Any assortment of dishes will include one that stands out. Maybe it really is better than the others. Maybe it just suits your taste that day, while another time you'd rave about something else.
But let's skip the intellectualizing and give an example. The winner at Yai in Hollywood the other day was the spicy northern Thai beef salad nam tok. The name means waterfall, perhaps linked to the juices that drip out of the meat as it is grilled.
Yai's nam tok looked so good, with bits of red chile and chile seeds clinging to the sliced meat, crunchy ground roasted rice adding texture and toasty flavor, sliced red onion and lots of zingy lime dressing to eat with rice and strips of raw cabbage.
It would have been a winner no matter the competition.
Nam tok is $7.25 at Yai Restaurant, 5757 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028. Tel: (323) 462-0292. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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