Jitlada: LA Restaurant Review

What foodie in LA hasn’t heard of Jitlada? Whether you read Jonathan Gold’s 101 best restaurant list every year or watched his movie City of Gold, watched Chef Jazz compete on Food Network, or have taken a tour of Thai Town with Jet Tila himself, you’re sure to know about Jitlada! When we were making the list, it was one of the first we mentioned… a top priority for all of the reasons above and then some!

We live super close and have been to a lot of the other places in Thai Town, but wanted to save this for the right moment. We know that they specialize in spicy food, so we made sure to bring our heat-chaser, Fit’s brother, Kai. It also helps that Kai lives a few blocks away, although we made the mistake of driving. We pulled up at 4:45, before they even opened, and the lot was full!

Yes, parking is awful. We should’ve walked from home since we ended up parking so far away, or even taken a Lyft. We were the second people seated and ate most of our meal alone in the restaurant. It did get busier towards the end of our meal, and Chef Jazz even came out to take orders for some of her guests that are clearly regulars. You can tell that they appreciate long-time customers here, and the feeling is clearly mutual.

There is an elephant in the room when it comes to Jitlada. If you’ve seen reviews about them, based on their fame, people love to give them a hard time. Specifically, many say that the people who work at Jitlada act arrogantly and don’t value the customer. As a result, service isn’t good. In our experience, sure, the service can be really slow… it took them forever to take our check and they forgot to put something on our bill. And yes, they’re not going to smile at you and make you feel like the most important person in the world, but that’s because you’re not, so don’t expect it! Overall, the service was more than adequate. 

Still, no matter what you say about the parking, atmosphere and service, the food is the most important part. Everything had such a different, dynamic flavor and, besides the chicken having a tough and rubbery texture, the food was extremely well-prepared. Some dishes are a little expensive, but when you leave a restaurant absolutely stuffed, you recognize the value. That is especially the case when you bring home leftovers.

The chicken northern red curry was rich and nutty. You could taste hints of peanut and an abundance of coconut milk. On a spice scale of 1-10, it was a 1. The tofu southern green curry was thick and smokey. The spice clung to your throat, and while it was a little gritty, it gave the dish an engaging texture. On a spice scale of 1-10, it was somewhere around a 6. Fit immediately got the spice hiccups and gulped down Thai Iced Tea. 

The tamarind snapper head soup was, by consensus, the favorite among the group. Sure, that eyeball staring at you can be a bit creepy and sure, you’re going to be spending most of your time fishing bones out of your mouth, but the flavor was unbelievable. Allow me to gush. On a spice scale of 1-10, it was probably somewhere around a 3, but it wasn’t a thick and deep spice like the southern curry; this one hit your tongue. It was a very thin and aromatic broth, with an abundance of lemongrass and ginger. If you have a cold, get this dish. Then, there was the amazing key notes of sour and sweet, which came from the tamarind and probably some cane sugar. A little saltiness from fish sauce, a little umami from that whole snapper (bones and skin and all) and this was a flavor bomb.

The rice was exactly what you needed it to be. I’m not trying to cross-cultures here but it tasted as authentic as southeast Asian rice comes. It tasted just like the rice that my Filipino friend’s mom used to make us… homemade. Soft, hot and able to soak up all of those curries and broths.

Oh, but we can’t forget two of the most enjoyable aspects of the dining experience. Our fresh veggie rolls (as appetizers) came with the most intriguing dipping sauce. It tasted like a pastrami sandwich. I have no idea how they accomplished that but it had the saltiness of corned beef and the heat of a stone ground mustard. I would love to have that bottled in my kitchen for sandwich making purposes. Also, they had the best mango sticky rice I’ve ever eaten… by far. The mango was cool and refreshing, perfectly fresh… while the rice was hot and soaked in sweet syrup. The contrast of hot and cold made for quite the party in your mouth, while the brightness of the mango combated the heaviness of the syrup. It was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.

Come at the right time and don’t try to customize your order for the best experience. Save room for dessert, enjoy some drinks (Thai beer and Thai iced tea) to help deal with the spice and don’t expect fine-dining service. We highly recommend dining family style, ordering from the bizarre food section and finally, we hope you like Bruno Mars (because they played a ton of it). 

Possibly the best overall dining experience so far, as Jitlada was the sixth spot we visited from our list! Let us know what you love about Thai food and maybe some stories about the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten! Stay hungry and fit!