Lacha Somtum Thai Restaurant

This is one of the best Thai restaurants in Thai town. I live in the area and have tried most of them. Various publications have posted lists of «best restaurants in Thai town,» and in my opinion, the lists are not accurate. Lacha Somtum has one of the better menus. The ingredients are healthier and fresher. They have a large selection of papaya salads and seafood. I really like the seafood soup, the larb and the green curry.

We’ve tried a great many of the restaurants in Thai town. This one’s the best. Ingredients are fresh, menu is diverse, everything is tasty. What’s more to say? For whatever reason, the place is often nearly empty. Don’t let that deter you. Just go! They deserve your business.

Tried this place for the first time, and it’s really good. Lots of choices to pick from the menu, everything is fresh and authentic Thai. The place is a lot bigger inside than it looks on the outside.
Favorite dishes were probably the papaya salad with crispy catfish and the roast duck red curry. Their milk teas are really good too.

Most everything was really fresh and flavorful, and the delivery was right on time even though it was late and a Saturday night. The Tom Kha soup and papaya salad were ridiculously good, although the fried rice was a bit bland and definitely a little mushy. Also, while the mushrooms/​ginger dish was tasty, it was really just mixed veggies and looked pretty much just like the other vegetable dish we ordered. Overall, everyone really liked their meals and I’m sure I’ll order from this place again.

We ordered delivery on Unilocal and received the food within 40 min :)
The pad thai and pad sew eww were both delicious. The pineapple fried rice I think needed more seasoning but overall everything was very good. We would definitely order from here again.

Solid Thai food with very good deep fried pork.
Most of the dishes we had were all similar in quality– very good– from the nam-​khao-​tood to the pad thai to the blue crab salad.
Contemporary interior and not quite as nuts as some of the other competitors down the street.

I don’t speak Thai, my girlfriend ordered and I was impressed by the kitchen aroma. My goodness the staff was kind and friendly and helpful. Our food choices were quite palatable. I plan on visiting soon.

After living next to Thai Town for a year and half, I’ve still been on the hunt for my Thai «spot.» I think Lacha just became it!
Had a mad craving for pad thai, and after doing some thorough research on Unilocal,I thought I’d give this one a try with some delivery. I always order pad thai at thai places, and I know that might make me a pretty basic Thai food eater. I saw they had crispy pick pad thai and knew that was the one.
Delivery wasn’t the fastest, but goddamn the pad thai was amazing. The crispness of the pork brings it to a new level. I got spicy and it actually was pretty hot but not unbearable. Also got a side of rice because duh, and a thai iced tea with boba because double duh. I’ll be requesting another order real soon.

Lacha noodle is pretty good. Roast pork and duck are very tasty in it.
Thai spaghetti with Crab curry paste is delicious. A must order! My GF is Thai so we stopped by here on the way back to San Jose because it was highly recommended to us. We are definitely coming back here next time we go to the theme parks.

Ordered delivery for the first time. I eat a LOT of Thai food. Tonight my order arrived quickly, hot, AND as is not always the case with delivery — with all the condiments and flatware required to enjoy it. I ordered Pad see ew, which my friends and I sample at every Thai restaurant we visit. It’s the gold standard by which we judge a place. This dish was prepared by a skilled hand and arrived still sauced and succulent, which is rare for delivery, as noodles usually absorb most of the gravy in transit, leaving you with a gelatinous block of gluten. I’m looking forward to having dinner in the restaurant soon as the large menu is intriguing.

I have to admit that this is one of my newest favorite Thai restaurants in Thaitown. Though parking is extremely difficult to find, the struggle is totally worth it. Whenever I miss the food back home, I come straight here.
Mixed Som Tum: Great to start with as an appetizer. It felt like som tum with a bunch of little snacks on the side like Isaan sausage. They really got it down and lives up to the title of «king of som tum». It was dressed with the proper amount of spicy with bursts of lime juice infused in the slices of papaya. To top it off, I loved the raw blue crab to give it the finishing touch.
Shrimp Paste Fried Rice: Decent presentation with an array of flavors ranging from sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. This entrée incorporates tiny slices of green apple, lime, red onion, chili peppers, and egg to go with the fried rice mixed with shrimp paste. I don’t recommend this to people who dislike pungent tastes and smells from seafood. Regardless, this is one of my favorite entrees that I get here.
Fried Larb: Larb fried? What more can I ask for? It’s crunchy with flavorful tastes of fried garlic and lime. It’s not too spicy but it goes well with sticky rice and the shreds of lettuce and string beans that it comes with.
Tab Wan (Pork Liver Salad): Not really something I would order again. It’s your typical larb. Though I asked for the liver to be cooked more, I didn’t particularly enjoy it because of the texture. It made me feel pretty sick, definitely something that didn’t match my palate.
Overall, the restaurant is authentic with a friendly staff. The food was served at a good pace. This place does take out as well and it seems like a real popular option!

I haven’t actually been to Lacha Somtum, but I’ve gotten it delivered a couple of times with mixed results. The delivery process has been smooth, prompt and easy through Seamless. I have forgotten to order rice with the curry both times, which is my fault but also probably not an entirely uncommon mistake? My second time, I at least remembered right after I made the order and was able to pay for the rice in cash to the delivery guy. It was $ 2.18, and I had almost no cash in the house – came up with a bunch of coins, scrounged from five different places. I guess I’m always a little annoyed by having to pay for rice, especially when ordering curry.
The food is decent, though more college town Thai restaurant decent than Thai Town decent. This is not the kind of Thai spot where you have to be conservative with your spice levels – in fact, even the spicy is weak enough that sriracha improves it. The menu offers the usual spread of Thai dishes. I’ve had the papaya salad, a couple curries, and a few noodles, all serviceable enough. The Thai papaya salad was solid, made with green papaya, dried shrimp, tomato, long beans, peanut, fresh chili, garlic, and lime juice. I got this spicy, and it was zippy and refreshing. The curries were good, if kind of basic. I preferred the panang curry. It was flavorful with a nice consistency, made with panang curry paste, coconut milk, and bell pepper. The green curry was bland – I got it medium, but apparently I should’ve gotten it as spicy as possible. The curry was thin, maybe too heavy on the coconut milk, loaded with bamboo shoots, sweet basil leaves, and bell pepper. I had both curries with chicken, which was pretty whatever, too. The noodles were a little better. I enjoyed the pad thai, which was flavorful and satisfying, especially with some crispy pork on top. The pad see ew and pad kee mao were both nice wide noodle dishes, both good with beef. The pad see ew was pan fried with egg and Chinese broccoli in a black soy sauce, and the pad kee mao with basil leaves, green bean, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, and a spicy garlic sauce. I got the pad kee mao spicy, and it had a faint heat to it, but no more.
I stretched both of my orders from Lacha Somtum to several meals, and did pretty well eating them for lunch when I was home during the week. Definitely better than the crap I usually eat, so I really have no regrets. That said, I doubt I’ll ever check out the brick and mortar. There are just too many great restaurants in Thai Town that don’t deliver to my house, and the food here doesn’t quite stack up.

I always try to stop by this place when I’m in Hollywood. Just for their Tom Yum Noodle Soup. I have a theory that Tom Yum soup is a reflection of how good the Thai restaurant is. When their Tom Yum is great, other dishes are also great, from my experience.
Their Tom Yum Soup is an explosion of flavor. Take a first look and if you find inedible herbs/​spices like galanga and lemongrass, you are in the right restaurant. The scent of this soup is so intoxicating that I can smell it all day.
The good fresh seafood and mussels add the rich flavor of ocean. You haven’t even tasted it yet at this point, but when you do the perfect combination of sourness, bitterness, sweetness, and umami (a lot of umami) hit your tongue and the scent runs up to your nose. Now you are in Tom Yum heaven. Mild spicy gives me a just enough kick that I can still taste all the other flavors.
I prefer small rice noodles over other ones they have. It’s a little wider and thicker than phở noodles but they carry the broth quite well, and doesn’t get too soggy very quick.
Friendly service is a big plus, the vibe is clean and bright.
I wish they had a better parking. But I’m not even complaining, it’s so worth it.

The La Cha Somtum is my favorite Thai restaurant.
They business in Thai town and I am always come to eat here… again and again !!!
Staff are nice and quick order, not too busy in evening time .that great.

Decent Thai food at a very reasonable price. Perfect before a night out when you want to fill up on carbs. Or if you’re just craving Thai food. Spring rolls were very good and fresh coconut is always a winner.

Came here on a Sunday night with a group of 6 others. It was pretty late for dinner hours, so we had the restaurant all to ourselves. The ambiance was comfortable and good for a casual night out with a big group. Lots of tables with over-​sized chairs. The customer service was awesome. The waitress was so nice and very helpful while we were trying to figure out what to order.
Free dessert or earl grey milk tea with Unilocal check-​in! We heard about how good the milk tea was, but sadly they ran out for the night. We ended up with the golden banana dish, which was delicious. The banana wrapped in a hot deep-​fried roll complimented the cool ice cream on the side drizzled with chocolate.
For our entrees, we ordered the crispy papaya salad, holy basil leaves, and the duck larb. Beware of the spice level! We asked for a mild spice, and it was pretty intense for being «mild.» If you can’t handle the heat, I would definitely request for no spice.
The papaya salad was good. Had a tanginess to the taste, and the different textures within the dish made it an interesting bite. The holy basil leaves dish was a stir fry of meat, green beans, bell peppers, garlic, and chili sauce. Very flavorful! Make sure to remember to order a side of rice with it. The duck larb was especially spicy. It had a mix of ground duck with chili, roasted rice, lime juice, and cilantro. Flavor was good, but it was difficult to really savor the taste since I was too busy panting and drinking water every couple of seconds.
Overall, great place and would definitely come again and would want to try different dishes and that earl grey milk tea!

I absolutely loved their fried papaya salad. It very much resembles onion rings to me but with a very tasty dip.
Make sure to check in via Unilocal app to receive a free drink or dessert!
We also ordered pad thai with crispy pork, which was a little too crispy for my taste. And then we had the raw blue crab salad, which had too much fish paste in it for me.
I’d go back, but there’s so many good options in Thai town.

Lacha Somtum Thai Restaurant is located under an apartment complex in Thai Town. We’ve been here a few times. They serve a variety of Thai dishes including their specials, appetizers, a variety of papaya salads, curries, salads, a la carte, fried rice, noodle soups, pan fried noodles, and desserts. They also have a hot pot menu.
Some of the dishes I’ve tried here so far:
*Ped Kra Pow — Stir fried duck with Thai holy basil, chopped green beans, garlic, and chili sauce. I ordered this mildly spicy. Duck meat was tender and quite flavorful with a hint of spice and the taste of basil absorbed into the meat. It was a pretty large portion. The ratio of duck meat was more than the duck skin.
*Jasmine Rice — I ordered a side of this to eat with the Ped Kra Pow. However, the jasmine rice texture was bit hard. Because of that, I didn’t really finish the rice or the ped kra pow because I needed to combine both rice and meat. They’re supposed to go hand in hand and unfortunately that didn’t happen.
*Som Tum Thai — Papaya mixed with dried shrimp, tomatoes, long beans, peanuts, fresh chili, garlic, and lime juice. Papaya was crispy and nicely shredded. Flavor was sweet, sour, and spicy. Even though we ordered mild spicy, it was actually very spicy.
*Som Tum with Raw Blue Crab — Papaya mixed with raw blue crab, tomatoes, long beans, garlic, fresh chili, and lime juice. Large portion of the blue crab. This one is more sour than the Som Tum Thai and not as sweet. Also super spicy even though we requested mild spicy.
*Moo Yang — Grilled marinated pork served with spicy sauce. This was tender, nicely marinated and grilled, and slightly sweet. The spicy sauce that came with it tasted like some kind of chili BBQ sauce.
*Lacha BBQ Chicken — Marinated chicken with Thai herbs. Served with Thai spicy sauce and sweet and sour sauce. Chicken meat was super tender with a hint of turmeric flavor. The skin was also a pleasure to eat.
*Sticky Rice– I ordered this for the Moo Yang and the BBQ Chicken. It felt soft when I took out a piece and rolled into a ball and dipped it in one of the sauces. However, once I starting chewing, I felt hard bits like the rice it wasn’t cooked all the way. I had to send it back and they gave me another one. This time around it was soft all around both touch and taste.
*Spaghetti Kee Mao– Spaghetti pan fried with basil leaves, green beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and spicy garlic sauce. The noodles were packed with flavor from the spicy garlic sauce and the basil leaves. Perfect noodle texture pan-​fried to perfection. I could taste the spiciness and basil flavor with every bite. Definitely my favorite dish here so far.
*Earl Grey Milk Tea– It was really good. Full-​bodied flavor going on there and wasn’t overly sweet.
We ordered many other dishes but I didn’t try them. My mom enjoyed the Koong Krob. She thought the Kanom Jeen Nam Ya Pa was a bit too spicy. My dad liked the Kao Na Ped and the Lard Na.
Service was good for all visits. We were greeted immediately upon entry for all visits. Food has always arrived promptly. One dish followed by the other if not at the same time. Our servers have been nice and soft-​spoken. For our first and third visit, they boxed up the food for us. For the second visit, we had to box the leftovers ourselves. A little inconsistent there but no biggie.
The interior is quite nice. There’s a giant frame of Thai art hanging on the wall depicting mortars and pestles which are used to make papaya salad. There’s also a picture depicting koi fishes. Also cupcake art on the wall near the entrance as well as coffee mug art on the other side of the restaurant.
There’s only around ten tables total but the restaurant is actually very spacious. The tables are spaced pretty far apart from one another. There’s one long booth with chairs on the opposite side. The other side of the restaurant has tables with chairs. In the middle of the restaurant, there’s a big sofa with cupcake pillows. Music is either modern hip hop or some Thai pop music.
Parking is incredibly awful like most Thai restaurants around this area. On the first visit, there was practically no parking available so we had to park in a different plaza and walk here. The second and third visit we did manage to find parking on the curb in front of the restaurant.
Overall, pretty good authentic Thai food. Any of the meat dishes like the Ped Kra Pow, I would have to order to-​go so I can eat it with the jasmine rice at home. But that’s just me being picky with rice texture. Everything else has been great though. I will definitely back to try more Thai dishes.

Stuck in a sea of Thai restaurants in the middle of Thai town LA is a little T
Som Tom Tawt?! (Crispy Green Papaya salad!?, Yam Muang (Spicy Green Mango salad… one of my favorites!), Nam Dtok Moo (Waterfall of pork) with stick rice… YUM!

Appearances can be deceiving!
This looks like a bit of a hole in the wall on the outside, but it’s a great little restaurant with cute décor and amazing food.
We came in for lunch starving after a hike at Griffith Park. I ordered the panang curry — SO good. The bowl is massive, and certainly more than enough for 2 people (so long as you order two portions of rice). The chicken was very tender, and I didn’t find the ‘medium spicy’ to be very spicy at all. I was half tempted to put my straw in the bowl and slurp it all up, but I chose not to be a piggy savage. My boyfriend’s pad thai was delicious as well, and he felt pretty full after.
The Thai iced coffee was really good as well — creamier than any Thai iced coffee I’ve ever tasted.
Prices were much lower than I expected. Worth a visit!