Lers Ros Thai

Had a delicious early (6pm) dinner at Lers Ros Thai last night. So thankful to the ChowHound board for all the great details on this place. Very quiet when we arrived, and quite busy when we left. Very clean, plain interior, we were greeted warmly, never rushed, and our service was really nice - helpful, but unobtrusive.

If you're a visitor or unfamiliar with the area (like the gringos that my...+READ Had a delicious early (6pm) dinner at Lers Ros Thai last night. So thankful to the ChowHound board for all the great details on this place. Very quiet when we arrived, and quite busy when we left. Very clean, plain interior, we were greeted warmly, never rushed, and our service was really nice - helpful, but unobtrusive.

If you're a visitor or unfamiliar with the area (like the gringos that my party were), make sure you note the exact street address 730 Larkin Street (between O'Farrell and Ellis) or you could wander into the wrong place.

The menu is HUGE, I was very glad I had predetermined some things we would order. We were only a party of 3, but tried to fit a lot in! We had 1 adventurous diner (myself), and 2 less so, but open. We asked for "medium" heat.

We had:

#1 Fried Tofu (not greasy at all - such a simple, plain dish but perfectly prepared)
# 6 Sun Dried Beef (very good - not tough, but not too exciting, either)
#13 Green Papaya Salad with Grilled Prawns (Really great, nice heat, delicious!)
#20 Calamari Salad (Beautiful but bland, would pass on this, next time)
#27 Tom Kha Soup (Wonderful - full of seafood, piping hot, perfectly seasoned)
# 77 Chicken Pad Thai (my guest said that this was probably the best version she had ever had, I thought it was delicious, also, even though I am often bored with this dish elsewhere)
#113 Trout with Mango Sauce (Outstanding, incredibly fresh, not a sweet sauce)
2 sides of Jasmine Rice (I've had better)
Thai Iced Tea (Excellent, sweet, rich, lovely)
Dessert: Sticky Rice with Toasted Almond Ice Cream (Delicious - a noticeably rich, quality Ice Cream)

Portions were maybe a little smaller than some places, but only slightly - and it was more than plenty. I felt that the food at Lers Ros was prepared and served with care, and was also a wonderful value for quality ingredients. This would be a great place for any party of 6 to try a lot of dishes. I personally am overwhelmed with such a large menu, and my companions were happy to sit back and be surprised (except the Pad Thai eater had to have THAT) Some research and a little list made ordering (by item #) fast and easy (on the server, too) and allowed us to spend more time enjoying each other's company.

I can't wait to return and try some other dishes - some pork, the chicken with spinach and peanut sauce, the curries, etc. Any ideas on the best rice or some more exciting dishes?

Thanks for everyone for sharing this restaurant - a really great place!-COLLAPSE / REPLY (43 Replies) (by DpBluSea, created June 13, 2011)

Ler Ros is your place - on Larkin in same neighborhood is authentic. If you like spicy they do that very well. REPLY (4 Replies) (by Sharon S., created May 27, 2011)

»Chowdown at Lers Ros - Report

Six of us met at Lers Ros for an early dinner tonight. We’d done our research from prior posts and had notes. I think only one of had ever been there before.

We ordered:

#4 Thai Herb Sausage
#27 Tom Kha Gai
#25 Larb Phed Yang (Duck larb)
#113 Pla trout Tod Nam Pla (Whole trout)
#62 Pad Kra Prow Moo Krob (Crispy pork belly, ala carte)
#14 Som tom Khai Khem (Green papaya salad with salted egg)
...+READ Six of us met at Lers Ros for an early dinner tonight. We’d done our research from prior posts and had notes. I think only one of had ever been there before.

We ordered:

#4 Thai Herb Sausage
#27 Tom Kha Gai
#25 Larb Phed Yang (Duck larb)
#113 Pla trout Tod Nam Pla (Whole trout)
#62 Pad Kra Prow Moo Krob (Crispy pork belly, ala carte)
#14 Som tom Khai Khem (Green papaya salad with salted egg)
Something off the specials board – written in Thai and translated by a server as shrimp paste with fish and vegetables.
And dessert was sticky rice with coconut and a scoop of toasted almond ice cream.

Loved the sausage – very heavy notes of lemongrass, and someone else noted kefir lime. Smokey, good texture, hearty, and a very good portion for 6 to share.

We ordered the tom kha because someone had heard it was the best around. Don’t know what is traditional, but I think most of us found it rather thin, wanting it to be a little creamier. It was tasty, with a nice brightness, but certainly not the best rendition I’ve ever had. (I have to say I really prefer Osha Thai’s version – the one on Valencia.)

The duck larb was wonderful. Rich and fatty but not overly so. The duck flavor stood out cleanly from the tangy chilli powder and lime dressing. It was described on the menu as “chunk of roasted duck” as opposed to minced like the pork larb, but the server said it was chopped up, and it was. I could have eaten this dish all by myself.

The whole trout was another winner. Really crispy, but tender inside, salty, with a great sauce on the side of mango and chilis. The menu states it is guaranteed fresh every day. They crisp the spine up so you can eat it like really crunchy potato chips. I could not stop eating the skin.

The pork belly was fantastic too – just like chicharrones, with a crispy, fatty rind, and sprinkled with basil. We had been looking for the pork shoulder some on CH recommended, but couldn’t find it; I just now, in re-reviewing the menu at home, found a pork shoulder in one of the salads (#17). I would have gladly had another pork dish.

The papaya salad was the only real miss, for me. It was a bit spicier than everything else (though I truly found nothing really spicy here – of course, we ordered it only medium-spicy, and I didn’t see any of the usual condiments on any of the tables; I could have asked but I was too busy eating), but the salted egg was not detectable to me as a flavor, only as a bit of a mushy texture with the papaya. It wasn’t bad, but next to all the other stand-outs, it wasn’t anything special at all.

The item we ordered off the Specials board was a bit of a puzzler. We ordered it to be adventurous and instead of a curry, reasoning that we’d all had thai curries before. The dish consisted of fish, fresh veggies, a bowl of shrimp paste, and little frittata-like pieces. The fish seemed to be a kind of mackerel, fried and crispy, so much so that there was not much meat and a lot of bones – those spindly little needle bones that get stuck in your throat if you’re not careful. The shrimp paste sauce was really strong when I first had it with the fish, but I think I determined that with the veggies and the little triangles of veggie omelet it was quite good. The mackerel itself was fairly strong tasting. The veggies included fat slices of cucumber, lightly steamed broccoli, quartered whole raw thai eggplants, and bamboo shoots. I think that was all. I really loved the little omelet slices – very green tasting and a good texture contrast to the veggies. I also very much liked the raw eggplant, which surprised me. The broccoli was perfectly steamed to crisp/tender, and the cucumber was very soothing. But, probably wouldn’t order this dish again.

We were absolutely stuffed, but “had” to have a taste of the sticky rice with coconut, and the toasted almond ice cream sounded interesting. We ordered one to split, and it was a generous portion. The rice was delicious and warm and buttery, with a clean coconut taste coming through, and a scoop of not-too-sweet almond-y ice cream alongside.

Five of us had a beer apiece, and I think we ended up paying $22 per person, which included a decent tip.

These were mostly dishes I had never had before, and in that respect, this place lives up to its hype. The only things that really suffered were the more “standard” dishes – the tom kha and the papaya salad. The special was just a bit odd and not particularly delicious. But of everything else we had – the sausage, the duck, the pork and the trout – I would definitely go back for those items. And now I want to try their curries.

Thanks all! Pics below.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (9 Replies) (by mariacarmen, created January 24, 2011)

»Fantastic

Finally ate here this week and just want to chime in on all the rave reports- We ordered the green papaya salad with grilled prawns and the lunch special with barbecued chicken & green curry (served with rice and salad). Everything was delicious, perfectly (and strongly) spiced, very fresh tasting, and the servings were very generous, and the total bill including a glass of red wine came to $22...+READ Finally ate here this week and just want to chime in on all the rave reports- We ordered the green papaya salad with grilled prawns and the lunch special with barbecued chicken & green curry (served with rice and salad). Everything was delicious, perfectly (and strongly) spiced, very fresh tasting, and the servings were very generous, and the total bill including a glass of red wine came to $22 (before tip). I'll definitely be back.-COLLAPSE (by balabanian, created August 3, 2010)

»Lers Ros - The Great Thai Food I'm Missing in Toronto

I am on an eternal search for great Thai food and in Toronto, where I'm from, it is sadly non-existent. I usually have to wait for my business trips to Los Angeles to get decent Thai food on this continent.

So when I read on this board about Lers Ros and the comparisons of the offerings here to the Thai food one can find at some of Los Angeles' best Thai restaurants, I got excited. I gathered...+READ I am on an eternal search for great Thai food and in Toronto, where I'm from, it is sadly non-existent. I usually have to wait for my business trips to Los Angeles to get decent Thai food on this continent.

So when I read on this board about Lers Ros and the comparisons of the offerings here to the Thai food one can find at some of Los Angeles' best Thai restaurants, I got excited. I gathered my partner up and convinced him to make the 1 hour drive to SF from SJ to have Thai food, promising him that if Lers Ros indeed lives up to the hype he would never again bother to eat Thai in Toronto.

All in all, mission accomplished -- my partner will no longer accept the subpar standards for Thai food in Toronto, or in many other places on this continent for that matter.

In my excitement to order dishes that I hadn't eaten for a long time, we ordered far more than was reasonable for two people to consume. We ordered the herb sausage, papaya salad, chicken coconut soup, duck red curry, fried fish with a light spicy sauce, and rice. And honestly, if my partner hadn't said that we can come back again before we return to Toronto I probably would have ordered more out of sheer inability to narrow down my choices. Needless to say, half of our dinner is now lodged in the fridge in our corproate apartment.

Everything was just so good -- no skimping on the fish sauce, the birds eye chilis, herbs or other ingredients. The only reason I'm not giving it a solid 5 stars is because I think the balance of these flavours is ever so slightly off. In the case of the papaya salad, there was a bit too much fish sauce, which made the dish saltier than I would have preferred. In the chicken coconut soup, I thought there was a touch too much lime juice and not enough lime leaf. In the fish, the sauce had a bit too much soy sauce, and again, that made it a bit saltier than what I thought would have been ideal. In the curry, I would have preferred a bit more coriander root to the galangal. And so on.

Otherwise, the experience was what I was hoping to find and I'd be more than happy to be a return patron before I head back to Toronto. In fact, I already know what I want to order on my next trip!-COLLAPSE / REPLY (3 Replies) (by Juniper, created May 15, 2010)

»Go next door

This place did not impress me. I don't even remember what entree I had but I do remember the egg roll was not very tasty. Sai Jai next door is my favorite thai in the tendorloin. (by marin_bud, created December 15, 2009)