Any decent Thai chow in West L.A.?

My father is desperate. Any help for my poor Dad, trapped on the West Side?

Thai House on Pico between La
Cienega and Robertson is good. The
food is always fresh and they grow
their own herbs in the back.

But really, the sort answer is: No.

The Thai restaurants on the Westside
sometimes seem as alike as the Indian
restaurants in the East Village.

The closest Thai restaurant with any kind
of character is Talesai, on the Strip,
which has a fairly basic Thai menu but
uses luxury ingredients: the har mok
isn't bad.

But why settle when you can drive a few
extra minutes to Hollywood and the
greatest concentration of Thai restaurants
outside Bangkok: Sanamuluang for noodles;
the Palm for wild game; Krang Tedd for
Bangkok-style bar food (especially
the banana-leaf chicken); Ruen Pair for
Thai-Chinese (crumbled pork with Chinese
olives, fried morning glory with garlic);
Torung for late-night jook; Yai for
stinky Bangkok street food; Vim for
fine straight-ahead basic Thai, popular
with Latinos; Jitlada for definitive
Thai banquet food; Sapp's Coffee Shop
for chicken . . . there are dozens more.

For good Isaan-style food
you have to schlep to Norwalk (both
Palm and Krang Tedd have some dishes)
--but Renu Nakorn is hands down the
best Thai restaurant in the U.S.

Ditto for Jonathan's comments about the westside,
although Thai House is one of my neighborhood places
and I have a soft spot for it. I've only had lunch at
Renu Nakorn, but it has always been terrific,
especially the soups, which are amazingly complex.
I haven't eaten at Jitlada or Talesai recently, but
they've been excellent in the past. I'm looking
forward to trying some of Jonathan's other
recommendations.

just a little thank you for the Sanamuluang
recommendation. we had an outstanding meal and it was
so cheap! the squid salad was the most refreshing and
spicy thing I've tasted in a while. and #51, the
noodles with chiles and mint and onions...pure heaven.

As I think I mentioned in my previous post, Sanamluang
is one of my regular hangs, and now you know why. The
good news is that you had the opportunity to eat there.
The bad news is that, not only did you barely scratch
the surface of the menu there (although you made some
good choices), you barely scratched the surface of the
many amazing Thai restaurants in the area. Hopefully
there will be another trip to Los Angeles to remedy
that.

Regarding Ruen Pair, I fear my favorite Hollywood Thai is not what it once was.
It seems that there is a new ownership and though the menu has stayed the same the food has slipped several notches. Also their "B" was downgraded to "C" and remained that way for some time.
I like Samunalung, but the atmosphere is not as pleasent as at Ruen, especially on warm days when the smell of the super-markets dumpster seeps into the dining area.
I've had mixed experiences at Jitalda. What's a good thing to order there?

Here is a much delayed response to your question about what to order at Jitlada. My favorites include the Southern Spicy Beef (#39), crab and shrimp in curry sauce (I forget the exact name of this dish on the menu), Tu-fu Duck (#42), Mussel on Flame (#52), Flambe Prawn (#65), and Spinach on Flame (#73). Other good dishes include Pa-Nang and Jitlada Squid.