PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

Because it's open really late, Toi has become an instant fave of Hollywood hipsters such as Sean Penn and Woody Harrelson, who make postclubbing excursions to this rock-'n'-roll eatery a few blocks from the Sunset Strip. After all the hype, I was surprised to find possibly L.A.'s best bargain Thai food, authentically prepared and served in portions so generous the word enormous seems inadequate. Menu highlights include hot-and-sour chicken, coconut soup, and the house specialty: chicken curry somen, a spicy dish with green curry and mint sauce spooned over thin Japanese rice noodles. Vegetarians will be pleased with the vast selection of meat-free items such as pad kee mao, rice noodles served spicy with tofu, mint, onions, peppers, and chili. The interior is a noisy amalgam of cultish movie posters, rock-'n'-roll memorabilia, and haphazardly placed industrial-issue dinette sets; and the plates, flatware, and drinking glasses are cheap coffee-shop issue. In other words, it's all about the food and the scene -- neither will disappoint. Westsiders can opt for Toi on Wilshire, 1120 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica (tel. 310/394-7804), open daily from 11am to 3am.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Los Angeles 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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