First things first: If you’re not a fan of fermented fish paste and bird’s eye chilies, you should navigate the menu carefully at Yum Sະlut (pronounced “yum seh-lut”). But by all means, it’s worth navigating. Operating inside Chinatown’s Lokels Only since March, this relatively new pop-up serves the delicious cuisine of Laos, the landlocked Southeast Asian country that shares borders, ingredients and regional specialties with Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and China. Like northern Thai cuisine, Lao cooking often leans heavily on funk and spice, but other dishes offer lighter, sweeter flavor profiles reminiscent of Vietnamese cuisine. Through Yum Sະlut, chef-owner Tharathip Soulisak aims to familiarize Angelenos with the distinctive food and culture of L.A.’s smallest Southeast Asian community. (According to 2021 census estimates, around 3,000 people of Lao ethnic origin live within L.A. County, compared to approximately 30,000 people of Thai and 100,000 of Vietnamese ethnic origin, respectively.)
In some circles, Soulisak is better known as a cultural expert—he’s also served as a Lao culture consultant on film and TV sets—but it’s clear based on the dishes at Yum Sະlut that he’s also a phenomenal self-taught cook. Unlike the Thai-style khao soi popularized by restaurants like Night + Market and Northern Thai Food Club, Lao-style khao soi eschews coconut milk, mixing together a blend of chicken and pork broth with rice noodles, fermented soybeans, minced pork, Napa cabbage and dried chilies. Soulisak crowns his version with sliced scallions, tangles of cilantro and dried chilies, plus a crispy rice cake, for a surprisingly delicate, aromatic-heavy dish that’s nothing like the decadent, saucelike broth served in Thai restaurants. Many menu items can be made vegan (a serious undertaking, given the meat-heavy original recipes) and Soulisak would rather take something off the menu than serve an inferior version of nam wan (pandan jellies with tropical fruit and coconut milk) or Yum Sະlut’s amazing seasonal mango sticky rice.
Though available for pick-up and delivery, the food at Yum Sະlut is best experienced while dining in, where a roving cart of utensils, fish sauce and other accoutrements will make their way to you when your order arrives, in case you would like to further jazz up your meal. Large floral platters covered in banana leaves make every meal feel like a special occasion. The jeun sai oua, or fried sausage rice platter, should make an appearance on every pork-eater’s table, along with a heaping side of Lao-style papaya salad, which comes with plain cabbage to cut through all the funk and salt. If you’re a fan of Thai larb, you’ll also enjoy the crunchy, fermentation-forward laap. Available in tofu, chicken and beef, the Lao-style crispy rice salad comes with a side of clear broth to cleanse the palate. Above all, make sure to order the fried catfish lettuce wraps, reminiscent of cá kho to, or Vietnamese caramelized catfish.
For less in-your-face flavor, look towards the egg rolls (served with lettuce and herbs, like Vietnamese cha gio) and the khao piak gai, or chicken noodle soup. Light and flavorful, it’s the only item on the menu to use the delightful bouncy Lao rice noodles with a similar texture to Japanese udon. I’d also recommend the grilled chicken rice platter, with its tantalizing jeow som (spicy and sour dipping sauce). Among the four noodle soups on the menu, however, my favorite is the seafood sukiyaki, which uses a recipe that Soulisak’s mother first came up with and sold in a northern Thai refugee camp. The umami-rich chicken and pork broth pairs beautifully with thin strings of mung bean noodles, plus fish balls, shrimp and other bits of seafood.
The only reasons to take issue with Yum Sະlut might be the wait, which can stretch out depending on the number of takeout and delivery orders the kitchen is juggling, and the prices, though I consider them quite fair. (On my visits, I've waited anywhere between 15 minutes to half an hour for my admittedly large orders.) For an American populace used to “cheap” (read: labor-exploitative) Thai and Vietnamese takeout, the prices might seem high, but the family-style platters generally feed two people and reflect the labor-intensive Lao cooking techniques and Soulisak’s meticulous sourcing. As for the wait: Typically, the pop-up is run by Soulisak and just one other staff member. The pair take orders themselves and do all the cooking, packaging and serving, so try to be a little patient while waiting for your dine-in order.
The vibe: Casual and no-frills.
The food: A mix of lettuce wraps, rice platters, noodle soups and a few desserts. Highlights include the fried catfish lettuce wraps, sausage rice platter, seafood sukiyaki, khao soi and sweet coconut rice.
The drink: Housemade Thai black and green teas, plus a selection of Asian canned drinks, including soy milk, chrysanthemum tea and packaged coconut water.
Time Out tip: There’s free parking (with validation from Lokels Only) inside the Jia Apartments retail parking lot—just note the entrance isn’t easily visible from Broadway.
