork sausage.
one more thing - they do keep a few things in back you have to ask for.- such as the nam pla prik; they only offer serranos in vinegar at the table along with the mainly generic chili sauces. they’re not expecting their clientele to be that conversant with thai, much less laotian. i suspect that if you manage to convey some sense of embracing thai/laotian cuisine they may make the flavor profile a bit more more authentic in how they prepare some dishes.
You should give Kim’s Thai Food a try if you like Lao/Isaan
i’ve got a temporary assignment that takes me out to the SFV for the next 6 weeks or so. so i’m going to take advantage of that and try any interesting places between granada hills & burbank.
Definitely try the Duck Larb and Lao/Isaan style papaya salad at Kim Thai Food. This spot is easily one of the best in LA for Lao/Isaan. They don’t do gai yang though I think.
Lum Ka Naad is on my to-do list. Husband is from the North and the Wife is from the South. That sounds like an interesting spread!!!
If you work the weekends Wat Thai Temple is fun with lots of food
I found it (the one in Northridge) good but not exceptional. The server kept trying to warn me that the rice salad was not the usual rice salad, and I should’ve listened to her. It was not crispy (IIRC), although I enjoyed the seasoning. Maybe I didn’t order right. If you go, do report back.
Was waiting for my truck to get an alignment at Pep Boys on Saturday, so hubby and I decided to grab lunch at Chop Shop in the same shopping center while we waited. I had been wanting to try it based in online reviews.
He got the lamb chops (medium) plate ($14.99) with cabbage salad, rice and hummus and i did the chicken breast kebab plate ($9.99) with rice, beet salad and tzatziki. Everything is grilled to order over charcoal. Big portions and delicious food. They had tri tip going outside in the parking lot which looked great too. Will have to try that another time. A lot of people were getting takeout and also raw meat/kebab mix to go. We’ll be back for sure!
https://www.yelp.com/biz/chop-shop-butcher-and-kitchen-granada-hills
the lao sausage at kop jai lai
a side order of sticky rice was $2.
authentic nam pla plik is complementary but you have to ask for it.
the owner/chef (mannie)'s husband is a mechanic who has run a garage nearby for over 20 years. a lot of the garage’s patrons have been the place’s customers so far. if they get enough traction, they’ll expand the lao portion of the menu.
next time: the lao (vs. thai) version of papaya salad.
That lao sausage looks enticing.
omg thank you! i’m in northridge a lot (family)
instant bookmark
Lao style Papaya Salad is definitely an acquired taste for some!!!
the plan is to try it around 1:30pm tomorrow friday
Does anyone know what happened to Samrath Indian & Chinese? It was my fave Indian takeout place.
Yeah, I recently discovered a Leo’s at Sepulveda and Parthenia.
Where is Leo’s in NoHo? Maybe I’d get some pastor tacos to hold me over, for waiting in line at Salsa & Beer.
Moorpark/Vineland in the busted used car lot
