Delicious Deals: It’s Thai Hometaurant

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If you’re among the many people this season who are cutting back on dining out, then you’ll be happy to learn about a little-known strip mall gem in Echo Park called It’s Thai Hometaurant. Open for a just under a year, the diminutive restaurant is sandwiched between a Burger King and a WIC office, just down the street from the Echoplex.

It’s got a gorgeous little outdoor patio filled with lush green potted plants and chic tables and chairs. The back walls of the patio are made of corrugated steel, which is painted with funky colors. The inside is all low light and deep orange hues, with pleasant table settings and satisfyingly heavy cast iron teapots.

Best of all, though, are the incredibly reasonable dinner specials on offer. For $8 you get soup (a tasty miso broth with tofu), salad (with deep-green greens) and your choice of entree (pork, chicken, tofu or vegetable). Add $1 for beef or $2 for scallops or shrimp. Entrees include spicy eggplant, spicy garlic, cashew nuts and red chile paste, panang curry, asparagus and shiitake mushroom and more.

This isn’t greasy, MSG-laden food either. It’s nuanced and flavorful and presented on square porcelain plates and in fragile bowls, with light sauces and purple-colored brown rice. That’s in large part due to the care of chef Danny Suptong, who once worked at Pimai restaurant on Franklin Avenue.

There’s nothing quite like dining on a quiet, satisfying meal with friends at It’s Thai to make you wonder why on Earth all those people just across the way are spending almost as much money for their Burger King value meals.

-- Jessica Gelt