While walking to our car after our mediocre meal at Duyen Mai, the Missus looked over at Spicy Lao Kitchen and was suddenly craving the Moo Tod that we enjoy. It had been a while since our last visit, so we returned when the place opened at 11 a few days later.
We were greeted and seated. Like before there was just one person working the entire front of house. She as very nice.
Looking over the menus; we decided on trying the Heavenly Beef but was told that it wasn't available on this day. So, we ended up ordering the same three dishes we had on our previous visit. It did take a while for the dishes to start arriving……but eventually, it made it to our table.
The Moo Tod was every bit as good as what we'd had before.
Crisp as first bite, then giving way to a wonderful soft-porkiness. The seasoning seemed even better this time as the slices of pork was nicely dusted with chili powder. Like I've mentioned before, we don't care for Jeow Mak Len, which at least to us, doesn't add much to the dish.
Of course I had to get the Nem Khao.
This was much better than what we'd had here during our previous visit. Though still a bit short in the sour sausage department, the rice had a good ratio of crisp to regular rice. Each bite had a nice variation of textures. We could even make out a hint of coconut, though it was still quite mild in terms of spice.
And of course, we had to get the Goong Nam Pla; the naked shrimp. Whoa, this was even better this time around!
We got this at a medium spice; it was good and spicy, great acidity, the shrimp had a wonderful texture with no off flavors. This was a wonderfully refreshing dish, especially on a super hot day!
Overall, a very nice, albeit long (took 1 1/2 hours) lunch. We'll make sure to return soon, when we have the time for a leisurely lunch. Hope they have the heavenly beef in stock when we revisit.
Spicy Lao Kitchen
5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Tues – Sat 11am – 9pm
Sunday 11am – 8pm
Closed on Mondays
Hope all our SD "FOYs" are enjoying the cooler weather we're experiencing!
hope they have the dishes you want the next time you go
That moo tod is soooo good!
lol I was there last Saturday to escape the heat too. Had a nice 2 hour lunch enjoying the ice cold AC! The nem khao is so good!
I hope so too Kat!
It’s a favorite of ours ST!
There’s something about this style of food that just seems so good during hot weather Junichi!