LAX-C Lets You Eat Where Thai Restaurant Employees Eat

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I don’t know about you, but when eating out at Thai restaurants that don’t have a signature dish I’m always tempted to ask the employees or the chef or whomever is serving me what they like to eat. What they would order. After all, if you work at a restaurant you’re going to eat the best thing they serve, right? It’s a foolproof plan to get the best dish on a menu. Sadly, “What do you recommend?” almost always gets mis-translated as “What do you think somebody who looks like me would like?” Which for this short fat Jewish guy is going to always be something safe. Something boring. “Seriously. When your shift is over you sit in the back and eat a plate of pad thai with chicken? I find that hard to believe.”

But there is one way to ensure that you’re eating what they’re eating. Ensure that they’re not toning it down, or replacing the “real” food with the short fat Jewish guy food.  Go to a place where only restaurant employees eat. And LAX-C might be just that place.

Like my previous two Thai food adventures (Ruen Pair in Thai Town and Essan Thai in DTLA), LAX-C also comes courtesy of Saveur’s 24 Hours of Los Angeles Thai Food.  It’s essentially a Thai Costco, located in a warehouse district on the outskirts of Chinatown- just a few blocks north of Philippe’s (on N. Main Street).  It’s filled with everything a Thai restaurant could ever need, including an amazing room off the main floor filled with statues, carvings, ornamental furniture and the framed stock photos of Thailand you see in every crappy restaurant in Thai Town.  (“Wait… you mean that giant photo of the Thai countryside isn’t from your personal collection of photos from home!?”)

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It is definitely the place you want to go next time you need a crate of pad thai noodles, or a giant bag of frozen thai sausages.  But it’s also a great spot for lunch. On the weekends they are famous for a stand in the parking lot that serves meat on a stick and desserts, but during the week there’s a steam table inside the place (30 yards to the left of the entrance) full of Thai delights that wouldn’t be out of place on the streets of Bangkok.

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Similar to Ganda, one of my favorite places to eat lunch in Thai Town, you can get 1, 2 or 3 things with rice and it’s as simple as just pointing to what you want.

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They had so many amazing dishes it was tough to pick just 3…

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I went with the crispy catfish covered in red curry paste, crispy pork with chinese broccoli, and a stewed fish dish with whole peppercorns still on the stem.  Crispy pork might not be the best dish to order off of a steam table (spoiler: it was not very crispy), but the crispy catfish was real good, and the stewed fish with peppercorns and jackfruit was really interesting and flavorful (you might say the secret ingredient was pepper.)  For $8 it’s a steal.

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We also tried these pink noodles, the ground chicken and beef penang, and all three were winners.

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And if you don’t like the dried out consistency of crispy catfish, they also have a braised version that is way more flaky and moist, but with the same great flavor of the crispy version. (You can see it on the far right of the photo.)

Obviously some of the dishes suffer from being out on a steam table (the fish balls in green curry was a little lukewarm), and better versions of many of the dishes can be found made to order in Thai Town. Plus the quality of the ingredients is more on par with a standard Thai restaurant (after all this is where most of those restaurants are doing their shopping.)  But the fact that they are cooking for the people who do the shopping for these restaurants, and not the general public, means you’re getting some of the spiciest most flavorful Thai food I’ve had in Los Angeles- and easily the best Thai food you’re going to find anywhere close to Downtown Los Angeles.

And the best part is, they can’t make the dish more bland once they see who is ordering it.  So you’re eating what they’re eating every single time.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

  • I love my Thai food cheap and super flavorful (read: spicy)
  • I don’t mind sacrificing a bit of quality for variety, making the steam table set up ideal
  • A lot of the stuff is super interesting, but still accessible, like the amazing fish with peppercorns and jackfruit
  • I can get lunch, and grab a gigantor container of soy sauce
  • Waaaay better than Ganda!
  • This is easily the best, most “authentic” tasting Thai food anywhere close to Downtown
  • It’s not that much farther from Downtown than Philippe’s, and there’s a giant lot with free parking that never fills up

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • Did you see the “B” behind the counter?  Thanks, but no thanks.
  • Too cheap for me… I’d rather pay a bit more money and get some higher quality ingredients
  • Ganda’s crispy catfish is better
  • I like it when the waiter tones down the food for my taste, I don’t like it too spicy.
  • Wait… no pad thai!?
  • Too far out of the way.  It’s easier to just go to Thai Town.
  • I hate eating at steam tables… the food is always better when it is prepared to order.

LAX-C, 1100 North Main Street, 323-343-9000

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