Eat Out. Wat Dong Moon Lek.

Wat Dong Moon Lek is a great Thai restaurant in Silver Lake. A coworker told me about it, and I've been hooked ever since! The Panang curry (with tofu) is my favorite, but I recently started getting the Pad Thai (with chicken) and it's definitely as good. My guess it that everything on the menu is worth a try, really. I've brought a couple friends here and they loved it too.

The service is prompt and friendly when you eat in, and picking up take-away is convenient. It's located in a small strip mall which usually has at least a couple free parking spaces. Inside, it's comfortable and clean with interesting American pop culture sketches on the walls.

They make a fantastic Thai iced tea, and decent sticky rice too (better there than if you get it take-away, when the sitting time can make it clump together). Most menu items are very reasonably priced, at about $8. Cash only.

Wat Dong Moon Lek is located at 4356 Fountain Ave. in Silver Lake. (323) 666-5993

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: watdongmoonlek.com

Eat In. Trader Joe's Vegetarian Pad Thai.

Trader Joe's has many great frozen dinners that aren't depressing to buy and eat.

Their Vegetable Pad Thai is a relatively new item, and it is one of the best on the shelves. An employee there recommended it to us when he was re-stocking, and he was so right. It's flavorful (in a Thai-peanut kind of way), has a nice texture, and I like that it's vegetarian without being overpowered with large tofu chunks. It has small pieces of tofu, but the noodles are really the majority of the dish (rightly so). This is a great buy for anyone that remotely enjoys Pad Thai.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: nashvillescene.com