last night LCR + m + i went out to eat at soi56 soi56. i have been wanting to go ever since i saw it during one of my farmers market trips. how could you *not* want to go to a place described as “serving thai street food”? when i first went to their web site, there was nothing but a home page. both the restaurant and the web site are much more developed now. but let’s get to the food. it probably wasn’t totally authentic or as unhygenic as street food should be, but i really enjoyed everything i ate…and that’s rare. it certainly wasn’t hot enough, even for a wimp like me. our server, rungsan (“oat” is his nickname), told us to ask for him next time we come in and he’ll make it “thai spicy”. awesome. there was also a cover band playing timeless love songs and stuff from the 90s. the asian guy had duran duran hair. m couldn’t even look at him. i kinda liked it. but let’s get to the food.

the fresh lemonade/nam manow was awesome. not too sweet. a bit sour. i finagled my way into getting it for free by asking if it qualified for the free in-house drink with valet parking ticket. LCR enjoyed it, too.

for the most part, m + LCR let me order. if okra is on the menu, i usually order it, but not this time. i’ll order it next time. the menu includes “tradition tao yang charcoal grill”, “small plates / thai street vendor specialty”, “spicy thai salads”, “wok noodle and noodle soup”, “curries”, “house specials”, and “thai sweets”.

we ordered:
chicken liver (trad tao yang charcoal grill)
issan sausage ( ” )
scallop wrapped in bacon ( ” )
japanese shishito peppers ( ” )
thai beef jerky/kao niaw neua (small plates)
crying tiger beef/suah loang hai (small plates)
grilled calamari/pla muk yang (small plates)
crispy frog leg/gop tort (small plates)
spicy raw papaya w/ blue crab/som tam pu dong (spicy thai salad)
curry noodles/kao soi

when we go back, m will order the beef jerky and curry noodles and issan sausage and i will order the crispy frog legs. i will also order the okra wrapped in bacon, the lamb chops (special from tao yang grill), fish cakes/tort man pla, fish sauce wings/beek gai tort, maybe the tom khaa gai, poorman noodles/tung dtak. the ginger and wood ear mushrooms, five spiced bbq pork, pepper tiger prawns, roasted game hen, muslim style curry, and grilled whole fish sound delightful. i know LCR likes prik king (green beans) and we’ve also had larb before at sanamluang. both of these are on the menu. looks like i’ll be making multiple return trips.

soi56.com | 1556 n cahuenga blvd 90028 | 323.962.5656