Little shack-like mom-and-pop, cash only, sit down or call your order in for pick-up.
"I like it, anyway.", said a Vietnamese friend who grew up off Marine with her mom and pop, and this rec is right on.
#6 Banh Beo Chen: Bright red rice cakes, big texture, bigger flavor from sweet pork and crumbly dried shrimpy-shrimp. Dunk in fish sauce, only order if you like that seafood flavor.
#45 Bun Dac Biet: Grilled shrimp, sweet grilled pork, crispy eggrolls, and a fried pasted shrimp thing full of delicious preserved stuff over a bed of vermicelli. Best thrown into a big bowl and mixed thoroughly with some fish sauce.
#76 Banh mi: Got this one with pork, but lots of fillings to pick from. Plenty of pickles, lots of crunchies in a soft roll of bread. Not a bad bite for $5.
#36 Bun Bo Hue: The difficult-to-come-by broth of Hue. The broth is red like the coals of fire, boldly savory pork flavor, not too shy on spice, rich and salty. Thick with cubes of pork blood and various compressions of pork, there's also a chewy knuckle and bits of beef. Each sip of soup is rich, porky comfort. I love a good pho, but bun bo hue has so much depth.
Thai Lai is everything I love about Lawndale. It has that old school vibe that the posh beach cities are lacking, an ethnic institution not yet unseated by commerce for the masses. Everything about it feels so genuine, just a good group of people cooking what they know. And this a group I'm always happy to support - clearly they know their stuff.
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