clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Try Spicy Thai Street Food in a Buddhist Temple Parking Lot

The Wat Thai Temple weekend food market is a destination for traditional pad Thai and papaya salad

In the finale of this season of Dining on a Dime, host Lucas Peterson finds some of Los Angeles’ most authentic Thai street food in the most unexpected of places: outside a Buddhist temple in North Hollywood, called the Wat Thai Temple. The temple is open for worship throughout the week, but on weekends an open-air food market with a festive atmosphere and live music takes over the parking lot, serving all kinds of Thai delicacies.

Peterson and his dining companions buy $1 and $2 tokens and indulge in a handful of the Thai dishes the market has to offer: pad Thai, fried bananas, spicy papaya salad, sticky rice, mussel pancake, and some sweet coconut-based desserts. Peterson also ventures inside the temple to receive a blessing from the monks, and uses the fortune teller to try to get some insight into his future. Will it be about the next season of Dining on a Dime?

More episodes of Dining on a Dime | Subscribe to Eater on Youtube