Thai Lai Restaurant — Restaurant in Hawthorne

On our way home from LAX, the traffic was horrific, so we decided to stop in nearby to eat and hope that traffic dies down. We found this on Yelp, I had my parent's with me and we all had a taste for different dishes from different regions of Vietnam. Not often do we find a place that had everything we wanted to eat!

We started off with savory pork and shrimp crepes, banh xeo. It was nice and hot right out of the oil. We loved how crispy it was with a hint of coconut milk in the batter. A lot of places tends to use the fatty pork pieces, but we liked that the pieces we got were leaner pieces.

My dad's a huge fan of mi quang, so we got the a-ok nod from him. Mom loved her seafood egg noodles dry with broth and sauce on the side. She said the sauce was very good. Again, got the a-okay from mom.

One of my favorite things in the world to eat is bun bo hue. It was fine, but needed more lemongrass, spicy oil. It wasn't a bit spicy, but overall still good. Now we have a place to go wait out...

Let me tell you about these spring rolls. Great meat to veggie ratio, solid pork sausage (taste varies greatly between restaurants/brands), but what makes these really special is the fried noodles(?) inside. That crispy crunchy goodness takes these babies to a whole other level. Honestly I think all other spring rolls are ruined for me now. I believe the nem nuong spring rolls are typically served with fish sauce, but we got them with the peanut sauce as that's what we prefer. I did think the peanut sauce was a little bland, but the spring rolls themselves were so good, I didn't even care.

The grilled pork rice plate is also delicious. Really tasty meat with broken rice. Pro tip: if a Vietnamese restaurant uses broken rice for their rice place, you know they're doing something right.

Cash only but can't be mad about it. Prices are fair and food...

We love going to Thai Lai for a simple, delicious weeknight dinner. Don't be fooled by the name; this is actually a Vietnamese place.

Though the restaurant is small and not much to look at, the food is great and the people are wonderful. They always stop to talk with us.

Make sure to ask for the banh mi sandwich! It's not on the menu but it's absolutely delicious and it's only $3! If you go at lunch you can also order the soup bones they use to make the pho with big chunks of meat on them. Though the pho is good, order one of their many soups. They are very unique (since most Vietnamese places just focus on pho) and incredibly delicious. The BBQ duck with egg noodles is my personal favorite.

Though it's simple, this restaurant is...