When you think good authentic Thai food, the sleepy stretch of La Brea and San Vicente would probably not be your first, second or even tenth choice.
But, tucked away in front of a little motel (what is the relationship between motels and incredible Thai cooking?), Spicy Sugar Thai has quietly started serving some of the best Thai food in the city. When you’re given the menu, it has the standard curry rainbow, pad see ew, crab rangoon, and satay, but ask for the special Thai menu and you’ll see that there is a lot more to this place than you might have thought.
We ordered the duck laap, blood clam pla ra, and the whole fish miang wrap. Everything was spectacular.
The laap was meaty, with crunchy bits of skin, and plenty of liver, topped with deep fried chilies and a healthy dose of lime and toasted rice powder.
The blood clams were super fresh, briney and meaty with a good bit of heat and funkiness from the fermented fish sauce.
The whole grilled fish was delicious, served with a variety of sauces, fresh diced chilies, ginger, and herbs.
Spicy Sugar is the second branch of a popular Thai restaurant in Long Beach, but the chef/owner Chef Katt lives in Mid City, and it seems that this will be the location that she will be cooking at for the foreseeable future. I am not exaggerating when I say that no one is cooking at this level with these ingredients on this side of town.
You owe it to yourself to check this place out.
Full Thai menu
16 yrs ago!!! Although, TBH, it does seem that long ago…
I hadn’t even noticed Belizean Paradise closed until s/he reported. I tend to avert my eyes when passing that spot lol. Our ‘hood has a love hate relationship with the Relax Inn and the one meal I had at Belizean Paradise was one of the worst meals of my life. But Spicy Sugar Thai is a neighborhood gem. It’s great they’re getting press. The owner & staff are really sweet and the clientele is as diverse as the neighborhood. I’m behind in reporting but have taken a lot of photos and will post soon. FYI they applied for a liquor license so you can soon have a frosty beer with with your spicy food.
Only miss for me is the duck larb, lotsa flavor but ours didn’t have the liver mentioned upthread and the ground duck was too chewy for my taste, but I could eat a tub of the crispy duck skin! Thank you for coming to my ‘hood, SST!