*** Update 01/01/09 – Wat Thai Food Court has reopened on Sunday's only
*** Due to neighborhood complaints about parking the Wat Thai Temple food court has closed.
The weekend "food court" at the Wat Thai of Los Angeles, the largest Thai Theravada Buddhist Temple in the United States has long been a food destination on my "list" of places to see and eat. After seeing various posts on Chowhound; Monster Munching, and Professor Salt's blog, You gonna eat that?; and several years of coaxing and cajoling, the Missus finally gave in to a "short" road trip up the I-5, from San Diego to North Hollywood for a Saturday eating frenzy.
We left fairly early and made what could on some days be considered an ill-conceived 130 mile trip in a brisk 90 minutes. Once off the freeway, and taking the turn at the corner of Cold Water Canyon and Roscoe Boulevard, you immediately see Wat Thai Temple looking quite out of place, looming above this land of auto repair shops, service stations, and the adjoining residential neighborhood. We had purposely chosen a fairly early morning during winter, that didn't coincide with any festival, so that we would not have to compete with the masses for parking or seating, nor have to wait in lines for any long period.
At 915 in the morning, all the vendor stalls are open but there are no lines:
And the fragrance of ginger, garlic, fish sauce, and Thai herbs are floating in the air. Noah seems to have designed this "food court". There are two of everything. Two stands making papaya salad, two "sausage/meat" stands, two stands making soup, and so forth.
The Vendors take no cash; instead you go to one, or more of the "token" booths and exchange cash for tokens.
After exchanging our cash for tokens; the Missus went off in one direction, and I in another. I made a beeline for this booth in the middle of the food court:
I had already pretty much knew what I would be ordering, but since there were no crowds I could take my time, and I looked over the larb and other sausages.
But my sights were set on having a Papaya Salad($3.00), even in the dead of winter.
And so while the Lady was hard at work at the mortar, I had time to look around.
And ordered a chicken satay($1.00):
Perfectly grilled; slightly charred around the edges, moist and mildly flavored, this was very good. The Missus was very surprised at my display of restraint; I didn't order any beef or pork, or any other of the satays.
I did order this interesting "sausage"($2.00):
If someone knows what this mystery meat is called, please let me know. It's a nicely formed rectangle of "meat", spotted with garlic and rice, with a slightly crunchy, almost tripe like, gelatinous strings going through it. The sausage was dense, garlicky, and slightly sour. And not the slightest bit salty; I had expected "Spam on a stick", but this was not even close. I really enjoyed the flavors and textures of this "mystery meat".
I also slid over to the booth next door and ordered a grilled sausage skewer($1.00):
Very similar to a"formed" sausage patty; this was nicely flavored, and quite dense. Nice pepper and garlic, and a slight sweetness throughout the sausage.
Finally, my Papaya Salad was ready:
As I sat, I took time to admire this melange of ingredients; green beans, peanuts, julienned green papaya, and tomato were readily visible. Along with a generous amount of Blue Crab.
The salad was as close to the most perfect Papaya Salad I've ever had! There was such balance and harmony(in such an appropriate venue) between the fish sauce and lime juice, the tomatoes added a touch of sweetness and kept the sour lime juice in check. The interplay of textures between the papaya, green beans, and peanuts was excellent, if on a menu, it could be called "crunch, three ways". The crab added at briny, salty component, that was tempered by the lime juice. The "heat" was perfect; I'd gotten medium. Spicy, but not so spicy as to block out all of the other flavors. This was delici-yoso!!! Even on a winter day, where everyone around me was having soup and porridge, this Papaya Salad was King.
I ate half of everything, and saved half for the Missus. But where was the Missus?
To be continued…….