#13 - Krua Thai's Pad Thai

The time is 12:47pm on a Saturday afternoon deep in the heart of North Hollywood and traffic is at a COMPLETE STANDSTILL. What could possibly be happening on Sherman Way that has caused this kind of backup?

Melissa “The Vegan” -  “There must be some kind of accident or something, this doesn’t make any sense.”

Adam “The Old Roommate” – “Isn’t the Valley not supposed to have traffic? I mean isn’t that the whole point of living out here in the middle of nowehere?”

John “The DisNerd” – “Look at all the languages on these signs. Guys, I feel like I’m at World Showcase in Epcot!!!”

Me –  Sigh

As you may remember from our previous pLAte with Melissa, “The Vegan” (but not really a vegan because now she eats fish…does that make her Episcopalian? Melissa – “It’s a Pescatarian you idiot.”) is a pain in the hoo-hah when it comes to making a mealtime decision. Restaurant choices must include at least two of the following features: within 5 miles of Studio City, more than 10 vegan meal options and the meal must begin no later that 6:30. Adam and I usually aim to score a 0 out of 3.

However, for this foodventure (as an early 38^th Birthday gift to Melissa), John, Adam and I ventured to the Valley for a vegan-friendly thai meal at Krua Thai. On his original list of 99, Jonathan Gold named the Pad Thai the “best in the city”. Melissa, a self-proclaimed peanut-pasted-pasta-pro was already expressing her doubts as we pulled into the restaurant’s strip mall.

“It might be an A-Grade restaurant, but this sure is a C-Grade plaza,” Melissa commented on the way into the front door.

Nothing says sketchy like “Free Braces” with a “low-fee applied”.

Krua Thai is certainly not attracting guests with their décor. With walls covered with neon cosmic art posters and a large fish tank filled with some sad looking lobsters, I wondered if we actually had gone to the right place. Then we got our menus…

“Well look at that, the quote is right on the cover.” I said.

“Yeah and I kinda love the restaurant’s font. It reminds me of the Tiki Room”. John giddily chimed in. (That’s Disney reference #2 for those keeping track.)

Aside from the Shrimp Anchovy Fried Rice…

…which is clearly a hot sell, the dish to get here is definitely the Pad Thai. Jonathon Gold calls it the perfect “ultra-spicy, tamarind-soured, fish-sauce-laced“ version of the Thai staple. John decided to order the pLAte for the table with shrimp and tofu as Gold suggests. I went with the Spicy Mint noodles with shrimp, Adam went rogue with an order of Tom Kha Gai Soup (Chicken Coconut Soup) and Melissa…well, her order is best described in her own words…

Melissa – “Yes, I’d like the Krua Thai Pad Thai without the chicken please. Hmmm, yea and also no egg. Can’t have that. Oh, Oh and NO bean sprouts, I hate bean sprouts…”

Adam – “What’s that leave? The noodles and some peanut paste?”

Waitress – “Yea, pretty much.”

Right before we got to hear about the latest dating tragedy of an unnamed female at the table…our Egg Roll appetizer was served along with Adam’s Thai tea.

Looks like Nickelodeon exploded in a glass of milk, but Adam assured us that it tasted incredible. Meanwhile, the egg rolls were delicious. Unlike the crusty deep-fried version you are accustomed to getting from your Chinese deliveryman, these egg rolls were surprisingly light and not overly greasy. Look how much Melissa enjoyed dipping them in the spicy soy sauce.

Oh and did we mention they were chock full of fresh veggies and chicken. The Vegan wasn’t so thrilled to hear that piece of information…

Our main course followed (almost too) soon after, Melissa barely had enough time to inspect the egg rolls before her Pad Thai arrived. Adam’s heaping bowl of Tom Kha Gai was “very good” according to the rest of the group. Is it me or does that sour aftertaste ruin the soup for you too?

My spicy mint noodles were a bit too greasy to my liking. The hot pepper spice was dead on, but I couldn’t really get past the slick sheen of cooking oil. It looked like someone had sprayed Aquanet all over the top of the dish.

Onto the pLAte…we all had very high hopes for the best Pad Thai in town. After combining the neatly separated bean sprouts, peanuts and noodles into one big heaping helping, John dug in with the first bite.

“It’s good! It’s actually really good…for Pad Thai. I mean how creative can it be right?” John decided.

“I think I am allergic to pepper. Every time I eat something spicy, I get a headache.” Melissa stated as she devoured the first bites of her egg-less, chicken-less, sprout-less version of the dish. Next time Melissa will go pepper-less in an attempt to see just how many ingredients you can take away and still be able to call it Pad Thai.

In an effort to get one final thought about the dish before ending this article (and before John gets another Disney reference in), I’ll leave you with this assessment from Melissa about our experience at Krua Thai.

Melissa – “Listen, the Pad Thai is good. I don’t know if it’s good enough to drive all the way out to North Hollywood”.

Adam – “This, coming from the person who lives in North Hollywood!”

Krua Thai

13130 Sherman Way

North Hollywood, CA 91605