Panang Thai on Sushi: Expect the unexpected

Sushi. From a Thai restaurant.

Unusual? Unthinkable? Irresponsible? Indigestible? One could think so considering how different the two cuisines are but this is the megalopolis of L.A. after all and anything goes here.

Yes, I ordered sushi from a Thai restaurant that also advertises phở (next to sushi); but housed in a large dinning room on the corner of Colorado Blvd and Argus - under worn plastic signs, beyond walls of glass windows that expose powder blue pleather booths - is an understated five-seater sushi bar with granite tops and a cool display of seemingly fresh fish built into the northeast quadrant of the restaurant, communicating no match to the bustling stainless steel open kitchen that fires over 100 wok-fried, deep-fried, steamed and boiled dishes. When a southeast Asian establishment this unorthodox has been in business for as long as it has I can't help but wonder...what if...

What if I didn't get ahead of myself and braved the menu with an appetite like a newborn epicurean passionately curious to taste the possibilities? Ignore the fact that I was desperately craving a spicy tuna roll and a seaweed salad this day, after being unable to lunch with friends at Yabu; and in my neighborhood Mia doesn't serve lunch on Fridays, I really had no other choice: be completely present and dedicated to the meal of my choice or eat anything while lusting after something else. My choice was clear: sushi or bust!

I'm happy to report that my carry-out sushi lunch at Panang was actually very very good.

There, I said it. It was very good.

Yes; I'm serious! Though this is simply based upon one true sushi item and a seaweed salad I really think the chefs at Panang have had a lot more experience than meets the eye. Sure it might have been a lifetime prior to Panang but like an artist one never loses their touch. The flavors of my Japanese mid-day meal was familiar to those from most Japanese restaurants in Los Angeles: the seaweed was the perfect taste bud stimulant and sweet prelude to a generous serving of cold, spicy, creamy, raw tuna wrapped in sticky sushi rice and nori. The tangled pile of green cool green strips were perfectly tossed in the usual sweet sesame dressing and garnished with a dash of black and white sesame seeds. Its satisfying crunch from biting to the firm center of the soft translucent exteriors called for a moment of silence. But, of course, I had to snap out of it and open my eyes so I didn't stumble over my dish of wasabi soy-sauce to get to eight pieces of a well rounded spicy tuna cut rolls.

The meal continued to surprise me - I was delighted that an order was so generously served as eight plump and tightly wrapped pieces filled with finely minced tuna seasoned in a mayonnaise-less sauce with firm, cool, bright green pieces of avocado. Thank God for California avos. I could feel and taste the firmness and freshness of the fruit separately in a mouthful of spicy tuna, nori and sesame oil. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy was I the happiest sushi eater in all of Eagle Rock! Immediately I was full. I was as content as a kitten. Still one more eight-piece order sat before me in its unopened floridly adorned package, just waiting to be enjoyed, but I had to set it aside for later. Where would I put it? The entire salad and one cut-roll was more than filling for one sitting. But, I will be back for more and next time I will explore the naked items that fall into two categories: sushi and sashimi.

Are you still in shock? If so, I urge you, please to try it for yourselves to believe. I understand how one might doubt wondering how this lackluster restaurant with dated furnishings and a reliable sticky stale scent of frying oil could possibly offer deliciously satisfying anything Thai/Vietnamese/Sushi (three cuisines categorized in two catalog style menus), let alone offer spicy tuna rolls and seaweed salad at competitive quality, flavor and prices. Heed my warning, making the mistake of judging a restaurant by its cover can mislead you from an enlightening experience for the body, mind and taste buds. If you're wondering how it is possible for a restaurant to offer such a spectrum of foods for as long as they have, with many dishes under $10.00, and still be in business then maybe it's time for a little food detective adventure of your own. This enjoyable and shocking experience really made me rethink my boundaries and my perspective on a restaurant's capacity to deliver quality - What form of fusion is acceptable? And does it matter who offers it?

After all, a restaurant like Gindi Thai, popular for its decor more than it's menu, does well so it's no surprise that Panang does well too. Truly for many first timers it's all in the package. Though Panang chooses not to exercise the concept of tasteful in areas of aesthetic appeal* or service (a couple of staple bitter staff members, and the tacky credit/debit card charge of $1.00 for tabs under $15.00), I think I've become a more adventurous consumer because of this experience.

Cheers to new experiences and fearless dining!

Panang
www.panangrestaurant.com
1801 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles - Eagle Rock, CA
90041
323.344.3796


*It is my observation that not all well-dressed westernized Chinese cuisine establishments serve the best Chinese food despite their efforts of modernized Asian decor and well presented menus that serve as a cushion for the senses; but I find that unsuspecting hole-in-the-wall eateries, from the San Gabriel Valley to the Santa Monica Canyons, are really where it's at: where we can taste Chinese food the way it was meant to taste and be eaten.