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A Tuk Tuk is a Thai automobile rickshaw, especially popular in highly congested areas like Bangkok. Tuk Tuk is also a delicious restaurant on Pico Blvd where it crosses Swall.
First, you must admit that they have pretty good signage--in addition to the tuk tuk jutting out of the wall! The atmosphere on the inside is pretty great. Little tables with high-backed wooden banquettes on one side fill up the very small space, but it doesn't feel cramped. The tops of these banquettes are filled with little tuk tuk sculptures, super cute. One complaint is that it is a bit too dark, even in the middle of the afternoon. Hence, the following picture is of obvious low quality since I had to manipulate it a lot to be anything other than a big dark mess.
Nevermind the graininess, in this picture you can see my favorite dish--the one that has brought me back to this restaurant three times since I first tasted them! These are the Thai curry shrimp and scallop dumplings. It should be known that scallops and shrimp are my favorite seafood (in that order, too). If we were eating Dim Sum, my favorite would be Har Gow (shrimp dumpling) and whatever the real name of the shrimp and scallop dumpling is. So when I first went to Tuk Tuk several years ago, I immediately ordered whatever had scallops in it; this dish did not disappoint. The dough is light but substantial, the filling is hearty, and the carrots provide a nice crunchy counterpoint to the smooth texture of the dumpling itself. The most important part of this dish, however, is the Thai curry sauce. Oh man, it is amazing. After finishing the dumplings, I make sure the waiter doesn't take away the plate so I can use the sauce on whatever else I order--it's that good.
I also recommend the garlic pepper chicken with brown rice. The sauce is really strong but smooth and the chicken works really well with the thicker brown rice rather than the usual white rice. But you definitely need to like garlic for this one.
The prices are slightly expensive but totally worth it. Your best bet is to go with a couple people and share several dishes. You'll probably each want 1.5 dishes.
Tuk Tuk
8875 Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
P.S. Blogger, thanks for letting me upload multiple pictures simultaneously!
Do you see how many pictures there are? A ton. That's because I would go to this place even if the food was disgusting. But, thankfully, it is not. It's pretty great. And CHEAP. Just remember, cash only.
This post was started June 24th; I am an appalling blogger. La Talpa has a pretty great sign and a nice motif of the sleepy-man-in-sombrero-against-(undoubtedly) painful-cactus which appears not only in the signage but also in the swell stained glass. There is also nothing like a neon arrow to announce greatness. I have no idea what Talpa means; do you?
There is very little lighting both outside and inside, and I hate using flash, so these pictures are going to be dark. The neighborhood is also kinda whatever. We went in the evening of my friend's 21st birthday, which turned out to be a silly decision since they don't have a liquor license. But she had a classy Corona with some lime and all was good. Plus, the service was excellent and the waitress ( a very grandmotherly woman) was very nice. They tell you it is good food and they don't lie.
But it's not great food. It's pretty solid basic food at reasonable prices. The quesadilla was tasty.
This mural that you can't really see is a nice landscape, but not nearly as pretty as the murals previously shown at Tacos La Flama or the murals at El Serape, which will be reviewed as soon as I am able to take some pictures.
First, you must admit that they have pretty good signage--in addition to the tuk tuk jutting out of the wall! The atmosphere on the inside is pretty great. Little tables with high-backed wooden banquettes on one side fill up the very small space, but it doesn't feel cramped. The tops of these banquettes are filled with little tuk tuk sculptures, super cute. One complaint is that it is a bit too dark, even in the middle of the afternoon. Hence, the following picture is of obvious low quality since I had to manipulate it a lot to be anything other than a big dark mess.
