SauceSupreme

Two of my favorite Thai dishes are quite easily found in various restaurants around Los Angeles, and so I was pleasantly surprised to find Pok Pok adding them onto the menu as seasonal specials.

One dish that I can have over and over again is kway tiao reua, better known as "boat noodles". Sapp Coffee Shop (among others) in Los Angeles serves up this funky and spicy soup, and the Pok Pok rendition is spot on with all of the usual flavors from the deep beef flavor to the cinnamon and clove spice.

Another favorite is khanom jiin, a vermicelli-noodle dish where the sauce is served separately and mixed up together. I'm used to the nam yaa (fish curry) variant, but in an interesting twist, Pok Pok offered a sweet and spicy peanut sauce to go with the noodles. On the menu, it's listed as Southern Thai style khanom jiin, which immediately got me thinking of the restaurant Jitlada in Hollywood.

Again, the flavors were spot on with the times I'd had the dish in Los Angeles, right down to the sour notes and searing spice heat. The heat wasn't a deterrent: after I finished off the thin noodles, I threw in some sticky rice to help sop up the rest of the soup.

Ultimately, it's unfair to talk about Pok Pok only in terms of things I had elsewhere. Dishes like the stir fried crab, the steak salad, the khao soi, and of course the fish sauce wings stand out on their own. If I ever run into another restaurant that serves them, I'm certain to think of Pok Pok here in Portland.