Great time. Loved the fried calamari and the mussels dishes in particular. Fried calamari had a delicate batter that was really nice with the salted egg brown butter sauce with Sichuan peppercorns.
8 Likes
Hits across the board & terrific company! I could have taken down a dozen wings. Gaeng som off menu special had all the requisite funk and heat.
I realized that evening .. sake pairs well with Thai food, red wine not so.
Thanks for invite @PorkyBelly
7 Likes
I’ve never had those
Went to SM for lunch today and learned key lime pie being removed from the menu because it wasn’t selling well. Bummer, I wanted to try it. I also learned how hard it is to drink Thai iced tea without a straw. My partner and I kept getting condensation water dripping on our shirts whenever we took a sip, maybe user error lol
8 Likes
arts district sneak peak. fired the menu x2. of the new items loved the double smash holy burger, chive cakes, cucumber som tom, and green curry.
grandma’s fish rice v2 was even better with whole pieces of fish that you tear and mix into the rice.
calamari, moo krob, wild shrimp curry still delicious. hopefully they bring back the pad kee mao with grilled westholme beef.
a bang bang with lynx was perfect.
power rankings @hungryhungryhippos @SithLord @pomodoro @kabir @Spicyshlomi @Bagel
scallop aguachili
calamari salted egg
(new) chives cake
moo krob
bkk crab fried rice
crispy rice salad
chili chicken szechwan
(new) pla shrimp lemongrass
(new) cucumber som tum
(new) cabbage sukiyaki
pad kee mao
gai yhang
grandma’s fish & rice
(new) green curry beef shank
pad see ew
koa soi peccheri beef
tofu curry
wild shrimp curry
(new) holy burger
19 Likes
I got delivery from the new Arts District place.
I really liked cabbage sukiyaki.
I kinda liked yellow curry tofu.
I did not like gra pow chicken, which was not gra pow chicken (which generally uses ground chicken) and instead had chunks of batter fried chicken, which just added calories while detracting from the dish. I much prefer the version at Sticky Rice in Grand Central Market.
5 Likes
Loved the meal definitely missing the steak and also the short ribs. But can’t wait to see what they do with a larger space and the planned pok pok bar where the old guerilla area was located.
7 Likes
seems reminiscent of the Santa Monica menu! Not sure what Atwater is right now but does feel like they’re being somewhat standardized which I don’t mind for quality and consistency purposes. Tell me more about this bar!
1 Like
Papaya salad bar?
1 Like
lovely meal, fun time with you all.
I wasn’t observing close enough to do a power ranking rundown, but I liked a lot of it. personal preference but the khao soi pasta dish is a little bit sweet for me, and with a large pasta like paccheri it’s maybe one I’d eat near the end.
new chive cakes were great. I really liked the aguachile and raw fish preps from Atwater; wouldn’t mind seeing a few more of that kind of dish here.
around this area, I could see a late night offering of the fried calamari, chive cakes, some wings, pad kee mao, and the burger doing well.
larger space could be exciting too!
6 Likes
Also @JeetKuneBao yes apparently deau has plans to do papaya salad in the traditional wood pestel mortar set up in the old bar area of guerilla tacos. They are doing only beer and wine so I think there will be extra space over there.
7 Likes
Nothing to really add here! Meal was great. OOE plus a great crew means things blur but I know it was all tasty. I do remember really liking the gai yang and grandma fish rice. The burger was great too.
The space is great and super excited to see them here! It’s way more convenient than the other locations so I’m looking forward to being able to visit without the extra trek when I can.
6 Likes
Finally made it out to the Santa Monica location.
Holy Basil is definitely one of the best options for Thai food on this side of town. The flavors are more complex and the cooking more refined.
I do find it odd that the takeout menu and dine-in menu differ drastically, and are not interchangeable. For example, for takeout you can add “wagyu”, shrimp or tofu to the pad see ew, but for dine in you can not. Odd.
The sign out front is AI-generated.
5 Likes