Bar Chelou

Bar Chelou is not only a great place to eat before a show at the Pasadena Playhouse, but a great place to eat whenever you are in Pasadena. Many wines by the glass and bottle that are well curated and meant to accompany the dishes that you can combine into a meal or just to have a tapas size bite or two as you sip.

The Clam Toast for $13 was so good, we ended up ordering 2 orders! If you are not a fan of clams, but love great toast, just order the pan de cristal for $7 so you can use it to soak up any sauces from the other dishes you will want to order.

The Bloomsdale spinach for $14 is one of the dishes you will want to use the toast for to soak up the roasted garlic broth, or you can simply slurp the spinach "juice" as a delicious broth.

The lamb merguez for $25 is underneath all the green bean tabbouleh and although very savory, this portion was not very hearty nor generous and I would not order it again.

The Iberico pork chop for $36 with cabbage was perfectly cooked with plenty of meat on the bone as well as a good size thick chop, so this was the highlight of the meal.

Jitlada Revisted

It was a dark and stormy night when I headed out to Hollywood on an errand, so as a reward I introduced Jitlada to someone who had never been. The last time I went was before Covid hit, so it was a wonderful reunion for me! I was thrilled to find that there was no line and no wait at 5:30pm because of the rain and the early bird dinner time! I even found a spot in the parking lot! I started off with a spicy papaya smoothie for $6 that was probably the only spicy thing on the menu that did not make my nose run! It was made with very ripe papaya and was a great dessert like drink.

Since it was a rainy night, the first order was of course soup! The spicy red crab and egg (#38) for $23.95 was the perfect thick, comforting soup to warm the chill of the weather outside. The lowest spice level was just at the tolerance level for my dining partner, especially since the spice helped warm us up on a chilly night.

I love rice noodles and because my dining partner can not tolerate spice, I ordered everything with no or very little spice. The Pad See Ew (#181) for $18.95 with beef was full of tender beef, chinese broccoli, and tender noodles.

I had to order my favorite Thai oxtail curry (#98) for $22.95, featuring falling off the bone oxtails, a complex medley of spices, and veggies to add different textures to the curry. One of my favorite oxtail dishes in Los Angeles!

I had to add some asparagus to the table (#165) for $19.95. Every piece was tender and the flavor of the stir fry was so good even a non vegetable lover would eat this dish!

The kitchen fell behind in the orders as the crowd began to gather around 6pm (line was around the shopping center even in the rain), so even though we had ordered Bangkok fried rice (#214) for $19.95, we asked for it to go since we were already full. It wasn't until I opened up the container the next day that I realized what a great "mistake" the kitchen had made with a fried egg on top of shrimp paste fried rice and a container of sweet pork nuggets, this dish had fresh mango, string beans, and very hot sliced peppers (that look very similar to the string beans). I wish I had ordered more food to go because the flavors of Thailand keep beckoning me to go back for more now that I know the perfect time to go!