fair enough, but i decided some time last year i’m through with bloody marys.
ramos fizz for the win.
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Had dinner here last night. For all the talk of it failing in LA, the huge space was totally full.
My main observation on Pok Pok is this: the value here is the cocktails and the unique dishes Ricker tried while traveling and has imitated. The smoky eggplant salad with egg and shrimp? Delicious. The vietnamese catfish dish? Seriously great.
Where the place truly falters is with thai staples. The isaan sausage is not even the 10th best I’ve had in LA, why is it $16? The khao soi was mediocre. No depth in the broth. It’s not just Pailin that blows it away. Almost every place doing it in Thai town does. The same is true for the minced pork larb. There’s just no reason to overpay for these dishes here.
The drinks are seriously good. I’m not even a cocktail guy, but the bloody mary, gin and tonic, and whiskey sours are excellent. I’d like to come here for a gin and tonic and cha ca la vong and let everyone else overpay.
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What I’m hearing here is that ricker should give up the ghost and open up a vietnamese restaurant that serves cocktails - a clearly under-served niche.
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Except that the place was totally full tho…
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I’m not really impressed by a hip restaurant serving alcohol being busy on a friday/saturday night
How about 1.5 hour wait at 8 pm on Sunday?
Place is doing just fine.
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Fine is probably even an understatement. People are paying a lot and they are turning hundreds of tables in the space that size. And they are really not in a good location either–it has to be a destination. It is doing much better business than most of the other thai places in town. If it was the size of Song it would seem equally busy.
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There are probably lots of people going to Pok Pok who’ve never been to Thai Town. Which means Pok Pok’s success in drawing a crowd does not suck customers away from Thai Town.
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I don’t agree with this at all. Every Dish I tried there pretty much kills it. The larbs are better than any other I have had in LA. Night-market is really great too! The two special salads on the menu at Pok Pok are unlike anything I have seen in city…
Of course they use better ingredients. What do you think protein wise you’re being sold at the thai town spots?
You don’t think they’d like to charge more if they could? If they didn’t think they’d lose business?
So people complain about a Thai place trying to question people’s preconception with thai restaurant food and prices. Instead of thinking about what it means, and what it really cost the restaurant and the employees, to be paying 8 for pad thai in 2016.
J-Gold also appears to agree with me…
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He said the Pork curry was better than Orchid.
J Gold’s review was lukewarm, to say the least, but he has recently hyped a few dishes. I think he is intentionally using his platform to ensure that people at least try Pok Pok…the place has good intentions and I’m sure will continue developing.
no, everyone complaining about the crappy tasting food served at those prices. Not about the prices, but the bad (not in terms protein sourcing, obvs) food. Re-read. LA has no problem paying proper price for quality ingredients. Look at Bestia, Ricebar; look at Sqirl, Mori, etc.
also, using a JGold review as some sort of factual datum to support an opinion is insulting.
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The place is pretty busy during the week for lunch too If it keeps up, they’ll be fine.
–Dommy!
Allll those 8-10 people here on FTC 
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I’d also add a somewhat lukewarm JGold review and a sub 4-star Yelp review, for whatever either of those are worth.
Went back today for a white wine dinner.
For a good time stick with these:
-pork curry. Outrageously complex and flavorful
-duck larb. Stunning dish
-clams (if you like it spicy).
Automatic gratuity no longer exists.
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I wonder if the prevailing negative backlash to Pok Pok on FTC is due to the fact that Ricker is not Thai.
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Ricker not being Thai gives him major cool points into. He started off with bonus points…
I went to phat Thai tonight oddly enough before an event in Chinatown. I actually would agree that it’s the best phat Thai in LA. Ido how much that’s saying but I guess it’s something.
I think you just solved the Riddle of the Sphinx.
The backlash to Pok Pok on FTC may just be because most here are secure enough with their own culinary awareness as not to be distracted by, or attracted to, the supposed “it” factor of a restaurant, or its master.
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God damned autocorrect…
Yeah. I think that’s it. People here don’t let the wow factor of Ricker’s personal story influence their opinion of the food, and that proves to be a substantial part of much of it. shrugs
Here’s a shot of his phat thai though:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBJnG8Jk0K7/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
I’m posting literally inside Ruen Pair right now though… that phat thai wasn’t nearly as prodigious as the fucked up combination of panang curry, egg and salty turnip, and copious amounts of chili vinegar here…lol
But it was good. I’ll for sure give it that. And I don’t like phat thai in many places.