By Lana Hy

Staff Writer

Despite the fact that Pa Ord Noodle is a cramped restaurant hidden in a corner of a plaza and that I couldn’t feel the air conditioning throughout my visit, I can happily announce that I have discovered my favorite Thai restaurant. Pa Ord Noodle serves a variety of Thai food including Thai dumplings, Tom Yum soup, crab fried rice, rice with duck, pad thai, and my personal favorite, drunken noodles—all at reasonable prices.

As I walked in, the enormous painting of the Thailand landscape and smell of stir fried noodles greeted me with delight. The walls were decorated with portraits of the owner’s family and pictures of the Chao Phraya River which is one of Thailand’s most popular tourist attractions. The decorations and aroma made me feel as if I was actually in Thailand.

My family and I were seated immediately after we walked in. I ordered their Thai iced tea, which was simply delicious. It was creamy and had the right amount of sweetness, not too sweet nor diluted.

One of their signature dishes that I tried was roasted duck over white rice. It included a side of Chinese broccoli and duck sauce which made the dish more flavorful. The duck was cut neatly into thin slices, making it easier to eat.

The rice was fluffy and was nicely complemented by the duck sauce. Although I’m not a broccoli fan, adding the duck sauce made the broccoli more appetizing. As for the duck itself, it was one of the best I have ever tasted. The skin was crispy, while the meat was warm and tender.

Pad thai was another food dish I sampled. It contained pan-fried rice noodles with eggs, green onion, peanuts, bean sprouts, tofu, and chicken. The noodles were sweet and blended so well with the scrambled eggs. The chicken was dry, but the fresh tofu definitely made up for it.

The best dish was the drunken noodles which are flat noodles with chili sauce, basil, onion, mushroom, bamboo, bell pepper, and crispy pork. However, I ordered mine without vegetables and spice. The noodles were soft and the crispy pork pleased my taste buds because it was fried and tender.

All our dishes were served within 10-15 minutes after we ordered. The amount of food given on each plate is enough to make one person full and the waitress was friendly. She refilled our water without us asking, even when the restaurant was busy.

 Most food dishes are $10 while drinks are approximately $3. Side orders are only a few dollars extra.

Parking is usually a challenge, but the flavorful food is worth the time taken to find a parking spot.

Overall, I will definitely come back and recommend Pa Ord Noodle to all Thai food lovers when visiting Los Angeles.