Chao Krung, LA’s Oldest Existing Thai Restaurant, Debuts New Curry Night Rooted in Tradition
The trio of curries at Chao Krung's Kanom Jeen Curry Night, alongside fresh herbs, bean sprouts, and rice noodles.
Sydney Yorkshire/Courtesy Chao Krung
In Los Angeles, Thai food is something many of us take for granted — as central to how Angelenos eat as tacos or sushi. But in 1969, when one of the first Thai restaurants, Chao Krung, opened its doors, the cuisine was so unfamiliar that its owners had to offer Chinese dishes to put customers at ease.
"My mom had a chalkboard — barbecue chicken, wonton soup, chow mein," recalled Amanda Maneesilasan of her mother, Supa Kuntee. "She'd start seeing people coming in, and then slowly introduce them to something Thai."
The restaurant mostly served L.A.'s scattered Thai community — years before Thai Town existed.
As children, Maneesilasan and her sister, Katy Noochlaor, grew up in the restaurant — doing homework between tables, playing behind the building — wherever the family was, they were there, too.
The menu still had vestiges of the original compromise their parents had to make to survive. The sisters, however, were determined to restore it to its true Thai roots.
As part of the reclamation effort, the sisters have unveiled a new weekly Kanom Jeen Curry Night, Wednesdays only, which features a trio of curries and grilled skewers.