Great Duck Curry (Thai) in L.A.?

Thanks, I will give it a try.......

Any other rec's?

MrF in Los Angeles Area

Great Duck Curry (Thai) in L.A.?

I am looking for a great duck curry (panang or red) in Los Angeles. Does it exist?

I was spoiled the first time I ever tried a thai curry with duck. They used a whole duck breast....crispy skin and all....with an excelent, thick panang curry poured over the top. Unforunately, I found this in New York.

Since then, I have tried to find a gread duck curry in Los Angeles, without success. It seems every place I have tried uses small, rubbery, flavorless and skinless strips of duck. And the quantity of duck meat is also lacking....it is usually floating in the curry so it more closely relembles a soup than a sauce. Unfortunately, opting for chicken or beef instead of duck does not improve matters much at all.

I have tried Cholada, Bangkok West, and Thai Boom. I even went to the great Jitlada. And the the duck curries were always mediocre at best. (some of the sauces were good...but the duck was always lacking).

Help me find a gread duck curry in L.A.!

P.S. The tom tha soup, the green mussels and the soft-shell crab curry at Jitlada were all outstanding and I will be returning there often....just not for the duck.

P.P.S. Of course, the dish I tried in NY was on the expensive side (somewhere between $15-$20) ....but i am willing to pay for quality.

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Jitlada
5233 1/2 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Thai Boom
10863 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034

Bangkok West
606 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401

Cholada
1282 Newbury Rd, Newbury Park, CA 91320

MrF in Los Angeles Area

Thai: Duck Curry?

I am looking for a great Duck Curry in Los Angeles (Panang or Red Curry)

I was recently (finally) introduced to thai food that isn't named Pad Thai. At a restaurant in suburban New York I had an incredible Duck Panang. Since I have returned to L.A., I have been trying to find a duck curry that even comes close to what i had on the east coast. I have tried Thai Boom, Cholada, Bangkok West (thinking a fancier place might have better duck) and even Jitlada......and the Duck Curry always falls well short.

The key to meal I had in New York is that they used a whole duck breast (crispy skin and all), which was topped by a delicious, thick panang curry sauce. Of course, this duck curry cost more than twice as much as your average duck curry in an L.A. restaurant, but I am willing to pay for quality.

All of the restaurants I have tried in L.A. use dry, skinless, flavorless duck. And while the quality of the curries ranged from decent to good...none were great, and there was always too little meat for the amount of curry sauce (this also held true for beef and chicken curries). Maybe what I am looking for doesn't exist in L.A. But I am hoping somebody on this board knows of a restaurant that has both a high quality curry sauce AND uses high quality duck.

Thanks in advance for your help!!!

P.S. For the record, I am also (slowly but surely) expanding my horizons with thai food beyond just duck curry. I am a huge fan of Tom Kha soup...the green mussels and soft-shell crab curry at Jitlada are excelent.....I know I need to sample some of the thai salads. I have just started discoviring Thai food, and have every intention of discovering all it has to offer. So I am not really looking for suggestions of what other things i should try....I am just hoping somebody can point me in the direction of the best Duck Curry in Southern California.

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Jitlada
5233 1/2 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Thai Boom
10863 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034

Bangkok West
606 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401

Panang Restaurant
1801 Colorado Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041

Cholada
1282 Newbury Rd, Newbury Park, CA 91320

MrF in Los Angeles Area

Where to buy head-on shrimp and live dungeness crab?

Thanks.....I wont be in S.F. until Thanksgiving weekend, which is after the local crab season has opened. Is it safe to assume that 99 Ranch will have local crab once the season begins?

MrF in San Francisco Bay Area

Where to buy head-on shrimp and live dungeness crab?

I'm going to be visiting San Francisco for Thanksgiving and I need some help fining some shellfish. I'm visiting from out of town, so I don't really know where the best fish markets are.

First of all, l need to find find shrimp with the head still on (you just cant make a good shrimp stock without shrimp heads). Where can I find a good fish marked that has head-on shrimp?

I also need to find some good, live crabs (Dungeness, of course). Where can I find the best combination of qulity and price. This will be for a seperate meal, so it doesn't necessarily have to be the same place I get the shrimp.

I am going to be staying near West Portal, but I am willing to travel for quality and/or a great price

Thanks.

MrF in San Francisco Bay Area

Bar in West L.A. to watch Notre Dame game?

Thanks for the advice...ended up at San Francisco Saloon...good place to watch college football. Couldn't get sound for the ND game (apparently they only turn the sound on for UCLA, USC and 49er games), but i had no problem getting a good seat with a nice view of the game.

Plus they had good burgers (great fries) and the bloody mary was decent.

MrF in Los Angeles Area

FRESH SEAFOOD MARKET IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY - SPECIFICALLY CRABS!!!!

I agree 99 Ranch is your best option for finding live dungeness crab in SoCal...especially this time of year.

Keep in mind, though, that it is not crab season in california right now, so the crab that is available has been shiped a long way to get here (I think most of what we can buy in L.A. right now is coming from Alaska). This means the crab has been out of the ocean for awhile, and may have incurred some wear and tear during the trip to L.A. So be sure to pick out the livliest crab in the tank to get the highest possible quality. Sick, injured or dying crab don't taste good.

Crab season in Northern California opens in mid-November. The availability, quality and even the price of dungeness crab generally improves significantly in L.A. once the season opens.

MrF in Los Angeles Area

FRESH SEAFOOD MARKET IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY - SPECIFICALLY CRABS!!!!

I'm not positive about their new location, but santa monica seafood never had live crab at their original store. But they did have the best quality pre-cooked, whole dungeness crab I could find on the west side.

MrF in Los Angeles Area

Transporting crabs and keep them alive

When you got to 99 Ranch, be sure to pick out the liveliest crabs in the tank. This time of year the crab we get in SoCal has traveled a long way (I think most is coming from Alaska right now), and that journey can take a toll. Sick, injured or dying crab don't taste good.

Remember that dungeness crab (the only crab worth talking about) season in NorCal opens approx November 15th. The availability, quality and price generally improve signigicantly once the season opens.

One last note: Somebody mentioned Santa Monica Seafood. I don't know about their new location, but they never had live dungeness crab at the old location.

MrF in General Chowhounding Topics

Bar in West L.A. to watch Notre Dame game?

I'm living without cable right now, and I want to watch the Notre Dame football game this weekend (it's on ESPN). Does anybody know a good bar in Santa Monica or West L.A. to watch the game?

I know I could always go to Hooters, Barneys Beanery or Q's, but thoae places always have 10 dufferent games going on at the same time. It's better than nothing, but far from ideal.

I was hoping to find a place that:

A) Will have Notre Dame on the majority, if not all, of the t.v.'s; and
B) will actually turn up the sound for the ND game (this makes a huge difference).

Good food, a good beer selection, and quaility bloody marys are a nice bonus, but these are secondary to my ability to watch/hear the game.

MrF in Los Angeles Area

Burgers on Westside

I agree with the rec's for:

Fathers Office
Houstons
In 'n Out

I'm also a big fan of Islands (I know they wont cook "rare or "med-rare," but their version of "medium" actually has a lot of pink ans is still very juicy...I find it to actually be closer to "med-rare" than "medium")

The San Francisco Saloon on Pico in West LA also makes a tasty burger....and their Irish Coffee's aren't too bad, either

MrF in Los Angeles Area