Jitlada Restaurant, Los Angeles CA

12/8/22: Huge menu of close to 400 items. Had the Crispy Morning Salad (4.75*), Coco Blue Crab soup (4.5*), Crying Tiger Beef (4.5*), Celebrity Chicken 4.25*), and the Mango Sticky Rice (4.5*).

Love the southern curry with crispy pork. The crying Tiger beef is amazing. I’ve eaten here probably fifty times since 2017 and the highlight was getting an off menu jazz burger from jazz herself:)

Very authentic atmosphere, the food was absolutely amazing! Reminded us of Thailand. Would 100% come back and recommend to anyone.

Take it from a native South East Asian, this is not worth the hype. The food was heavy on the salt in general and overpowered whatever little Thai spice flavours that were present. The renown Southern Thai Curry used its spiciness as a gimmick and for someone like me who is very used to spicy food, there wasn’t much else to it beyond the spiciness, just mellow Thai curry flavours and lots of coconut milk. The Jitlada Fried Rice that carries the name of the restaurant wasn’t anything special and could use much more garlic or even Thai basil. There wasn’t much hint of the common Thai spices that were proudly displayed along the walls of the restaurant (lemongrass, Thai chilli, not even Thai basil). Judging from the type of customers present, perhaps the taste has been gentrified and the more extreme exotic flavours have been removed. There’s also little presence of the local Thai population in the restaurant, which was rather telling. The portion was also really small for the price.

Thai milk tea was pretty ok though.

This place made me feel like family. They also didn't rush me to make a decision (leaving me time to look at the menu). The owner came around and told me what she just made last night, and she also told me about watching her grandson. I felt like a real valued customer. They also have a specific server in charge of refilling water, which I appreciated.

I ordered the Jitlada salad, a yellow curry with crispy pork, and the mango curry with sticky rice. All of these things were at the recommendation of my server. I narrowed down the options for him and asked him to surprise me. I was so pleasantly surprised! Never have I had a better mango sticky rice! Also perhaps the best curry I've ever experienced.

Go to this place. Wait if you have to. It's worth leaving your little corner of LA to have some of the best Thai food available in this country.

Solid Thai food but based on reviews I was expecting a lot more flavor and spice. Massaman curry is usually my favorite but that and the Green Curry seem to be too watered down with coconut milk. The Southern Curry had the best flavor and I would order it again.

Largest selection of menu items I have ever seen at any Thai restaurant. Good variety and good food.

Fantastic food, the best Thai food in the country so far

Only complaint is their spice scale is not accurate. If a 4/5 is not spicy I don’t know if it’s the clientele coming in or the restaurant but both of our dishes were not spiced

Dissapointment. My first time here, and it just wasn't that great. The BBQ squid sauce was too sweet, almost like farang sauce. The crying tiger was ok, but more stir fry than grilled. Nam prik with goong was ok and the best of what we ordered. The most embarrasing part was the sticky rice, which seemed to be just like jasmine from the rice cooker.

Amazing!
Thank you for the recommendations from the menu - we had many tasty dishes. Best thai food since a long time!

Jitlada is a must try, not just due to Jonathan Gold's historic review, but that alone should give you an idea of what to expect here. The food might not be 'exactly' what you're typically used to, but it is truly authentic to the region, southern spicy Thai! And it is delicious. What's also authentic is the Thai contentment, happiness and general Land of Smiles service you're sure to receive.

And I'm upgrading my atmosphere assessment to five stars. Why? Well again, it kind of just replicates being somewhere in Thailand. Not fancy but genuine.

A must visit for authentic Southern Thai cuisine it's booooomb - a must! Tons of delicious options (over 180 items) to choose from! I couldn't resist and and had to order 3 for myself! Yolo!

️ More tasty adventures on IG at @nodietguy

We really tried to like this place. As an Asian Australian who is spoilt with Thai food in Sydney. We had high hopes for this place from all the reviews and LA YouTube vloggers but was sadly let down for the following dishes we had.

Pad See Ew was a little sloppy and the noodles had absolutely no char on it, which is a must for any good Pad See Ew.

Beef Larb was cooked and dry, flavourful from the fish sauce.

Jungle Curry with Pork ribs chosen from the owners recommendation, as we wanted to taste their speciality. Spice level was great however it was far too salty bordering on straight fish sauce.

Mango sticky rice, I ordered this in hopes of a redemption, but was even more disappointed. The sticky rice was loose and resembled rice porridge. It required more time to allow it absorb the coconut sauce which we did ourselves by mixing it through and letting it sit for a few minutes. The mango was VERY sour, I did not understand why they would serve this dish if they knew the mangos weren't ripe? We couldn't finish this dish. When mangos are not in season, most restaurants back home would typically not serve this dessert.

For anyone visiting from Sydney, Australia. Save your stomachs for something else because I can almost guarantee you've had better back home. For those two know, this is Thai Pathong and Holy Basil prices for a lot less quality.

The pad thai and tom kha were great, full of flavors and just the right amount of spice. Good portions and are doing covid protocol.

Delicious. We had the Penang curry and the massaman curry. They were very flavorful. It is a little gem. Well worth the trip from out of town.

The food was quite good. We ordered the green curry that was good and Panang curry that was special and different from other places we ate Thai food, and was very good. We also ordered a chicken dish based on our waitress recommendation - my partner liked it but I didn't ate it at all, was plain and not a lot of flavor.

In terms of quality service, they have a long way to go. We waited 30 minutes, and just after we asked them to sit us (since during this 30 minutes, at least 3 tables were out) they did that. The service in the restaurant itself was also kind of slow.

Overall, it's a nice restaurant. I wasn't crazy about the food, and with below average service. I won't come back there.

Very timely service, super flavorful green curry which goes perfectly with rice-we ordered with a crispy pork addition and it was deliciously rich.

Tremendous dining experience. Such a variety of options that it could be overwhelming, but the knowledgeable staff are indispensable in helping to negotiate the menu. The food, of course, is the true star. Brilliant combinations of textures and flavors, fresh ingredients, all skillfully prepared. If you're looking for a super upscale, white-tablecloth kind of meal, this probably isn't the place, but if you are searching for unique, striking, impossibly flavorful dishes then look no further. Just be advised - they don't hold back on the spice.