Putting aside the usual debates over whether Jitlada is good or not, I’m curious what people’s favorite dishes at Jitlada are. Personally, I am a huge fan of the place, but it’s more of a once-a-year type place for me to go all out and blow up my palette.
My personal favorites, with some linked pictures (since I don’t take food pictures).
Mint noodles with chicken. This dish hits all the sweet spots for me. Noodles and vegetables are cooked just right. The sauce starts sweet and turns hot in a hurry, with a strong mint flavor pervading everything. I’ve never had a better version of this dish. Yelp linked picture: http://s3-media2.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/mHXC6RUAa6hVG9mPBMJtjw/o.jpg
Rack of lamb in southern curry. I had this last time I went…and wow. It’s kind of as spicy as I can handle, but so good and complex that it’s worth the pain. Lamb is meltingly tender in a hot turmeric curry. Linked picture: https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZSV9cGb/0/L/i-ZSV9cGb-L.jpg
Acacia leaf omelette and shrimp in sour soup. Really love this soup–so spicy, with the egg and bitter acacia leaves. I had this the first time I went to Jitlada, and it’s hard for me to go without ordering it. Linked picture: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4791693401_82277f239c.jpg
Fish kidney curry
Southern curry
Jungle curry (try this with jackfruit)
Green curry (try this with seafood)
Tea leaf curry
Black sea squid soup
BBQ squid
All the spicy fried rices
Crispy duck rolls
Both blue crab salads.
Turmeric flavoured shrimp curry with tamarind shoots.
Another curry of mullet with taro shoots.
Jungle curry with pork.
Lamb with pumpkin.
Yes! The kaeng som kung with cha om gai. No one makes this better in LA. No one. Even if you can find it (Spicy BBQ, Darabar, and, IIRC, Pailin). Granted, it’s not a Southern dish, but it does show Jitlada doing things well since 2006.
no. 17 phangnga jungle curry (pork): I ordered full-on spicy, reminded me of vindaloo, curious to compare Luv2Eat’s version. Meat was great but the vegetables were meh.
so if i were to interpret ‘meh’, you are saying there’s no need to return to jitlada?
Just messing with you; grueling day at work, needed the break.
The food quality (for me) has never been up to the legend, and the service and prices just further pushes the restaurant down the restaurant pecking order. Then again, I’m just another asshole on the internet so don’t mind my opinion.
With the closing of Red Medicine, I think Jitlada is once again the most polarizing restaurant in LA.
I went maybe 4-5x total. Haven’t been in 2-3 yrs? The food did intermittently hit legend for me and was always at least good. The service issues, though, seemed to get worse over time and, during my last visit, were inexcusable, IMHO. Being seated and then having to wait 30+ min simply to place a drink order is not okay, regardless of how good the food is. And the place, while not exorbitantly expensive, ain’t cheap, either. If I lived w/i walking distance, maybe I’d feel differently. But since I have to drive halfway across the city for this, I prefer to give my $ to other people.
