They’re doing a whole Kurosawa thing.
I’ll be seeing at least one of them. Hidden Fortress is a strong possibility. And I want to take @TonyC’s advice and try that other noodle dish.
I finally went to Isaan the other day. So far, it’s the best Thai I’ve had in LA. (Over Pok Pok, Night+Market, Jitlada, Love2Eat, Pink Pepper and other random spots).
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dang
Glad you enjoyed, what did you get? And again, I thought luv2eat was great but I think Isaan Station deserves similar fanboying.
Crying tiger, papaya salad, khai yang (grilled chicken), fish sauce wings, short rib sweet/spicy soup, chicken larb (I was not alone, heh). Not a bad dish in the bunch. That chicken…
I really liked Luv2Eat but we got take-out and maybe something was lost in translation. We’ll have to go in person and do the noodles everyone’s on about here.
Yay, pink noodles! =D
So I DID end up going to Seven Samurai (which was spectacular, and unexpectedly funny!) and I DID end up getting yen ta fo, to wit:
The waitress (middle aged woman with a completely endearing manner) seemed surprised I (40something white guy) was ordering it, and asked “Little spice? or no spice?” I just told her make it how you think it should be. She also offered me a choice of noodle, that usually it’s the flat ones but I could have egg or jade. I took the flat.
First, @TonyC is right, insofar as the flavor of that broth is deep. Like, Carlos Casteneda-deep. I’ve never had this before, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it is a seriously satsifying balance of funky umami goodness and that seafood sweetness, and she must be a pro at judging spice levels, because it was perfect. Enough that my lips and tongue were tingling and alive for the whole meal, and a little while after, but never so much that couldn’t taste all the other stuff going on. I suspect that means ‘mild’, but I’m ok with that.
I think I’m generally competent with chopsticks and one of those asian soup spoons, but getting those slippery flat noodles to my mouth was a real challenge. Clearly, I need to work on my technique. The noodles themselves, however, were chewing and springy and slurpy and great.
And, as advertised, pink:
Is this better than the jade noodle? I dunno. I think I like the jade noodle more, but that’s just a matter of preference. Still delicious.
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You have great taste in film and Thai noodles.
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Hidden Fortress and Throne of Blood tonight. All 35mm.
And I don’t have to get up in the morning… hmmmm…
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also used in the investment business
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I love that dish too. Had it last week, just to keep @TonyC honest. And, honestly, it was quite delicious.
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@CiaoBob, what are your recommendations for Luv2Eat?
I pass by this place so many times and need to try it soon. Thanks.
Chicken Tumeric Soup
Crab Curry
Hat Yai Fried Chicken
Yen To Fai
Jade noodles
Grilled (or fried) larb
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So with all the discussion I made it back to Luv2Eat, with photos. The remodel is crazy…it looks like a regular hipster restaurant inside now. It looked like an oddball literal hole-in-the-wall last time I was here, and the lighting is set up for food photos now, whereas there was almost no good lightning before. These people understand the restaurant biz haha
Sadly, the jade noodles are so popular they have run out until Saturday…=(
Still, it was an interesting meal.
We began with the pink noodles, which we ordered medium because of all the heat warnings. To me, this was a fine level of heat, and I didn’t feel the need to drink anything to “cool off” while eating the dish. My dining partners felt it was very spicy though… so YMMV. I agree it has an incredible depth of flavor, funky, sour, earthy, sweet, hot. Many layers, and a lovely batch of ingredients, and splendid coloration.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BA0tlKDk0Nt/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
So then on to the kanomjean, fish instead of crab. So we ordered this as mild as they make it, and although my dining companions thought it was spicy, I honestly didn’t find it to be, so they can definitely make this dish with enough kid gloves that it’s just deeply flavorful and very minimally spicy. I would order it spicier in the future personally. They really cook the noodles well here, they are perfectly gummy, yet pliable. Huge props, as most places make shitty, dried out vermicelli (thinking of Lacha Sumtom here specifically last time I had a similar curry there). Everyone agreed it was one of the most beautifully flavored dishes of the night, spectacular earthiness and funk, even my friend who at first said he “hates green curry” came around to it once he realized it wasn’t a normal green curry lol The fish was perfectly cooked in it. A truly delightful curry dish, though, surprisingly, for me it was most successful in its texture. The gloriously chewy noodles sopped up the viscous curry perfectly, and with the crunchy, sour condiments, and the gluttony of the fatty egg it was near perfect as a curry noodle dish.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BA0t2Dbk0OJ/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
https://www.instagram.com/p/BA0tuaEk0N8/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Then came shrimp paste fried rice. I would call this dish a total failure and would never order it again. I fucked up by not getting the spicy version I guess, but I’m spoiled by Night + Market’s fried rice. Rice was very loose, no flavor really at all, and the hodge podge of condiments did not come together to make it any better. I would avoid this dish at all costs, completely bland, unremarkable, and seemingly no care put into the cooking of the rice. I don’t get how the vermicelli were so perfectly done, and this was so terribly done, perhaps the worst thai fried rice i’ve ever had unfortunately.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BA0t-eXE0Ob/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Fortunately, the tray sized papaya salad was far better. Perhaps my favorite papaya salad I’ve had in LA. I mean, it’s a completely absurd dish with far too many condiments, but it’s simply glorious. The papaya salad itself is deeply funky, crunchy, and sour. It is augmented by a bite of egg here, a bit of crispy fried pork belly here, some fried pig skin there, some sour sausage in another bite, etc… it’s one of the most gloriously lascivious dishes that one can order in Thai town, and so large it was unable to be finished by our party of 4.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BA0uEWsE0Oj/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Not realizing how incredible the portion sizes were, I also ordered the classic fried chicken. It came out as basically perfect fried chicken, juicy, but not too juicy, with a lovely texture to the meat, and the fried onions are something I with every Thai place did. Sticky rice was sort of subpar in comparison, as it was just too loose and broken, but whatever, it’s sticky rice, not a huge portion of our meal. The sauce is also ludicrously saccharine, but it’s kind of fun. Compared to the more exciting dishes, it’s fairly boring, but it’s comforting to have on the table if you’re into that kind of thing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BA0uKalE0Ow/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
So overall, I’d say it’s a fun, exciting place. I’ll go back for the jade noodles, and to try their larbs I imagine. I would shy away from their rice dishes though. The curries and noodles seem to be the major things.
Also, portions are huge, and prices are fairly high for Thai town. With 2 thai coffees, a thai iced tea, some pink milk, and a soda as drink additions the meal ended up at $90 for 4, though we didn’t finish everything. That’s edging close to Night + Market pricing, so idk how high the QPR is, but I suspect most people won’t care. With a spoonful of that kanomjean it’s fairly clear why. The place is not perfect, but it’s pretty fun to eat at, and their new hours (till midnight) make them a viable competitor in the Thai market for sure.)
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Thanks @Aesthete. Nice report. 
I agree that Papaya Salad looks ridiculous, LOL. But I’m glad to hear it’s good. I need to hurry up and go here soon.
@CiaoBob @TonyC and all the Luv2Eat regulars:
So for stuff like their Chicken Turmeric Soup, Fish or Crab Curry, etc., do they have a numerical “Hot / Spicy” system like Jitlada, or do you just tell them to make it “very hot / medium / lightly spicy” etc.?
And how spicy is lightly spicy?
I remember trying something at Jitlada at a “3” (out of 10) and getting crushed. 
LOL
No number system. Just tell them how you like it (or how you really DON’T like it). The servers ask (pretty much for for every dish) how spicy you want it anyway. I would suggest sort of how you just “said” it here ought to work, " Ummm, a 3 of 10 at another Thai place was way too much for me."
I can’t answer “how spicy is lightly spicy.” If, after telling them you can’t take extreme heat, it comes out too hot for you, just return it to the kitchen for a milder one.
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They gave us that fish curry medium after we asked for it to be Thai hot. It was very hot at medium, but not painful (though painful was in sight)–that said our default setting at Jitlada is 6. So if 3 at Jitlada killed you then I would ask for it to be very, very mild and hope that they don’t leave the heat out completely (I can’t imagine it would be as good without at least some heat).
Oddly, she said everything else was Thai hot as we’d asked (including the turmeric soup) and none of those things were as hot.
@Chowseeker1999: I think we have similar tolerances for spicy, given your response on another thread a few wks back. I ordered the crab curry at medium and found it at the very upper limit of what I could tolerate. Mild would probably be fine, actually. I agree w/ MAO that it probably wouldn’t be very good w/o at least a little heat.
You could also ask the chef what she recommends as a counterpoint to the curry. She pointed out that I had ordered 2-3 spicy dishes and that this probably wasn’t the best combination… 