The Taste Kitchen — Restaurant in Culver City

A mom & pop shop that my local friend eats at on a monthly, and it really shows because it is a true authentic Thai family that immigrated to LA in the early 1990s and opened this restaurant and had it for years. A washroom literally in the back of the venue, that is a storage closet and non-fluent english speakers, and on top of that the yelling in kitchen. This is exactly what a true authentic mom & pop shop is like, and this is the food culture is missing.

Anyways, I have to talk about the food here, because it is extremely delicious and it shows that these are the places that should support by locals.

Thai Ice Tea: 8/10 Perfectly blood orange, and it was the style of Thai Ice Tea I wanted. My camera is coming it off as just pure orange and I don't know why, but it was a more of a dark reddish orange and it was good.

Papaya Salad: 7/10 I thought this was a very cute take of a thai version of a papaya salad. I think this was just ok in my book, but what makes these salads are how long the papaya was soaked for in the family style fish sauce. And the papaya was extremely delicious. Their family style fish sauce was extremely delicious too.

Red Thai Seafood Curry: 10/10 This was a peak for me. I love the flavours of this red thai curry. The seafood was plentiful, and the curry mixed with the sticky rice was just delicious. It was a perfect portion. I had at least 4 portions sharing it with a friend.

Green Thai Chicken Curry: 7/10 I wished we didn't order a chicken curry, maybe we should have tried another meat, but the green curry was delicious, was it was lacking a type of flavour and I don't know what it is. Maybe next time I should order another type of meat.

Mango Sticky Rice: 9/10 We ordered a dessert before we left as the waitress was asking about our opinions about their food, and I told them what I liked and what I didn't like. They actually talked with us a little bit about our experience and their food. And tbh, their mango sticky rice was exactly what I like about a family style mango sticky rice. I wasn't expect the pandan flavour in it at all, but they gave it to me. YUM!

Support local and your mom &...

When a Meal Becomes a Reminder

Food: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5) Service/Experience: ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5) Overall: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5)

I visited Taste Kitchen Thai Food Restaurant in West L.A. on Sepulveda because I had a serious craving for Thai shrimp fried rice. The restaurant is takeout only — which was fine, because I planned to eat in my car. The food came out fast, the portion was generous, and the shrimp fried rice was solid.

What stuck with me wasn’t the food. It was the way something simple — asking for an extra chili sauce packet — turned into a whole situation. I asked for one packet and it already felt like I was pushing it. I asked for a second — because of the size of the portion — and the woman froze, like I had crossed some invisible line. Had I been white, I doubt it would’ve even been a question. Two packets would’ve been handed over without hesitation. And if I had been sharing the meal? One packet wouldn’t have been enough for two people — barely enough for one.

They smiled and told me to enjoy my meal, but by then, the moment had already happened.

Eating in my car wasn’t the issue. Trying to eat with a flimsy, tiny fork that couldn’t even hold the food was. For the kind of portions they serve, better utensils aren’t optional — they’re basic.

Being a Black customer means these aren’t isolated incidents. They are constant reminders: even the smallest ask gets weighed differently.

The food was good. The message behind...

I am disappointed with the type of service we received. The place is super small, no server or cashier at the front. I stepped to the side to flag someone for my food. The lady came dashing at me thinking that I was going to enter a restricted area. Food wasn’t the best pho but it was ok. BUT service was terrible. We were visiting the area. Staying at a hotel close by, I have 2 little kids with me so I asked for an extra serving bowl and utensils since kids we’re sharing and no 4 year old can eat from those tall cylinder containers Pho soup comes in. The lady said NOOO. I asked for napkin she said No. I let that go THEN I asked if the pho soup didn’t come in contact with any sea food especially shellfish? She just proceeded to dismiss me with an annoyed look. I stated it again, my child has a shellfish allergy that requires Epipen and so I just need a yes or no answer. She said No with just annoyed face and a heavy sigh. Now am sure they have served some black people before. If not I prefer that if an Asian restaurant doesn’t like serving a certain group of people, a sign can be put...