Wat Thai Market
Sunday, August 28, 2005 14:28
Well, I finally made it out to the Wat Thai market on the weekend. It’s a pretty, serene place of stalls and picnic tables alongside a Buddhist Temple. The food here is fairly basic, and I have to admit, I wasn’t feeling too adventurous, so I stuck to the foods I know. The Pad Thai was delicious; employing these thin — almost capellini — noodles along with the usual green onion slivers, tofu, chicken, bean sprouts and egg.
We dined on spring rolls and chicken satay. Alas, there was no peanut sauce to be found. But the satay sticks were extremely tasty on their own. They were served with that sweet and spicy chilli sauce.
We also got a pot of minced chicken larb, which was kind of fiery, but then again I am a light-weight when it comes to spicy foods.
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I didn’t sample the Green papaya salad, but I’m told it was delicious (this, from a friend who’d never had it before.) She also purchased some little pork dumplings that were cold and presumably had been steamed earlier. They were wrapped in that sticky, doughy but light white wrapping and they were quite sweet and delicious.
Not a lot of vegetable options around, at all. Lots of fish balls and chicken dishes.
For me, the highlight was the mango and sticky rice which came with a small pot of coconut sauce. The mango was pre-sliced and very, very ripe and golden orange in colour. The rice was not too sweet and dressed with little, nutty bean seeds (?) 
All in all, I was a little disappointed by the absence of curries and the lack of peanut sauce, but I’d return for the mango in a heartbeat. It’s okay for me; it’s not such a pilgrimage to head north into the Valley. If you’re coming from further than 20 mins away, I don’t know if it’s worth the drive.
They’ll be having a festival there soon, so I might go back for that.
Thai Market
Sat & Sun 10 - 6
Wat Thai Buddhist Temple [East San Fernando Valley]
8225 Coldwater Canyon Ave, sth of Roscoe
North Hollywood 91605
818-785-9552
By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She is completing a family cookbook and also writes novels for 8-12 year olds.
SoCalorie says:
August 28th, 2005 at 6:06 pm
Great photos! It looks delicious. I have always wanted to check Thai Temple eats out. Thanks for this.
Dylan says:
August 30th, 2005 at 12:35 pm
That mango dessert is awesome. have you ever had the sweet egg whites over red rice? that’s delicious as well.
MaxMillion says:
August 30th, 2005 at 12:46 pm
Red Rice? Sounds Kubrick-scary… No wait, that was red rum.
What’s in it that makes it red?
Caite says:
September 26th, 2005 at 6:20 pm
Am a fan of green papaya salads (and green mango salads) myself, so I would have tried it. Great pics!
Das Ubergeek says:
December 13th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
You can ask for peanut sauce. Also, one vendor has red curry (and pad prik king) for sale. You might also try the coconut custard baked in a quarter of a kabocha squash (what they call pumpkin) — it’s absolutely delicious.
Definitely try the papaya salad — it’s sweet, sour, salty and a little hot all at once. It’s called “som tum” in Thai.
marilyn guest says:
April 29th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Try the hot fresh to order “Krom Kruck” It is a wonderful mini coconut custard with a crunchy rice like outer surface. Heaven!!!!
michelle says:
September 2nd, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Just went there today. Loved it! The food was excellent Thai street fair. Why would you want curry when you can get that at any Thai restaurant. This place offers food you not normally offered in Thai restaurants. That and the temple itself is worth the drive.
Tom says:
August 26th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Sorry to say that Wat Thai Food Market has closed because of parking complaints from the surrounding neighborhood. Most of the vendors support their family from selling food on these two days of the week alone. Most have splintered off to try to sell in their own groups. One group is selling out of the Mee Sap Restaurant on Saturday & Sunday. Especially good is the papaya salad, please try it out. They are located at 11020 Vanowen St. in North Hollywood, 91605, parking is in the back. Since they just started up weekends here, business is slow so please pass the word around to help them out.
Mag says:
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:25 am
Ran into a lady in the 99 ranch market and she told me that the Wat Thai Food Market has reopened today (this weekend) 8am to 5pm. I’ve never been but heard/read a lot of about it. My husband and I cannot wait to check it out. We definitely will try papaya salad, sticky rice & mang, and the wrap looks good too.