The youngest sibling is generally a paradox: even as they learn from the experiences of their elder brethren, rebellious urges often lead them to be a little more "street" -- as evidenced when Rudy Huxtable left the warm love of the Cosby household so Tyler Perry could turn her into a heroin-crazed hooker. Further perpetuating the trend: Soi 56
In the same center as Big Wang's and named after the Thai word for "sidestreet", Soi 56's the latest bundle of joy from a family of local-favorite Thai fooderies, (including Burbank's Chadaka, Silverlake's Rambutan, and Pico's Tuk Tuk), blessed with a Hollywood address far more central than its siblings', and a street-centric gargantuan menu based on flavors you'd find in tiny restaurants and carts in the mazes of Bangkok. Reclaimed wood from an 1800s Chicago barn and Buddha murals dominate the interior, with the centerpiece a sushi bar-style counter in front of a supersized charcoal grill, where chefs'll cook up a hot mess of skewered deliciousness, including standards like ribeye and tiger shrimp, oddities like squid leg and chicken gizzard, and non-meat options like grilled Thai bananas and Japanese shishito peppers, which you'll order just to mispronounce. There's also non-skewered options aplenty, with eight curries and a slew of funny-sounding delicacies including grat dook muu naem (deep-fried baby-back ribs), prik king gung (dried curry sautéed w/ green bean and shrimp), and a concoction with wok-fried rice noodles, bean sprouts, tofu, cabbage, and scallion called "Poorman Noodle", presumably because Dr. Drew pretends it never even existed
Though unfortunately alcohol-free for now, Soi'll soon have a license for beer and wine -- a serious dining advantage, unless you got all street the way Rudy did, and booze just doesn't cut it.
