Jitlada

I have most exciting news, friends: I attended my first ever food-blogger-related event last night at famed Thai restaurant, Jitlada! And it was a whole lotta Jitlada. I didn't keep count during the 3 1/2 hour meal, but I'm told it was 17 courses! Not surprisingly, I was the laziest out of the photographing bunch, but with some encouragement and prompting from the other more dedicated diners (thanks, Sharon and Po!), I clicked a couple:


Khua Kling salmon: turmeric flavored Southern style dry curry with green beans and salmon. The salmon was fine, but the fish paste was quite strong (thank you to Wandering Chopsticks for identifying that exquisitely singular ingredient for me!).


Softshell crab mango salad: one of the highlights for me, mostly because I am passionately in love with softshell crab.

Jitlada is known for its punishing and astounding spicy heat (hello, jungle curry!), but thankfully not all the dishes were of the "my mouth is numb and I need a block of ice" variety. Other items I enjoyed a lot: Crispy Morning Glory Salad, Kung Phae Chup Krung Thawt (fried ship with fried basil/tea leaf), Sun Hang Wua (mild and sour oxtail soup) and Kaeng Tai Khai Mang Kon (Southern style curry with jicama and housemade fish ball stuffed with duck eggs).

I'm pleased as punch that I was able to meet my fellow food bloggers and hope that there are many more food-centric gatherings to come! There were 33 of us, so I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone, but there's always next time. Gotta give a heartfelt shout out to the orchestrator of this intense Thai madness: Tony, thanks so much for the lovely event! You're going to throw these parties every week, right?

Jitlada
5233 1/2 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 663-3104