ไพลิน Pailin Thai Cuisine

🇹🇭 THAILAND / With both an old-school Thai menu and well-made delights from the north of the country, 32-year-old Pailin is a Los Angeles classic.

🇹🇭 THAILAND
📍 5621 Hollywood Blvd.,
Thai Town, East Hollywood
🅿️ Street parking
🥤 No Alcohol

📸 All photos by Jared Cohee
for Eat the World Los Angeles

If you have ever traveled to the north of Thailand and eaten in the cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, you will immediately start to notice recognizable clues at Pailin even before you walk inside. The wood carvings in the window and fabrics throughout the restaurant are all styles made exclusively in this part of the country.

Even the hand-written specials board behind the counter in the back has the words “ลำแต๊แต๊” above the list of offerings. “Lum teh teh” are words you will hear in the north, where Lanna language is common. Meaning “very delicious,” you can rest assured it is not false advertising based on this collection of hints.

The menu also has a section to focus on, titled Pailin Specialties and right at the beginning. This is where you will find a short assembly of Northern dishes, and part of the way this restaurant shines. Some Northeastern (I-san) specialties make their way here too, just as they do in Northern Thailand.

Over the years, it has been very difficult to come to Pailin and not order their really delicious khao soi ข้าวซอย ($13, below). It is so well-balanced with chili and acid every time it is served. Khao soi often requires eaters to sprinkle in more chili flakes and squeeze in some lime to make it to their preference and balance the coconut milk, but somehow they have perfected the dish as served.

Part of this is because the chef, a native of Mae Hong Son, makes her own curry paste. Nothing she found in the states or could import was to her liking, and the city of Los Angeles is a much better place because of this dedication. The noodles are served with small pieces of dark meat rather than drumsticks, but this just makes shoveling it all in your mouth that much easier.

Another item on this special list is larb tod ลาบทอด ($14, below), which is a rare sighting in Thai Town. While larb is everywhere, deep-fried balls of it are not. This is of course larb made in the style of Chiang Mai and the north, using dried chilies and different spices from the version you find in I-san and Laos.

If that is a little too deep fried for your liking, grab an order of sai ou ไส้อั่ว ($13, above), referred to as Northern sausage on the menu. They also have I-san sausages, but this one is the cream of the crop and just about perfect. The herbs and spices within all seem so fresh.

Another northern classic they do well is nam ngeao น้ำเงี้ยว ($13, below), a dish that comes originally from the Shan peoples of Myanmar, Southwest Yunnan China, and the area of Thailand around the chef’s birthplace in Mae Hong Son. The dish has become a staple of Northern cuisine, and you can find small restaurants specializing in the tangy and spicy tomato noodles in cities throughout the region.

The dish has been practically annexed (let’s say borrowed) by the Lanna people of Northern Thailand, and traditional banquets even feature it. Ngeao comes from the flower you will find in the soup, which gives it the unique flavor people love, while ground meat and cubes of blood round out the main ingredients.

As mentioned at the top, the menu has many components of what will remind you of an old-timey Thai restaurant, so if you are not in the mood for northern specialties you can still be satisfied with home cooking. All of their soups come in metal bowls with fire underneath to keep it extra hot for about ten extra minutes after coming to the table. As satisfying as any version in Thai Town is the tom yum goong ต้มยำกุ้ง ($14, below), which hits all the right notes of sour and savory.