Food: Swan Thai & Wat Thai Temple Market

Sorry I haven’t written much, I’ve been so busy with everything.

Last weekend I had major cravings for Thai food, so I decided to make a whole thai weekend out of it. It was a crazy weekend of thai food and hollywood hills Halloween house parties.

Saturday afternoon, I stopped by Swan Thai in North Hollywood for dinner with a friend. I had come across several LA food blogs that were raving about it so I decided to give it a try. See Eating LA’s review, Daily Gluttony’s, Low End Restaurant’s,

Swan is right off the 170 on Sherman Way. It’s a little hard to see from the main road but pretty easy to get to. Ok, no beating around the bush; this place was great. It was some of the best thai food I’ve ever had. And the prices are fantastic. Most entrees are between $6 and $7 and they have a small plates menu where everything is $2-$3. (but if you want the small menu, at least for dinner, you have to ask for it. But I didn’t order anything from it though because it only had around 10 items, which made me feel limited when I had this other huge menu in front of me)

Sherman Way in North Hollywood I’ve heard is a very good for finding good and cheap ethnic foods. Daily Gluttony has ventured into several restaurants up there. Go read about her journeys.

My friend and I went for a light dinner, but after seeing the menu our eyes got bigger than out stomachs. We ordered two appetizers, and two entrees; Chicken Kabobs with Peanut Sauce, fish cakes made with a red curry paste, Pad Thai, and I had a noodle dish with chicken, and tomatoes. I didn’t know what to order, so I asked our waitress to order for me. I have no idea what I got but it was great.

The menu is about 10 pages long filled top to bottom. There’s a front section with nothing but pictures and then the back with the text, half in English, half in Thai. You know a place is going to be good when you walk in and see nothing but Thai families and a whiteboard with the specials only in Thai.

Everything was good. I ordered my dish medium spicy and it was perfect. It wasn’t too hot but it had that bang without destroying the flavor. The Pad Thai was one of the best ones I’ve ever had. And the appetizers were also very good.

The regular plates have good portions and the service was good. It certainly doesn’t have much of a atmosphere but if you’re in the mood for good and cheap thai food, this is the place to go. The music they were playing was pretty cool though. Surprisingly it was old American standards from Elvis to Dolly Parton. Oh and they have bobas!

My review totally sucks! Go to one of the food blogs and read their reviews.

And here is a take out review: Food Universe

Swan Restaurant

12728 Sherman Way

North Hollywood

(818) 764-1892

Sunday afternoon, my sister and I ventured to Wat Thai Temple just up the road from Swan. I’ve been wanting to go since I moved to LA. It’s the largest Thai buddhist temple in the country and every weekend from 10-6pm they have a big outdoor food market. Again, North Hollywood, great cheap Thai food… totally something you have to try.

My sister and I spent three hours there just eating and chatting while listening to the monks’ chants and taking in all of the wonderful smells from all the booths. Everything is between $1-$3 and they are good portions. It’s one of those things where you just want to try everything but you can’t.

Read mmm-yoso!!!’s review for all the info. He gives a good run down of how things work and what to try.

There’s parking there and it’s free, and there’s also street parking. Also, bring cash to buy tokens. They only accept tokens at the booths that you get up front. I got $10 worth and that was enough for two items, thai tea, and dessert.

Wat Thai Temple
8225 Coldwater Canyon Ave
North Hollywood
(818) 997-9657
Weekends only

And for food Thai in LA, here’s a collection of some of the best: http://lowendrestaurants.blogspot.com/2004/11/thai.html