Gold Dig #25

Pok Pok LA is one of the several Thai restaurants on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. Somewhat more expensive than your typical local Thai joint, it’s part of something of a Pok Pok empire, with the original Pok Pok in Portland. Inside there is a well-stocked bar. Outside is a patio area that looks onto the sort of ugly Mandarin Plaza in Chinatown, but I imagine it would still be pretty great for drinking and noshing while enjoying the southern California sunshine (I plan to go back to find out, as we were there on one of the few cold, cloudy days).

The Dish

The food is designed for eating with the multitude of options on the drink menu – in fact the food menu has a section labeled “Drinking Food”. The most famous dish at Pok Pok LA is Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. To my dismay, we were there for DineLA, and they did not have their renowned dish on that menu. Why would you not include your signature dish on the DineLA menu!? We thought about adding the wings on, but they are not cheap – $15.50 for 6 wings! So we decided to save the wing experience for another day when we could soak in the sun while drinking cold cocktails.

Deep-Fried Pumpkin with Curry Paste Batter

Fried curry pumpkin is a dish you sometimes see at Chinese restaurants. I usually get it when I see it on the menu. This was a pretty solid rendition. Usually the pumpkin is cut into wider pieces, whereas these were more like matchsticks, which allowed them to crisp up nicely. I did wish that there was a stronger curry flavor, as it was barely noticeable, and completely undistinguishable when you used the sweet chile-crushed peanut sauce.

Fried-to-Order Cashews

The cashews would be great with an ice cold beer on hot day. They had a great toasty flavor, and you can see the chunks of sea salt and abundant Thai chiles and green onions. We definitely didn’t consume all the chiles and onions, but found ourselves picking through them to get every last cashew.

Marinated, Batter Fried Chicken

I have mixed feelings about this fried chicken. My experience was negatively influenced by the fact that we got this one piece of chicken which turned out to be mostly skin with only two small hunks of meat attached, while the table next to us got 4 healthy-looking pieces. The meat we did have was a bit dry. But the skin was crisp and paired deliciously with the egg and pickled mustard greens, so I guess we were glad the skin was the most abundant. I will note that we went the day of the Women’s March, so they were packed and seemed overwhelmed and unprepared for the post-march crowd. They did try hard, were very apologetic for the long waits and confusion when they tried to bring us dessert first, and the peanuts seasoned with Thai spices that they gave us to hold us over were fantastic.

Grilled Chiang Mai Sausage

This chewy, slightly sweet sausage went really well with the green chile dip. There were a couple small pieces of pork rind that left me wishing for more. I was a bit disappointed with the wedges of what seemed to be plain boiled cabbage that made an appearance on both the sausage and the chicken plates.

Thai Bananas Deep Fried

Not so different from your typical fried banana. The toasted coconut added a nice bit of texture and flavor layering. I was hoping Pok Pok LA might have a more unique take on this dish.

Coconut-Jackfruit Ice Cream on a Sweet Bun

The ice cream was sweet and refreshing. I’m not sure what jackfruit tastes like, but I could definitely get the coconut flavor. The sweet bun was somewhat dry and plain. Meh. Go to Pok Pok LA for the drinking food, not the dessert.

Drinks

And if you’re going to eat drinking food, then you might as well have drinks! Sadly for my dining companion, she was pregnant and therefore drinking what Pok Pok LA calls “No-Proof Drinks”. She had a Thai Style Iced Hibiscus drink that I thought was tasty but took a few sips to get used to. It’s fragrant, but not sweet like most American juices.

I, on the other hand, am not pregnant and got a Mango Alexander – mango, vodka, coconut cream and lime. Sweet and creamy – my kind of drink.

I don’t often (ever) comment on a restaurant’s water, but the water at Pok Pok LA deserves a shout out. It has a really nice toasted rice flavor, which apparently comes from pandanus leaf. While eating spicy and salty foods and imbibing alcoholic beverages, one should remember to hydrate, and the water here is excellent!