LA Thai Food Heaven｜Raw Shrimp｜Lacha Somtum

📍 Lacha Somtum 5171 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027 🇹🇭 A hidden gem brought by my roommate's younger brother. We ordered the naked shrimp — Thai-style raw marinated shrimp 🦐. Not jumping-alive like Chinese "drunken shrimp," but insanely fresh — super QQ and chewy! Topped with lemongrass, mint, and Thai chili sauce — so flavorful! 🍛 Holy Basil Leaves and Fresh Chili (Pad Kra Pao) Fish sauce was incredibly fresh, probably homemade. Mixed with minced Thai chili and pork — heavenly! My Thai roommate ate several bowls of rice with it. 🥗 Papaya Salad with Blue Crab Their papaya salad is dark in color — marinated in fish sauce. We ordered max spicy — seemed mild at first, but after a minute it hit hard 🌶️😭 Still, it’s so good with rice! Highly recommend pairing with sticky rice — so fragrant. Also includes raw marinated blue crab — soft, jelly-like texture you can suck right out of the shell. Freshness rivaling Korean-style soy marinated crab — brought tears to my eyes! 🍲 Fish and Anchovy Curry My Thai roommate insisted on this — you can really taste the anchovy umami. Loaded with bamboo shoots, green beans, eggplant. Served with Thai dried rice noodles — a taste of home for this Seattle exile 😭 ⚠️ Caution for spice-sensitive folks — this might be the spiciest Thai food I’ve had in North America. Pair it with a mudslide (iced Ovaltine with cream) to cool down! #LAEats #LAThaiFood #RawMarinated #StudyAbroadLife #SpicyFood 🥘🔥