A tipster on the Chowhound L.A. Board announces that Norwalk's Renu Nakorn will be closing at the end of August for six months, while the strip mall that houses it undergoes a remodel. People I trust on the matter (see links above) have said it's the best Issan-style Thai food in Southern California, and perhaps the best Thai food full-stop, although this may or may not have changed since the restaurant changed ownership. Amazingly, I haven't been yet, although on a 2003 trip to Las Vegas I got to visit the original Renu Nakorn owners' latest restaurant, Lotus of Siam, and it was a religious experience. Great spice (without fratboy levels of Scoville heat), great concentration of flavors, great variety of dishes under one regional rubric, beautiful-yet-unpretentious presentation, all for very level-headed prices (like Renu Nakorn, Lotus of Siam is in a shitty strip mall).
It's unlikely I'll get back to Vegas any time these next few months, but I think I could accept a slightly jumped-the-shark version of Southern California's best Thai. And sometimes celebrity impersonators can be just as satisfying as the real thing.
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